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As much as he loathed leaving things with Bridget’s case up in the air, Zane followed Jay down the hall to the command center, the home base for their computer analysts. Sydney sat at her computer with Kat standing behind her, staring over her shoulder at the monitor. They glanced up when the men came into the room, and Zane noted the triumphant gleam in Sydney’s already brilliant blue eyes.

“What’s up?”

Sydney’s smile lit up her face. “I found a break in the case. Well, maybe not a break exactly, but it’s big regardless.”

“Syd found a connection we weren’t expecting,” Jay explained. He nodded to the redhead for her to continue.

“So we knew De la Peña suspected the casino owner Max Morrison of sending in spies to try and take down his organization. He’s not wrong, but I don’t think he’s guessed the whole story. There’s a bigger conspiracy brewing.”

Zane couldn’t resist raising a skeptical brow at Sydney’s dramatics. “Conspiracy? Really?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but she’s right. There’s a lot more going on here than anybody thought,” Kat reiterated.

Jay crossed his arms over his chest. “Start at the beginning and talk us through it.”

Sydney swiveled her chair, so she was fully facing the men. Zane noted how animated she was, how excited she became to figure out a problem. Her love for her job radiated in every part of her. Her innocence and the excitement she showed over the small things tugged at him.

“I went back to what we knew from the night Zane was stabbed. It was obviously an ambush. Armando and Elian suspected him of working for Cal Russo or Max Morrison. Cal is a known criminal who’s ruthless and careful. He’s a prime suspect in several murders, but there has never been enough evidence to convict him. Morrison is more of an unknown. He’s a casino owner who’s worth billions. He has no obvious ties to organized crime or any criminal enterprises.

“I also considered Zane’s suspicions about Thumper and Singer. Armando believes they are loyal to him, but after how shady they were acting at the stabbing, it’s plausible they pointed the finger at Zane to take the heat off them.”

“So what are you saying?” Zane prodded.

“She’s saying she found the thread connecting them all,” Kat supplied, motioning for Sydney to continue.

“Cal Russo cornered the market on gun-running in this area. He had the run of the show until Armando expanded his operation from New Jersey into several small communities like Grayson Cove. I found out all of this through ATF intel Tristin got from his contacts. They have an amazing amount of background information. Once I paired that with Zane’s suspicions, pieces started fitting together.”

“Syd, can you get to the point?” Zane shifted his weight anxiously on his feet.

“Stay with me. It’ll be worth it, I promise. Anyway, when Armando first moved his business to this area, he flew under the radar. He built up a few loyal clients before Russo even realized he had competition. There was a note in the files by a retired ATF agent who speculated both thrived being competitors. He said you couldn’t take one down because the other would step up to take his place, but as long as they both had equal stakes in their criminal clientele, they would keep each other from becoming too powerful.”

“An agent who doesn’t want to dismantle two crime lords running guns through small town America? That is some messed up shit,” Jay said.

“No kidding, but this is where the story gets interesting,” Kat inserted.

“I found an old article about a car accident involving Cal Russo’s son Tad and his girlfriend, Rebecca. The article said the couple were run off the road and sent off into a ravine, where the car flipped multiple times. Tad was killed. Rebecca suffered irreparable brain damage, and to make it worse, Rebecca was pregnant. The family decided to leave her on life support until the doctor felt the baby could be delivered safely. The baby was delivered prematurely via C-section, and then Rebecca died a few days later.”

“It’s tragic, but what does it have to do with De la Peña or…any of this?” Zane asked.

“Rebecca’s last name was Morrison. Her son Thaddeus is being raised by both sets of his grandparents, Max and Rose Morrison and Cal and Tiffany Russo. Armando De la Peña is suspected to be behind the car accident.”

Jay whistled under his breath. “Damn.”

“There’s more.” Sydney whirled around and clicked her mouse a couple of times. The giant screen on the wall lit up and within seconds displayed two older photos.

“That’s Thumper and Singer.”

“Singer is actually Reggie Singer, and Thumper’s real name is Jubel Reisling. Thumper’s sister is Tiffany Reisling Russo. Thumper is Cal’s brother-in-law. I haven’t found any evidence tying Singer with the Morrisons and Russoes yet, but with Thumper’s connection, I’d say your hunch about them being the snitches is spot on. It’s one big web of crime, deceit and revenge.”

Zane fought off the urge to roll his eyes at Sydney’s dramatics. “But how did the De la Peñas not know who Thumper really is? I mean if we figured it out, why didn’t they? They’ve been careful to vet anyone coming into their organization.”

“I don’t know, except Tiffany dropped Riesling when their mother divorced their father and married their stepfather. The stepfather legally adopted Tiffany, but Thumper stayed with their father. It could be they didn’t dig deep enough to make the connection.”

Zane studied the photos for several minutes, letting the information sink in. “Did you find any connection between Thumper and Singer outside of their involvement with the De la Peñas?”

“No, nothing. But I’m still digging. There has to be a connection somewhere.”

“Those two are as close to the inner circle of the crime family as anyone outside of Armando’s sons, so they have to have been part of the De la Peña organization for a while. If they were working with Russo and Morrison to take down Armando and Elian, then why are they taking so long? If Thumper and Singer are the moles, they should be armed with enough intel for Morrison and Russo to destroy Armando and send him packing back to the Dominican.” Zane theorized aloud more for his own benefit than for the others in the room. It was his way of piecing together the intel on a case until he resolved the unknown.