The news of Tom’s death was like a sucker punch to the gut. Aiden sat in stunned silence for a long moment. “This perp is escalating. Apparently, he’ll eliminate anyone who gets in his way.”
“Yeah, it’s not good,” Brady agreed. His brother’s concerned gaze landed on Shelby, then over at Eva. “I’m glad you got out of that hotel when you did.”
“This time.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “The shooter seemed to know about Tom’s intent to investigate the shooting. Why wait so long after Tom left the hotel to kill him? That time gap is strange, unless Tom didn’t hit the road right away.”
“Maybe he stopped for lunch,” Brady suggested.
That was entirely possible. “Okay, maybe. But as far as I know, Tom hadn’t told anyone except his boss that he was coming to meet with us. Makes me wonder if the shooter is still active army.”
“Or has connections to active army intelligence,” Brady said.
“What are we going to do now?” Shelby asked in an anguished tone. “Who can we trust?”
It was a good question. He grimaced and shook his head, glancing at Brady. “I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”
Brady sighed. “I wish I did.” He looked at Shelby. “Can you remember anyone in particular that your father worked with?”
Shelby looked as if she might cry, but then she abruptly straightened. “Wait. I received a phone call after my father’s death from a Kevin Carter.” She frowned, then added, “I had the impression he worked under my father. Maybe at the level of a first sergeant?”
Aiden leaned forward, nodding slowly. “I report to Kevin Carter. What did he want to talk to you about?”
Her brow furrowed. “He wanted to express his condolences, but then he asked if my father had brought home any files the day he died. I told him my father kept his military life separate from his personal life.” She spread her hands. “My dad rarely brought work home with him.”
The brief flare of anticipation fizzled out. “He wasn’t more specific?”
“No.” She looked upset. “I should have mentioned this sooner, but I didn’t think much about it. I figured he was just looking for a specific file, nothing more.” Her gaze swung from him to Brady and back again. “Do you think he’s involved in this?”
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Aiden said thoughtfully. “But it does make me wonder if that file had details about your husband’s death.”
“The file could be anything,” Brady said. “If the army is anything like the federal government, they love paperwork.”
“I know, but one man is dead, and there have been several attempts to shoot Shelby.” He hated feeling as if they were stumbling around in the dark. “I need to reach out to Carter.”
“Hold on, bro.” Brady scowled. “If he is involved, we can’t risk allowing him to get our location.”
“Let’s start with the list of female soldiers, then.” He tapped the sheet of paper. “Maybe we can see if any of these women are related to Carter. Or any other army officer.”
“We can try, but there’s no guarantee the relation has the same name. Could be a divorce, half sibling, et cetera,” Shelby cautioned.
“I know.” Aiden frowned and shrugged. “But we have to start somewhere.”
“You get started on that. I need to call Donovan. He was going to reach out to the Army Intelligence Office but was sidetracked by the news of Tom Mitchell’s death.” Brady stood and moved out of the small kitchen area.
Pulling the computer close, he glanced over to the three women Mitchell had identified as recently leaving the army. He started with the first name, Kelly Darnell, typing it into social media. Shelby leaned close, her sweet scent teasing his senses as she watched him work.
It didn’t take long to find the female soldier. Her social media profile listed her as formerly a member of the Army National Guard. From there, it was also easy to verify she was currently living in Alabama with her husband. She’d posted a picture of her husband and young daughter beneath a large sign that said, “Welcome Home.” It appeared she’d gotten out of the army to spend more time with her family.
“They look so happy,” Shelby murmured.
He glanced at her, disconcerted as to how close she was. “I understand none of this is easy for you. But try to remember the good times rather than dwelling on the bad.”
She averted her gaze. “I have a feeling the good times I remember aren’t real.” There was a trace of bitterness in her tone. “They were nothing more than a show Emmitt put on for us.”
He couldn’t come up with a good way to respond to that. “Let’s put a check mark next to her name and move on. She doesn’t come across as a viable suspect.”
“Maybe she was leading a double life the way Emmitt was,” Shelby protested.
Anything was possible, but they had to draw a line somewhere. “Let’s try the next name.”
It took a little longer this time to track down the female soldier, a woman by the name of Adrienne Cook. He found the one Adrienne Cook he believed to be the name on the list, but her profile was private. He stared at the woman’s photo, trying to figure out how to find out more about her.
“It’s killing me to know one of these women slept with Emmitt.”
He eased his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “His failures are not yours. Some guys just need the thrill of sneaking around.”
“Maybe. But it’s hard not to take this as a personal slap in the face. As if I wasn’t good enough for him.”
“Please don’t think that.” He hated hearing the self-doubt in her voice. “You and Eva are beautiful. If Emmitt wasn’t satisfied with his perfect family, there was something seriously wrong with him. Not you.”
