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Kate’s throat worked as she swallowed, and Jazz saw the nerves behind the cool mask. Hating seeing her friend like this, she said, “Kate, you saved my life years ago. I don’t know where I would be, or what I would be, if you hadn’t found me and helped me. You have my love, my gratitude, and my allegiance. The people here are my family as much as you are. Whatever you have to say, they should hear it, too.”
“Thank you, Jazz. I hope you still feel the same way after this is over.”
A cold chill swept up Jazz’s spine, and before she could question exactly what that meant, Kate went on, “What do you know about your father?”
Oddly relieved, since all this was apparently related to Ronan Byrne, Jazz said quickly, “Just that he was apparently a mob boss in Chicago and that he’s dead.”
Kate shook her head, her mouth tight with irritation. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to think of Byrne as your father. I was referring to Connor McAlister.”
As all breath suddenly left her body, she had no air to respond to Kate’s question. She managed a headshake and a shrug.
Apparently understanding her lack of response, Kate sent her a tight smile and continued, “When I first met Connor, he was investigating the Byrne crime family. He was one of the finest men I’ve ever known.”
As bombshells went, it was a big one, and all Jazz could manage was, “You knew Papa Mac?”
“At the time that we met, Connor had been with the FBI for over a decade. I was a new recruit and was in awe of him. He was my friend and mentor. I joined the investigation late, mostly doing grunt work and behind-the-scenes tasks, but Connor always had a kind or encouraging word for me. He took me under his wing and allowed me in on all the meetings related to the case.
“When we learned that Byrne had fathered a child with Eliza Whitmore, the bureau wanted to bring her in and interrogate her. Connor didn’t like that approach. He chose to go undercover, get to know your mother, and see if she knew anything that could be helpful in bringing him down.”
Jazz didn’t know when it had happened, but at some point in the midst of this misery, Xavier had taken her hand in his. She appreciated it because her hand was the only thing she could feel. Every other part of her body was frozen in shock, horror, and abject grief. Papa Mac had used her mother for information? Had the only decent family life she’d had been a lie?
“It took him all of a week to learn that Eliza hadn’t even known who Byrne was. She was no help to the investigation, and Connor was ordered to cut her loose.” Kate shook her head and smiled. “It was already too late. Connor was over the moon for your mother. So much so that when he realized that not only would the FBI not be interested in Eliza, but at some point, they might use the information that she had a child by Byrne for their own agenda, he wanted to cut all ties with them.”
Finally finding her voice, Jazz rasped out a stuttering, “Did my mother… Did she know?”
“Connor told her on their second date who he was and why he’d set up the meeting. By then, Eliza was already in love with him, too.”
Their love had happened fast, that much Jazz had always known. She remembered hearing a conversation between her mama and a friend a few days after her mother had told her that she was going to marry Papa Mac. Her mother’s friend had admonished Eliza for being so reckless as to fall so fast for a man she hardly knew. Her mother had laughed and said that if one was going to do something reckless, then it should be for love.
Kate continued, “So Connor chose to leave the FBI and move the family to Georgia, far away from Byrne and anything to do with the investigation of him.”
Every question that was answered was replaced by ten more. Even as much as Jazz wanted to speak, to demand all the answers, she could only remain seated and take each hit as it came. And oh, did they keep on coming.
“The investigation against Byrne went on, but with a new team leader. I heard from Connor from time to time. As you know, he had an accounting degree, and he put it to use working for one of the larger accounting firms in Atlanta. Maybe things would have continued on without a hitch if Ronan Byrne and his family hadn’t been killed in a car accident a few years later.”
“Was it a hit?” Eve asked.
Jazz had been so lost in all the information being thrown at her, she’d completely forgotten that her team was sitting there with her. And maybe she was crazy, but she was glad they were hearing this at the same time she was. It made her feel less alone.
“No, it wasn’t a hit,” Kate replied. “It was clear at the accident site that Byrne had lost control on the icy road and gone over an embankment. He, his wife, and his fourteen-year-old son were killed on impact.”
Jazz once again thought about the half brother she’d only recently discovered she had. Had he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps? Would he have become the head of the crime family?
“So when Byrne was killed, there was no one to take over?” Gideon said.
“Correct. There were lots who tried, but none of them inspired loyalty the way Byrne could. The organization fractured after that. There were lots of killings and disappearances and absolutely no cohesiveness. So much so that our task force dropped from a dozen people working the case to just two. I went on to another case. And then, somehow, someway, it was discovered that Byrne had another child.”
Oh sweet heavens. Jazz was glad she was sitting down, because even before Kate said the words, she knew what was coming.
“They tracked Connor and your family to Atlanta.”
“The explosion?” Jazz whispered, her mouth desert-dry.
“Yes. Getting rid of your parents was the first part of their plan. And then, before the FBI could get to you, someone showed up and took you and Brody away.”
She remembered the harsh-looking woman who had introduced herself as a social worker. She had claimed that Arthur Kelly was a distant cousin of Eliza and was the only one willing to take both her and Brody together.
“Who is this ‘they’ you keep mentioning?” Xavier asked.