Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,115
might have hidden it in one of the boxes. No one knew my brother had an identical twin.”
“He would have given it to you, had he been alive, and it would never have gone to Brooke, I suspect,” Josh said. “Maybe he was afraid that when he showed up at the auction, they might be on to him and search him for it. So he hid it in one of the boxes to retrieve when he met up with you before Brooke took possession of them.”
“I’m thinking the same thing now. I searched his whole place, along with other members of the FBI, but we couldn’t find it. We thought Daisy Gulliver had found it and destroyed it. Apparently not.”
“Why would she be behind all this?” Josh asked.
“I suspect something on the thumb drive incriminates her. I’m boarding the plane now. I’ll see you soon. At the shop?”
“Yes. Adam Holmes is here also, another wolf, and police detective. The DEA special agent running the cocaine investigation, Ethan Masterson, also a wolf, will probably join us. And my mate, who has been affected by all this.”
“If I had known… I never intended for her to be involved in any of this.”
“She tried calling you.”
“I’ve been undercover. Be there soon.”
* * *
Brooke was relieved that Mr. Lee was one of the good guys. She was a little surprised he was on the case when his brother had been murdered though.
“Are you all right?” Josh asked her, taking hold of her shoulders and rubbing them in a compassionate way.
“Yeah, and I’m hoping this will be resolved soon.”
“Hell, me too.”
“I reached Ethan,” Adam said. “He’s on his way.”
“Good. He needs to be here for this,” Josh said, “since he was involved in the cocaine bust.”
“I called the local FBI, and they said they’ve talked to Mr. Lee,” Adam said.
“That’s good. That was going to be my next step,” Josh said.
“Should we look for the safe?” Lucas asked Brad.
“Why don’t you do that,” Brooke said. “I would have thought the FBI would take Mr. Lee off the case because this is personal with him.”
“True, just like it is for me though,” Josh said.
“And me,” Adam said. “These people can’t do this to one of our kind without some payback.”
“I, for one, am glad you guys are on my side.” Normally, Brooke would be busy doing something with the merchandise in the shop, but knowing the person behind all this was most likely close by and still after the thumb drive they hadn’t secured meant she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She fixed everyone cups of coffee in the meantime.
Ethan showed up about a half hour later and wanted to see the boxes.
Smiling, Brooke shook her head.
“Hey, the more eyes on this, the better,” Ethan said, smiling just as broadly. “Since no one’s found the thumb drive.” He looked over all the items but didn’t find anything either.
“I was thinking of making everyone lunch once Mr. Lee gets here.” She realized she needed to learn his first name.
“That works for me,” Josh said, the others all agreeing.
When Mr. Lee did arrive, Josh got the door for him. Ethan snapped his fingers as soon as he saw him and said, “FBI. Special Agent Ben Lee. I remember a case you were on when I’d just joined the DEA. Hell, why didn’t I remember that?”
Mr. Lee smiled. “You have a good memory. Can I see the boxes?”
Brooke sighed.
Mr. Lee began to sort through the stuff in the boxes. “I want to take down the woman who killed my brother.”
“You said she was Mr. Gulliver’s daughter. Ethan discovered she was in Paris at the time. But he had another daughter—” Brooke said.
“His stepdaughter, but she was adopted by him so she has his last name. Her biological father’s name was Fern,” Mr. Lee said. “She looked like she’d seen a ghost when she saw me at the auction. I knew she had my brother killed, but I was trying to find the evidence to put her away.”
“That’s the woman one of the perps we’ve taken into custody said hired them to get the thumb drive. Daisy Fern,” Josh said.
“That’s her,” Mr. Lee said.
“So you were working undercover, assuming your twin’s identity while you were at the auction,” Brooke said.
“I wouldn’t have done so if my brother had shown up, but I just knew something was wrong, and considering the information he was going to hand over to me, my concerns were valid. My brother wanted in the worst way