"If we're going to do this, we need to be smart. You can't for a second let him see that you have doubts about Julia's death. We'll tell him we came to see him because we saw the photo of the two of them together and we want to know what he can tell us about her."
"That's good," she said, swallowing hard. "But I think I'm going to need a minute, Jax. In fact, I think I'm going to be sick."
He took one look at her white face and then pulled into the parking lot of a coffeehouse. She jumped out of the car and ran inside. He should have realized how shaken up she was. He'd been talking tactics with her when she was still reeling from watching someone die.
She'd actually held up surprisingly well, keeping her calm, talking to the police exactly the way he'd asked her to. He didn't really know that he'd given her good enough reasons to trust him, but for some reason, she'd been willing to do just that, which made him feel guilty.
He was going to hurt her with his deception. That was coming. But if he broke his cover now, he could jeopardize everything—not just his case but also hers. He was more and more convinced that whoever had killed Natasha was probably involved in whatever was going on now. He just had to play this out for a while longer. Hopefully, in the end, he could help her find the answers she was looking for. It might not be enough to make up for the lies, but it would be something, and that's all he had right now.
Picking up his phone, he called Flynn.
"I got your text," Flynn said. "Can't you have any crises on a weekday?"
"Sorry."
"It's fine. I spoke to Detective Brower. I told him Julia's case ties in with our ongoing investigation. He's fine with that. It looked like a suicide to him."
"But it's not."
"Right. Caitlyn is heading to the scene now. Brandon will pull security camera footage from the area. We'll see if we can figure out who went to this woman's house this morning and who killed her. This could actually break things wide open."
"I just wish we could have gotten a break without someone else dying. However, I'm becoming convinced that the murders of these two women may connect to our current investigation. This spy ring could date back thirty-plus years. Or the ring may have had a reincarnation when the club reopened six months ago. We have generations of people mixed up in this: The Coleman family, starting with Edward, then moving to Sylvia and now David. The Jaggers—Wallace and Ryland. The Dimitrov family—Constantine, Louisa, Alexander and his wife Victoria. There's also the Bragin's—Daniel and Lindsay. Then we have Eddie Bozic, whose stepbrother was married to Sylvia."
"You're making me dizzy," Flynn said dryly. "We need to start clearing some people."
"Every time I think I can, I can't. And we haven't even talked about Maya's family: her father, her grandfather, the neighbor who grew up next door. That neighbor, Blake Cordero, was in a photograph at Julia's house. It's another connection that I don't understand."
"You'll figure it out, Jax. It's what you're good at."
"I need to figure it out fast. We're on our way to Cordero's house now. I'll check in later." As he ended the call, he realized Maya had been gone awhile. He got out of the car and went into the coffeehouse. She was nowhere in sight. He might as well get some coffee since they were here. He had a feeling he was going to need a lot of caffeine to get through this day.
Chapter Fifteen
Maya washed her hands and face, relieved that she'd at least made it to the bathroom before puking her guts out in front of Jax. But as she stared at her white face and big eyes, she barely recognized herself. What was she doing? How had she gotten to this point? A woman was dead because of her questions. How could she live with that?
A knock came at the door, followed by Jax's voice. "Maya, are you all right?"
"I'll be out in a second."
She took a couple of deep breaths, dried her hands, and then walked into the hallway. Jax was waiting with three cups in a to-go box.
"I got you some ginger tea; it's good for the stomach."
"You're always trying to give me tea."
"If you don't want that, I also got you coffee. You have choices."