Page 34 of Don't Say a Word

“That could have happened, which is the primary reason I want to talk face-to-face with Elijah’s friends.” I was good at weeding through bullshit. “If someoneintentionallylet him die, or someonegave him the drugs without his knowledge, then you’re looking at manslaughter or homicide. Because the case is closed, no one is looking beyond the obvious. Anyway, Jack left me a file about a Sun Valley High coach arrested for using students to sell drugs. His wife was laundering the money. A little bitBreaking Badbut with oxy, pot, and fentanyl instead of cooking meth.”

“And you think they’re back at it?” Tess asked.

“No, they’re both in prison, but I have a list of the students who were involved.”

“They were minors—how did you get the list?”

“Jack has a friend on the force. But let’s keep that information in-house. I was hoping you could run them, see where they are, what they’re doing. Maybe one of them connects with Elijah or his circle of friends. Especially two people involved—Eric McMahon, who was the backup quarterback, and Scott Jimenez, who was arrested for attempting to kill McMahon.”

“Send everything to me.” She sounded excited, and probably was—Tess loved research. She took my hand. “Margo, I’m so glad you’re working with us.”

“You’ve told me,” I said.

“But I’ve never said I was sorry. I treated you like crap when you left the firm. I became a PI because of you. So did Mom, though I doubt she’d admit it,” Tess added with a small laugh. “I was so angry at you and Mom, but mostly you. And I’m sorry. You’re my sister, and I love you.”

“All these feelings are going to make me squirm,” I said with a smile. “I love you too, and honestly, I gave back worse than I got. It was my choice to walk away because I couldn’t live under Mom’s rules. But I’m back, and I think we have an understanding.”

The understanding was that I would still look into Dad’s case, and Mom would ignore it. Probably not the best agreement in the world because when I found a thread, I would pull hard on it. Unfortunately, I had been stuck for months.

Gabriel walked in and smiled warmly at us. He wore casual gray slacks and a white polo shirt. “Hello, Margo. How are you?”

“Good, thanks. Just dropping off a research project for my brilliant sister.”

He smiled and stood by Tess. She looked up at him with such overwhelming love and affection that I was almost embarrassed. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Stay for a glass of wine?” Gabriel said. “Or, you prefer beer, don’t you?”

“I do,” I said, “but I have an early morning, so I should go.” I stood up.

“Did Margo pick a color?” he asked Tess.

“Red,” she said with a smile.

“Good. That’s settled, and we’re one step closer.”

“Don’t remind me,” Tess said. “There’s so much to do.”

“Honestly,” Gabriel said, “once you say I do in front of God and family, the rest is icing on the cake.”

It was getting sappy. I mean, I was all for a happily-ever-after, especially for my sister, but I now felt like a third wheel.

“I’ll leave the file here,” I said and motioned to the sealed manila folder. “Email me if you have questions.”

Both Gabriel and Tess walked me to the door and, arms around each other’s waist, watched as I drove off.

As long as my sister was happy, I was happy.

But if Gabriel hurt her, he would pay.

Chapter Eleven

Margo Angelhart

After debating with myself about whether I wanted to talk to Rick Devlin about the Bradford case, I decided his insight could help so I called him as I drove home from Tess’s.

“Devlin,” he answered.

He must be on duty.