Page 103 of Fatal Strike
Her thoughts froze because Jon made sense. “Seems impossible.”
“While you were at the hospital with Silvia, I started digging into his background. Warren stocks his souvenir shop from Mexico. No big deal, right? Until I looked for his vendors. He doesn’t use any. He fills his shelves personally by making frequent trips to Mexico City. Why, when he can pick up the phone or order online?”
“Did you notify agents in Mexico City?”
“Sure.”
“Go on,” she said. “I know there’s more.”
“I gained access to the Galveston security cams around Warren’s properties. Want to guess who visited his shop three times in the last three months?”
“Dylan?”
“Good one, but wrong. Aaron Michaels. We have footage of him entering and leaving the shop, staying around ten minutes each time.”
Aaron?
Leah sank into a chair. “Dylan’s a low crawl, but he may have more than one legitimate reason for despising Warren. What’s the rest?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” He scrolled on his phone and handed it to her.
She skimmed the notes he’d compiled. “Warren attended the University of Arizona for three years. College records show more than one infraction for assault, and that eventually led to his leaving school. Arrested twenty-two years ago in Phoenix for embezzlement, but charges were dropped. Possible overseas accounts. Has a home in Mexico City worth over two million dollars.” She’d thought his apartment building and home were a scale above a souvenir shop. “Have you requested agents in Phoenix investigate Warren’s family there?” The man’s parents and a sister still lived in Arizona.
“Yep.”
She handed Jon’s phone back to him. “Have you run this past anyone else?”
“Only you.”
Her thoughts spun. “Warren’s a good-looking man, dresses well. Silvia has a heart of gold, but she’s not ... How do I say it? The woman I’d expect him to be with? What does she have that he needs to make his plan work? She’s a dental hygienist with an adopted son who’s bad news.”
Jon paced her small kitchen and dining room. “Link it to Dylan and prescription drugs.”
What would attract a striking and wealthy man with criminal connections to a modest woman? Jon’s comment played and replayed in Leah’s mind. “Silvia is in the medical field, which equates to prescription drugs. She’s taking stolen OxyContin that Dylan got for her.” She lifted her chin. “Have we researched the dentist she works for? His name’s Pablo Rios.”
He lifted his phone from his pocket and typed. “I’m requesting a background.”
“If Warren is involved, he has his bases covered.”
“I’m sure of it.” He finished and set his phone on the counter. “There’s always a weak spot. We keep digging.” He downed his iced tea. “It will take a while for Rios’s background check to be completed. I sure could use a kiss.”
Leah stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Not sure it’s in your future.” The man had the most gorgeous brown eyes.
His lips lowered. “I’ll make up your mind for you.”
Jon’s kiss, warm and sweet, left her tingly. He backed up and gathered her hands into his. “Being alone with you is dangerous. I don’t want to mess us up.”
She trembled at his nearness, and she valued what he meant, what she felt. “Me either. I’m happy and scared at the same time.”
“I want this case wrapped up, but I don’t want to give up working with you.”
“Is it possible to have both?”
“We’ll figure it out. The future’s never certain, but I want to see if there’s an us in it.”
66
TUESDAY MORNING,Jon joined Leah at the FBI office, eager to see her again and to get back to work on the case. Rios’s background had come in late last night, and he’d spent several hours combing through the dentist’s information.
