Best Laid Plans(90)

“Yes,” Kane said without hesitation. “But why would Marquez go after Tobias? Did Tobias do something to piss him off?”

“Based on the crime scene, I’d say yes.”

“Or those victims weren’t Tobias’s people at all and Marquez was taking care of loose ends.”

Kane normally didn’t talk much, but he was downright chatty tonight.

Without asking if he wanted a beer, Brad grabbed two bottles from the refrigerator and handed one to Kane. “I saw Nicole Rollins today.”

“Did you kill her?”

He asked the question seriously. That almost scared Brad.

“She says my house isn’t clean.”

“I’m sure it’s not.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you could find out.”

Kane drank half his beer, watching Brad, assessing. “You really want to know?”

“Yes. I can’t work there if I don’t trust my team.”

“If I hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Remember that.” Kane didn’t believe him. But Brad didn’t want another Nicole Rollins under his roof. “What else did Rollins say?”

“That Tobias wanted those men taken out. Either he planned it, or simply didn’t stop it. She said the same as you—that he’s more powerful than we thought.”

“I haven’t underestimated him. For a man like that not to be on my radar tells me he’s either not important or extremely important. I ruled out the former. We took his helicopter, blew up Trejo’s house, disabled the Jeeps, and retrieved part of the gun shipment—and still he had a backup escape plan. I haven’t been able to locate him. I had one possible sighting a few weeks ago, in San Antonio, but it was a bust. Either it wasn’t him or he moved fast.”

“So he’s in the States?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Kane drained his beer. “He’s everywhere, and nowhere.” He put the bottle down on the counter. “One more thing. I can’t find anyone—I mean no one—who has laid eyes on him.”

“That can’t be possible.”

“It tells me he has another name, or he rarely comes out to play.” Kane stared at him. “You need to watch yourself.”

“I didn’t see him.”

“But in your official report, you wrote that you did, and you included the description that Lucy gave.”

Brad realized the potential danger. “I’ll be careful.”

“Tobias doesn’t know that Lucy saw him, but he knows she was in Mexico,” Kane continued. “No one can know what Lucy saw and heard. It makes her extremely vulnerable. I tried to convince Sean to move—Nicole Rollins knows where they live, therefore anyone could know where they live—but my brother is a stubborn bastard.”

“We’ve done a good job keeping her name out of it. Her boss suspects, but we’ve never confirmed his suspicions. Ryan Quiroz—he suspects as well.”

“I’ve already done a thorough background check on Quiroz. He’s clean.”

Again, Brad wasn’t surprised.

Kane walked to the door. “Thanks for the beer. I’ll be in touch.”

“Is there any way I can contact you without having to go through your brother?”

For a second, Brad thought he’d give him his number. Then Kane shook his head. “It’s for your protection, Donnelly. And mine.”

*



Sean’s cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. He opened his eyes. It was still dark. A nightlight in the bathroom cast shadows around the room. He grabbed his phone. One in the morning.

It wasn’t a message or phone call, it was his security system alerting him to movement in the pool house. His security alarm hadn’t gone off, but someone had broken in. He pressed a button for the camera angle, but it came up black.

Not good.

He glanced over at Lucy and considered waking her up, but she was finally sleeping soundly, and so far she hadn’t been disturbed by dreams. He slipped out of bed, grabbed his nine millimeter as well as a butterfly knife, and crept out of their bedroom.

He didn’t turn on any lights, but left by the side door, reengaging the system in case this was a trick to get him out of the house in order to get inside to Lucy. Some people might think his system was overkill, but considering Lucy’s job—and some of the people both Lucy and Sean had pissed off over the years—he wasn’t taking any chances.

He stayed in the shadows. The pool house lights weren’t on and the blinds were closed, so he couldn’t tell where the person was.

Sean walked up to the French doors and looked at the keypad that controlled entry. The alarm had been disabled. He typed in a code—if he didn’t disable the code in ninety seconds, SAPD and the FBI would be notified.

He opened the door and listened. Water ran in the bathroom. He crossed to the bathroom door just as the water turned off and the door opened. He stayed out of arms’ reach of whoever was in there.

“Move and I shoot,” he said to the dark figure.

“It’s me,” Kane said.

“Fuck, Kane!” Sean hit the light switch. Kane blinked in the brightness.