Drained (Edgars Family #6) - Suzanne Ferrell Page 0,35
not too far from the City Mission.”
She nodded, still holding Stanley close, her hands stroking his wiry fur. “He said he…liked that neighborhood. I checked there…the first night. He wasn’t…there.”
“Stanley actually found him,” Brianna said. “Led us right to the right building. Like he’d been there many times before.”
“How did…how did he die? Heart attack…or something?”
Again, Brianna met Aaron’s gaze in question about how much to tell her. He knew she didn’t want to stress her friend, but he’d always believed in telling people the unvarnished facts. Like taking off a band-aid quick. Pain initially, but it hurt less in the long run.
“No, it wasn’t his heart,” he said, leaning in over his knees. “Art was murdered.”
“Something up in Cleveland?”
Jake Carlisle looked up from his desk to see Frank Castello standing in his doorway. “Indians’ team batting average?”
“We could only wish,” Castello said, sitting across the desk from him. “Got a call last night.”
“From Cleveland?”
“Yeah. Jeffers wants to use my safehouse.”
Jake leaned back in his office chair. “For?”
“Wants to stash some witnesses there.”
“Brianna one of them?”
Castello gave a half shrug. “Didn’t give me names.”
Jake rocked back and forth in his chair a minute, considering if he should share what he knew about the Cleveland situation with his friend and employee. If Jeffers had already contacted Frank about the safehouse, he’d opened himself up to questions by the big man, which was Castello’s right as the property owner.
“I got a call, too. About four am.”
“Same time as mine.”
Jake nodded. “Probably one right after the other.”
Castello didn’t say anything more. Didn’t ask a question. Just sat there studying him. Waiting. Unnervingly still.
Damn, he’d hate to be on the opposite side of an interrogation from him.
“Said he needed the name of a profiler I trusted,” he finally said.
Castello’s brows shot up for an instant. “Profiler? As in serial killer profiler?”
Jake nodded. “Found a body last night. Homeless guy. Murdered. Staged. Wants to try and get a head start on finding out what’s making this guy tick before more bodies start dropping. Also wants to keep it quiet.”
“To prevent a panic in the media?”
“That and Brianna is somehow mixed up in this.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah,” Jake couldn’t agree more. “That girl’s been through enough. The media plastered her name and picture in every news outlet—print, online, television, radio—for months during Senator Klein’s and his son’s trials.”
“Tell me about it. We had a hell of a time keeping her protected during that mess.” Castello shook his head, glanced out the office window, then back at him. “Jeffers say how she’s mixed up in this?”
“Didn’t give me any details. Just said she was with him when he called about the profiler.”
“At four in the morning?” Castello gave him a pointed look. “You think he finally got the nerve to ask her out?”
Jake shrugged. “Didn’t tell me why they were together when they found the body. Almost didn’t mention it at all.”
“Abby know?”
“Don’t think so. She and Luke are still out west doing that deep corporate forensic audit for our tech company client.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s just after six there. My phone hasn’t rung, so I’m assuming Brianna didn’t call her or I’d have heard by now. Jeffers didn’t tell me to share the info, so I’m not going to be the one to call my sister-in-law and tell her that her best friend is in danger, again.”
“How you want to handle this, then?” Frank asked.
“I gave Jeffers my guy’s name and they set up a time to talk later this morning. I also asked Carson to CC me into any emails they share, as well as his profile of the unsub.”
“Because you think Jeffers may be in over his head?”
Jake shook his head. “No. He’s a damn good detective. But if this is a serial killer, then Jeffers may call for help. If that happens, I’d like to hit the ground running, not playing catch-up. Especially if Brianna is in danger again.”
“Because she’s family,” Castello said.
Jake nodded. “The moment Abby married Luke, Brianna, the friend she considers a sister, became an Edgars.” It’s just what the family did.
11
Brianna put her arms around Paula and hugged her as she cried. She knew Aaron told her about Art’s death as gently as he could, but she wished they could’ve waited until her friend’s medical condition had improved. Maybe a day or two.
But, if Aaron was right, and Art was part of some sick killer’s game, more people might be in jeopardy, so talking with Paula couldn’t wait.