“You’re so sweet.” She leaned against him for a moment, then straightened. “What if you searched on Emmitt Copeland and Adrienne Cook together?”
He did so, but the search yielded no results. Then he tried Adrienne Cook along with the words Army National Guard.
This time, a picture did bloom on the screen. As a staff sergeant, he only had a dozen soldiers beneath him. None of these names were familiar to him, so it was no surprise to see that Adrienne Cook’s small platoon was under another staff sergeant, Wade Norris. In the photo, Adrienne’s expression was grim. She did not look happy to be there.
“We’ll have to consider her a possible suspect.” He tried not to sigh. “Let’s move on to the last female who was recently discharged.”
Justine Brooks was stunningly beautiful, classic features framed by honey-blond hair. Her eyes were a striking green, but so much so that he felt certain she wore tinted contact lenses. There was no doubt in his mind that Justine would have attracted a lot of male attention. As he eyed her photo, he vaguely recalled seeing her during one of their recent deployments. He wished he had access to her personnel record because he wanted to know what date she’d left the army. It must have been relatively recent.
“Do you know her?” Shelby asked.
“She was involved in a recent deployment, maybe three to four months ago.” He remembered now. They’d been deployed to stand guard during a riot in Tennessee back in June. “She seemed like a decent soldier, held her ground well enough in a tough situation. But I know a lot of the guys wanted to date her.”
“She’s totally Emmitt’s type,” Shelby said, fingering her own blond hair.
He personally preferred Shelby’s girl-next-door looks, but he didn’t voice his opinion. “Okay, we’ll consider her a suspect.” The fact that she’d recently left the army nagged at him. Had Shelby’s father discovered her affair with Emmitt and forced the issue of her resignation? Even if he had, it was not easy to imagine this woman lying in wait at the funeral, shooting at Shelby and Eva.
Women could be every bit as lethal as men, but he still wasn’t convinced this woman would seek revenge in the form of shooting and killing an innocent woman and child.
Brady returned to the kitchen. “Donovan has the name of another army intelligence officer, guy by the name of Heath Strauss.”
Aiden frowned. “I never heard of him.”
“Donovan told me Strauss has been assigned to investigate Tom Mitchell’s death.” Brady held his gaze. “And that means he wants to talk to you and Shelby.”
No surprise there. “Only if we can meet at a neutral location. And only if you and some of the other sibs come to back us up.”
Brady grinned. “I thought you’d say that, so I left a message with Reed, Tarin, Kyleigh, and Sami.”
“I’m not sure we’ll need all of them,” he protested.
“Hey, they live for this stuff.” Brady’s smile faded. “Seriously, we’ll make sure to have your back. And of course, Shelby’s and Eva’s too.”
“They’re the most important,” Aiden said with a nod. “It would be nice if either Kyleigh or Sami would stand guard with them.”
“Why, because they’re women?” Brady shook his head. “Better not let Kyleigh or Sami hear you say that.”
“I only mentioned the two women because Eva might be more comfortable with a female protector.”
As if to prove him wrong, Eva came running over with a truck. She placed it in his lap, then gazed up at him. “Play wif me?”
Brady let out a snort of laughter. “Yeah, sure.”
“Maybe later, Eva.” He would have enjoyed nothing more than to play with the little girl, but he still had a list of names to review.
Too many names.
“I’ll play with you.” Shelby took the truck, then led her daughter back to the living room. He watched them for a minute, a flash of anger hitting hard at what Emmitt had done to her.
“Keep your head in the game,” Brady warned. “Getting emotionally involved will cloud your judgment.”
“Yeah, like you and all the rest of my older siblings haven’t done that,” he shot back. Then he sighed. “I know, you’re right. What’s the timeline on the meeting with Heath Strauss?”
“We may need to wait until tomorrow.” Brady gestured to the window. “It’s snowing like crazy out there. Setting up a neutral location and giving others enough time to come in to provide backup will likely take longer in the snowstorm.”
“Tomorrow, then.” He sighed. “In the meantime, I’ll keep working on the list. Maybe I’ll come up with something that will help point us in the right direction.” He wanted to believe that, but in reality, he had a bad feeling they’d be lucky to eliminate even half the names from the list.
To be fair, he couldn’t say with any certainty that their perp was on the list at all.
Shelby sat on the floor playing with Eva while listening to the conversation between Brady and Aiden.
“Hang on, this is Kyleigh now.” Brady took a few steps away to chat with their sister.
She noticed Aiden returned to the top of the list, as if intending to complete a search on each woman in order. Envisioning the list, she remembered they were listed alphabetically by last name.
The image of Justine’s stunning face was burned into her mind. She wanted to believe Emmitt hadn’t cheated at all, but if he’d been tempted by a woman like Justine? Easy to see how he would have tripped over his own feet to get to her.
