Page 27

As I step up to the podium, cameras flash and film rolls. Time for the show, but not a script. I just wing it, dig in deep, and wade through the same bullshit I’m about to spew. “Good evening, everyone,” I start. “Many of you know me before I ever introduce myself. I am FBI Agent Lilah Love-Mendez. I grew up here. I went to school here. And yes, my mother graced many small and big screens, right here in our small community and beyond. My father, of course, is the future governor of our great state.” There are cheers from the fools who believe him a good man with aspirations to help them and their state prosper. I’d call them fools, but my father wears the disguise of an angel while playing with the devil. I go on. “My brother is your beloved chief.” More cheers. So many cheers, and as a sister, I am filled with pride. I leave out the part where he’s leaving, but there are shouts of, “Don’t go! We need you!” There you go, Taylor, and fuck you, too .

“And most importantly,” I continue with a dramatic pause, “I am a citizen of this town, where my memories run deep, my devotion deeper, and my addiction to Micki’s Diner’s strawberry pie has brought me great joy.” There are a number of agreements from the audience before I add, “I begin this press conference with my history simply so you know my commitment to this town, to our people, our community. And so, let’s get to it.

“Mark Walker has been found dead in his home. There is no threat to you or your loved ones. This was a calculated attack, and the victim was known to the attacker. We are clear on the motivation, which I will not talk about today, as we’re dealing with an ongoing investigation. But our knowledge of motivation for the crime allows us to offer assurance that you should not be afraid. To be clear, I am officially declaring jurisdiction over this case. And the answer to why? There’s a political component that crosses state lines. I will not be talking about that component in any further detail, either.

“I want to assure you that we are hunting this killer. I want to assure Elsa, Mark’s sister, that we, that I , will find this brutal monster. Elsa is not present, nor is she communicating, but I know she must be hurting. She’s a member of the military, trained to honor and serve, to protect, and she didn’t protect her own brother. That has to cut. I can assure you she blames herself, but I do not. I am sure you do not, either. She’s not a suspect, and when self-blame is involved, it’s often hard to face the public. But she’ll grow stronger again, and when she does, she’ll come and say her goodbyes.”

I look directly into the camera in front of me. “If you’re out there, Elsa, don’t worry. I’ll do the job for you. I will take care of this. I will pass judgment, and I will do what you cannot. That’s all, everyone. No questions.”

With that, I walk away from the podium and exit the stage to have Kane and Andrew frame me as we walk toward the car. Kit and Raz are at our rear. Jay waits for us in the not-so-far distance at the SUV. “Should Raz be around us, Kane?” I whisper softly.

“Yes,” he replies, letting me know that’s all he’s saying in the present company, but he has a plan.

“You just invited an assassin to come kill you, Lilah,” Andrew laments, leaning forward to look at Kane. “Did you know about this?”

“Better to get a warning than be surprised,” Kane comments dryly. “She just warned us about what is coming.”

“Better she come after me than someone else,” I comment.

“I feel like I’ve heard that too many times, Lilah,” my brother snaps.

“You have,” Kane states. “On that we agree, Andrew.”

We’ve just reached the SUV, and Kane and Andrew have huddled up with me to talk when I’m saved the safety lectures by the new, soon-to-be-gone, I predict, Chief Taylor.”

Kit and Raz step in front of him, and I lean in toward Kane. “Andrew’s replacement,” and then call out, “He’s good, guys. He’s the new chief.”

They part and open a gap for Taylor, who strides the remainder of his walk toward us. “Chief,” I say, “meet Kane Mendez, my husband.”

Kane tilts his chin in greeting, and Taylor stares at him with the kind of hatred that comes with a history I should know about but don’t. One glance at Kane, and I sense he has no clue what is going on, either. Could it be that the cartel did Taylor wrong in some personal way, and he believes that means Kane?

Another beat passes, the heaviness of Taylor’s anger hanging in the air. Taylor might not be my friend, but he’s Kane’s enemy.

My enemy, through Kane.

“Problem, Chief?” I ask, my tongue whiplash sharp.

He jolts himself, a physical shake, and then looks at me, the haze of anger still lingering in his eyes. “What just happened? Why did you just set yourself up as bait?”

“I’ll fill you in,” Andrew states, glancing at me with a question in his eyes and handing me back the power he seems to want me to have right now. He doesn’t like what just went down any more than I do. “If,” he adds, “my sister approves of me releasing the information?”

“Just the basics,” I say, limiting Taylor’s influx of knowledge, before I turn away from them to enter the vehicle. Kane immediately follows me, and soon Kit is across from us and Raz is up front with Jay.

“What the hell was that?” I ask, rotating to face Kane.

“I have no idea,” Kane replies, confirming what I already suspected. He was clueless. “I assume it’s cartel related. It’s not an unfamiliar reaction with those who believe my father and I are the same person.” He’s already snaked his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to have my tech guy search for a history.”

“Macom?”

“Yes, Macom.”

Macom is a German hacker who actually lives in Germany and seems to be about as good as Lucas. He’s expensive, though, and Kane doesn’t like working with someone outside his easy reach.

“I was worried about Raz being seen with us,” I murmur softly, returning us to the question I’d asked before we got into the vehicle. “If he does what you plan for him to do, you connect yourself to him.”

“In the cartel is my power to control the Society. And when I make it clear I’m tight with the patriarch of the mob, that increases two-fold.”

“It’s going to cause Taylor to come at you hard and fast.”

He reaches up and slides my hair behind my ear. “Good thing I have an FBI agent to protect me.” His lips curve, but his phone buzzes with a text message, and he glances down and laughs. “It’s your father.” His gaze lifts to mine. “He wants to know if I can help him with a security threat on election night. He doesn’t trust Pocher’s plan. And, of course, my answer will be yes.”

His cellphone rings, and he grimaces. “Macom. It’s never good when he calls that fast.” He answers the call, listens a minute, murmurs a few words, and hangs up.

“It’s not good,” he says. “When Taylor was in Texas, El Paso to be specific, his wife and baby got in cartel crossfire. They were killed.”

Pretty much the entire vehicle curses, and I feel a twist in my chest. Taylor was a dick to me, but he sees me as an extension of Kane, and Kane the kingpin of the monsters who killed his family.

“Taylor was transferred to Long Island to get him away from the incident, as he was struggling with volatile behavior,” Kane adds. “Which is not so unexpected, considering all, but something like that changes a man. He’s trouble. We’d be good to prepare for him to bring that trouble to us, but it’s not the first time we’ve dealt with someone like him. It won’t be the last.”

I don’t hate Taylor just yet, not with this fresh knowledge to guide my direction with him, but he’s dangerous. None of us can forget that.

Ever.