“Wait. Can you control him?”
“Better than most, but only as well as you control anyone with the kind of people he has behind him.”
“Be at the meeting.”
“I’ll think about it.” I disconnect.
We’re back at my building now and I pause by the lobby entrance. “I’m done for the night. I’m not going back out. Go home.”
“Kane bought an apartment for the security team a few floors down from yours. I’m staying here.”
And he didn’t tell me.
He really doesn’t know who tried to kill him and that’s a problem. But I do. I know damn well it was his uncle and Pocher. I feel it in every pore of my being. We’ve let the same problems linger too long. Pocher. Kane’s uncle. And even Junior.
***
I leave Jay on the floor where Kane apparently bought an apartment and head to our place, eager to find my way to Purgatory, the room I seclude myself in, a bit like punishment until I find my answer, and to solve any case, and this one will be no different. Maybe, just maybe, for once, it will be an easy fix. Jack will be the killer and something in everything Tic Tac gave me in all those messages will help me figure that out. Once I’m in the apartment, of course, Kane is not home and I resist the urge to be one of those needy wives who calls him. This is not the time to distract him, but I realize now that he’s not the only one still living in the aftermath of his chopper crash. I am, too, and when worrying about Kane has been rare for me—I mean, he’s Kane Mendez—I can’t seem to help myself right now.
Since I can’t remember the last time I ate outside of a few French fries, that is, I head to the fridge, expecting it to be bare. It’s not. There are fresh strawberries waiting on me. In a rare emotional moment, my chest pinches. God, that man loves me. I can’t be too hard on him for being protective. I need to remember that. He has real reasons to worry and so do I.
I grab the strawberries and a diet soda, as well as the bag of chocolate I find on the counter. This man knows me. A few minutes later, I’m in Purgatory. My shoes are off, and I’m at my desk, with notecards ready to be filled out with case notes, but I have a few calls to make before I can dive in. I start with Director Murphy.
“Lilah,” he greets. “Back and it’s already bloody. You really do know how to find a murder.”
He has no idea. “I’ve found a lot more than that.”
“Oh really? Tell me.”
I consider this a moment, thinking about my brother’s safety. “It’s related to a bigger problem and I’m not sure this line is secure enough.”
“Good thing I fly in tomorrow and plan to stay a while. Can you meet me at the airport at ten?”
“I have a press conference in the morning.”
“Over the case Tic Tac told me about?”
“Yes.”
“Is this a serial killer we’re dealing with?”
“I’m just digging in, but I suspect it is.”
“And how is your father responding to that bump in the road so close to the election?”
“Begging for my involvement but I’m not sure he sees this as a bump, but rather a convenient opportunity.”
“I can read between the lines. Interesting. Are you going to the press conference with him? I understand he’s holding one.”
“Not if I can help it. He tried to get me to stand by his side. I declined to respect the locals. The local detective in charge of the case wants me to help navigate my father’s demands.”
“Your father will use any involvement you have to his benefit.”
“Of course, he will.”
He shifts the topic. “Any word on who tried to kill Kane?”
“I have ideas.”
“Another topic for in-person,” he replies, and thank fuck, he's not as dumb as I feared, and now he’s reading between the lines. “I’ll be staying in an apartment in the city that the agency is renting. I’ll text you the address. Come see me when you finish your press conference.”
“I have an autopsy to be at.”
“Well, maybe I’ll attend.”
“I wouldn’t like that.”
“I don’t remember asking if you would. Text me the details. See you soon, Special Agent Love, or is it Mendez?”
“Depends on who I’m talking to.”
He laughs, low and deep. “Of course it does. I’ll see you soon.” He disconnects.
Murphy is coming here, and of course, I know why. He hates my father because he loved my mother. He wants to see him dead. I’ve always felt that this aligned me with Murphy, but something still doesn’t feel right, about all of his claims.
What do I really know about Murphy at all, outside his own claims about his role in my mother’s life?