Aiden’s words helped dull the sharp pain. Emmitt’s failures weren’t her fault. If he didn’t want to be married anymore, then he should have asked for a divorce. She would have been shocked and upset by that, but learning of his infidelity was just as bad.
Maybe worse.
“Thanks, Kyleigh. I’ll keep you updated on the timeline.” Brady returned to the table to join Aiden. “Kyleigh is off tomorrow, so she’s in. Tarin texted back that he’s available too. Not bad for starters.”
Aiden glanced at her, then nodded. “I figured the family would rally. Have you heard from Rhy about Devon?”
“Not yet.” Brady’s thumbs tapped on his phone screen. “Could be Devon is in labor right now, and if so, he probably won’t let us know what’s going on until he has news to share.”
Their comment about Rhy and Devon being at the hospital about to give birth to their first child reminded her of how she’d delivered Eva all alone. Without Emmitt’s support. The nursing staff and her OB physician had been wonderful, but she had been hyperaware of Emmitt’s absence.
Looking back, the way he’d rushed in after Eva had been born, looking embarrassed and ashamed, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been with another woman during the time she’d sweated, groaned, cried, and pushed their daughter into the world.
Enough. She brought herself up short. There was no point in rehashing the lowest points of their relationship. As Aiden mentioned, there had been good times too. Besides, Emmitt was gone. Getting angry with him now was the epitome of useless.
“Looks like Reed can be here tomorrow too,” Brady said, interrupting her thoughts. “But Sami is out. She’s working.”
“Three extra guns are more than enough,” Aiden said. “You and I will be armed too. That’s plenty. Can you find a place to have this meeting? Someplace where we can make sure to have the area secured first?”
“I’ll find another house to rent.” Brady looked up from his phone screen. “Someplace like this would be easy enough to defend. But I also need to hit the road to pick up Grace and Caleb.”
“Sounds good, but be careful out there.” Aiden glanced up from his computer with a frown. “You should have left earlier.”
“It’s okay.” Brady walked to the door. “I’ll be in touch with the rest of the plan soon.”
Aiden nodded, then turned back to the computer. He appeared to be attacking the list with a vengeance.
After another thirty minutes passed, Eva thrust her toys away as if bored with them. “Mommy, I’m hungry,”
“Okay.” She rose to her feet. The snow was coming down hard now, making it difficult to see the traffic passing by on the street. She was surprised to realize it was five thirty in the evening. “I’ll throw the frozen pizza in now, if that’s okay with you.”
“Perfect.” Aiden glanced over. “Thanks.”
It took her a moment to figure out how to work the oven. While it preheated, she unwrapped the plain cheese pizza. Chosen by Brady, she was sure, for Eva’s sake.
Eva began to get antsy, enough that Aiden was forced to push the computer away. “Okay, Eva, we need to set the table.”
She was touched by how Aiden helped Eva with the simple task. He was so sweet and attentive she had to glance away.
This—being together like this was temporary. Aiden was a great guy, but if she ever decided to get romantically involved—and that was a big if—it would not be with another soldier.
No way, no how.
When the pizza was finished, she removed it from the oven and cut it into squares. Eva seemed to think all pizza should be cut into squares because that was how pizza delivery service worked.
Aiden grinned when he saw it. “Tastes better that way, doesn’t it?”
She smiled. “If you say so.”
“Hungry, hungry.” Eva bounced from one foot to the other.
“Bathroom first.” She took her daughter’s hand and steered her to the half bath. When they finished, she found Aiden waiting patiently for them.
“I’d like to say grace.” Once they were seated, Eva on a pillow, Aiden reached for her hand. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are about to eat. We also thank You for keeping us safe in Your care. Please continue to guide us to safety. Amen.”
“Amen.” She gently squeezed his hand, then reached for Eva’s plate. She took a tiny bite herself first to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Then proceeded to set two small pieces on the plate.
“Have you found anything?” She eyed Aiden as they dug into the meal. She was used to cheese pizza but suspected he would have preferred one with the works.
“Not yet.” He frowned. “It’s taking longer than I like. So far, Justine seems the most likely candidate. When we meet with Heath Strauss, I’m hoping to learn more about the circumstances of when and why she left the army.”
She nodded, hoping this new army investigator would be a help rather than a hindrance. Horrifying to realize Tom Mitchell was dead just because he’d tried to help them.
Especially her.
Trusting a new guy would not be easy. Listening while Brady had arranged for Finnegan backup for the meeting was humbling. At first, she’d wondered if the Finnegans were too good to be true. Hard to imagine that such a large family could be so close. But now she knew they were for real. Dropping everything to respond to Aiden’s request at the drop of a hat.
“More,” Eva announced.
“More, please,” she corrected.
“Pease,” Eva obediently repeated.
She took another square from the pizza and set it on Eva’s plate, then glanced at Aiden. “Is there something I can do to help? I feel so useless.”
