“Probably not.”

“How many felonies?”

“None, if I don’t get caught.”

It was amazing how little her absolute lack of remorse for breaking the law bothered me. In this situation, if one of my friends were missing, I’d feel the same way.

I stepped up behind her, dropping a palm on each shoulder. “Don’t get caught.”

“Don’t worry. It’s the Feds. They’re not that good at back tracing.”

I looked over her shoulder. “What are you looking for?”

“I wanted to see what kind of surveillance they were running, and what they were planning to bring Carlos in for, but there’s not a single mention of his name anywhere. Not even a basic file. Didn’t Heath say they were investigating him? There should be something.”

“Maybe they’re keeping it off the books.”

“Or maybe they’re not doing jack shit,” Ari countered. “No warrants. No reports. No surveillance. Nada. Who the hell is Heath having look into this anyway?”

“He didn’t give me a name. I’ll find out.”

Her fingers kept flying. “If he weren’t my brother, I’d wonder if he was lying about having someone look into it, because there’s literally nothing. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“They have to be keeping it off the books then. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. I’ll get in touch with him again.”

I fired off a text to Heath asking for a name. His response came just as quickly.

* * *

Heath: Tell Ari to quit doing her thing. I’m working on it.

* * *

When I relayed his message to her, her face screwed up into an angry expression and she grabbed her own phone.

* * *

Ari: I have two employees missing, and one of them is Erik. His apartment was unlocked. Don’t tell me not to do anything about it.

Heath: I’ll call in a favor and have them check on him. Probably nothing.

Ari: Cops are already involved. Do better.

* * *

Ari released a growl of frustration. “He knows Erik and Esme are basically my family!”

“I know. We’re going to figure it out. Let’s brainstorm.”

53

Ariel

Esme called back two hours later, and this time the panic in her voice had morphed into hysteria.

“The cops won’t do anything. His car is here but his bike is missing, so they said he must be out for a long ride.” She paused. “But I hacked into his search-engine history, and before we left work last night, he looked up Jan Hofer’s address. What if . . . what if he went to find her and something bad happened? What if he never even made it home last night? He’s back on that stupid ride your bike to work kick again, and Jan’s place isn’t that far from his.”

Dread curdled in my belly. “Shit,” I whispered.

“I’m hacking all the camera feeds around his and Jan’s places. If the cops won’t do anything, I’ll find him my damn self,” Esme vowed.

“Good. I’ve got part of the security team looking for Carlos, and I’m running down any properties he could be at.”

“If you find an address—”

“No, Esme. You go nowhere by yourself. Promise me.”

“Fine, but if that asshole did something to him—”

“It’ll be on me, and I’ll make sure he gets what’s coming to him, I swear it.” I wished I could hug her, because both of us needed it. “Stay safe, and call me if you find anything.”

“You too.”

We hung up, and I turned into Rhett’s arms. I didn’t realize I was shaking until he tightened his hold on me.

“I don’t like this, Rhett. I really, really don’t like this.” I swallowed back the urge to cry, but tears burned behind my eyes.

He pulled back and lifted my chin. “Your ex knew how close Erik and Esme were to you?”

I nodded. “I talked about them both all the time. I swear to God, if he touches one hair on Erik’s head . . .”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “We’ll make sure he pays.”

I stepped out of his embrace and grabbed my laptop, ready to tear Carlos’s life to shreds.

Rhett paced the kitchen. “Something doesn’t feel right. I know I said having cartel connections in California and New Orleans didn’t mean they were related, but this seems like too much coincidence to me. We need to know if they’re related. The same cartel. The same people.”

The knot in my stomach grew. “How? Why? What’s the common link?”

“I keep turning it over and over, and I keep coming up with the same answer.”

“What?”

He met my gaze. “You are.”

54

Ariel

Two hours later, the pounding behind my eyes reached migraine proportions. I’d sent a list of properties to my security team to search, and then I started on another angle. One I never expected to be considering.

Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

Rhett was outside briefing the security team, and I rose from the table on shaky legs and went to the fridge for a bottle of water while I waited for him to return. Another cup of coffee might put me right over the edge. I’d chugged half the bottle when Rhett returned. One look at my face was all it took for him to read me.

“What did you find?” He came toward me as he asked the question.

“Didn’t you say Heath had taken himself off the IA investigation about your dad because of a conflict of interest?”

Rhett nodded. “That’s what he said.”

My belly flopped like a fish dying on the banks of the lake. “He’s on the reports about your dad. All of them. For the last year.”

Rhett’s expression turned to stone. “What? That’s impossible.”

I set the water bottle on the counter and wiped my hands on my shorts, clutching the hem. “He’s not just part of the investigation.” I paused, meeting Rhett’s gaze. “He’s leading it.”