His warm smile made her heart kick into high gear. “You’re helping by making dinner and playing with Eva.”
“I want Mr. Aiden to play wif me,” Eva said around a mouth full of pizza.
“Maybe later, if you’re good,” Aiden said. “But you have to listen to your mom.”
“I always listen to Mommy.” The little girl’s gaze was earnest, as if she’d never misbehaved a day in her life.
Hilarious.
“When we’re finished eating, I’d like to have you review some of these photos.” Aiden turned to her. “I’d like to know if these women look familiar.”
“I highly doubt Emmitt would have brought one of them home for introductions.”
“No, I was thinking more about if one might look familiar from attending his funeral.”
She stared at her plate for a long moment. “I don’t remember much about that day. I know that sounds horrible, but I was still in shock. My dad handled all the details.” At the time she was grateful for the help, but when her dad had died, she’d had to figure out everything on her own. It may have been better for her to have been more involved in Emmitt’s funeral.
“It’s okay. If you don’t recognize anyone, that’s fine.” He reached over to clasp her hand in his. “I’d just like you to try.”
“Of course.” She’d offered to help after all. And she needed to do her part in trying to figure out who was trying to kill her. That anyone could hate her and Eva that much was still difficult to comprehend. “Maybe something will come to me.”
“That’s my hope,” Aiden agreed.
When they’d finished eating, she cleared the table, wiped liberal smears of tomato sauce off Eva’s face and hands, then set up her daughter with the tablet again. So much for cutting down on screen time. She crossed to the sink to begin washing dishes. When Aiden came over to help, she waved him off. “I’m fine. I’d rather you keep working the list.”
“Thanks.” He returned to the kitchen table and opened the laptop.
The lights flickered but stayed on. She froze, then glanced at Aiden who shrugged. “Not much I can do if the power goes out.”
Maybe not, but the furnace going out could be a problem. She tried to think positively. Even a gunman would think twice about trying to find her in a snowstorm. And maybe he or she would end up driving off the road or getting stuck in a ditch.
Leaving the dishes to air dry, she joined Aiden at the table, steeling herself to see more gorgeous women who may or may not have had an affair with her deceased husband.
“I saved their profile pictures on the screen.” Aiden opened the first one. She stared at it, then shook her head.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m just asking.” He minimized that photo, then pulled up another. When she shook her head, he moved onto the third. Then a fourth. All were pretty enough, but none as stunning as Justine. “This is the last one. I didn’t get as far as I’d hoped.”
There was something familiar about the fifth woman. She frowned, trying to place her. “This one may have been at Emmitt’s funeral. I’m sorry, but I just can’t say so for sure.”
“Okay, this is Donna Olson.” He paused, then added, “I’ll add her to the possible suspect list.”
She sighed and nodded. “I wish I was more help.”
“We are both doing our best here,” he said in a low voice. “Let’s take credit for that.”
“I’m not normally a negative Nelly,” she said on a sigh. “I am grateful for everything you’re doing for me. For us.” She glanced back at Eva. “The way your family has rallied around you is amazing.”
“Oh, we all like to get up inside each other’s business,” he said in a teasing tone. When his phone rang, he grinned. “Speaking of the family, this is Rhy.” He lifted the phone to his ear. “Hey, Rhy. How’s Devon?”
He didn’t put the call on speaker, so she couldn’t hear his brother’s side of the conversation.
“Congrats on your new daughter! What’s her name? Aw, really? Colleen? Naming her after our mother is a wonderful idea. I’m sure Mom is grinning down from heaven.”
“Tell him congrats from me,” she whispered.
“Shelby wants you to know she’s happy for you, too, Rhy. Yes, we’re safe. Focus on your new family. Brady, Tarin, and Reed are helping us out. Later.” He lowered the phone. “I had a feeling Devon was having a girl. Rhy thought so, too. But Devon insisted the baby was a boy.”
“Usually it’s the men who want boys,” she said.
“Neither of them cares one way or the other. They’ll both love any child God gives them. But it’s no secret that boys are predominant in both the Finnegan and Callahan families.” He smiled. “Six boys and only three girls.”
“Then I’m glad Colleen has been born to balance things out.”
The lights flickered again, making her wince. “I should probably get Eva ready for bed soon. Once the lights go out, she won’t have the tablet or TV to keep her occupied.”
He nodded. “I just want to check this next name, Amy Golden. Then we can call it a night.” He typed the name into the social media search engine, and the first thing that came up was an obituary.
“She died?” A chill snaked down her spine upon seeing the young woman’s smiling face in the center of the death announcement.
“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting that.” He typed a few more keys, then sat back in his chair, looking dazed. “Amy Golden committed suicide three weeks ago.”
Suicide. The word hung dark and heavy between them. The timeline of being three weeks ago was eerie too. Was it possible this young woman’s death was related to what was happening now?