Page 7 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Four

H ours later, Ryan was ready to pull his hair out strand by strand.

Charity had found nothing nefarious, and neither had Hammer.

There seemed to be no connection between the dinner guests and the Kellys other than a few above-board business dealings.

Yazmin had no ex who had shown up to kill people, and there had been no affairs between the Kellys.

They had no children, and all their money was bequeathed to charities they had helped during their time in business.

The four dinner guests owned various companies, but again, it seemed to be all above board.

Nothing was coming up that helped them figure out just what the hell the shooting was all about.

They were all meeting in the common area to discuss their findings. Ryan knew it would be nothing.

He stepped into the common room and noticed a bit more activity. Team Charlie trainees were in Del’s office with their captain, Marcus. Team Alpha wasn’t officially on the case, but they hadn’t been called out today, so they were helping Team Bravo.

“Where’s Dumfries’ girlfriend?” Graeme MacGregor called out to Ryan. Dumfries was Graeme’s massive Irish Wolfhound, who was enamored with Maya. Maya was playing hard to get and, for the most part, ignoring any idea that she would lower herself to play with Dumfries.

“She’s taking a nap,” he said, but he felt her walk out of the office. He looked down at her and noticed she was looking around. Yeah, she was playing hard to get, but he realized that his partner might have a thing for the wolfhound.

“So, what do we have?” Seth asked as he walked into the room, Adam hard on his heels.

“A whole lot of diddly and shit,” Hammer said. “When Charity can’t find anything, you know there’s nothing there.”

Charity made a rude noise as she continued to work on her laptop. “There’s something here, I just can’t figure out what it is. Something is way off.”

“Okay,” Seth said. “Kap, you talked to a few of your connections. Anything we should know about these people?”

Kap shook his head. “They had never even heard of the Kellys. I had a friend who still works with NCIS run a few things through their filters on the dinner guests. Nothing.”

Ryan rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension.

“You have something to add?” Seth asked.

“No.”

“Nikki, anything from your Coastie buds?”

“Nope. They did know the Kellys, but only because they held some kind of fundraiser for military families.”

“This is irritating as fuck,” Rami said. When the former SEAL was agitated, he could definitely resort to what Rami called the language of his people…meaning sailors.

“I know there is something there, but I can’t put my finger on it.

This baby is killing my brain cells. That and the lack of caffeine in my system is going to be the death of me,” Charity said.

“Also, all four of their dinner guests were single men, no wives, girlfriends, husbands, or boyfriends. They seemed to live very solitary lives.”

They had no connections. It seemed like just a dinner party among friends. But Keely had talked about the windows being closed and the lack of security. It was as if they were trying to conceal what was happening there.

“Hey, Charity, did those guys help with the charities they had set up?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Let me look.”

“What are you thinking?” his captain asked.

“It’s almost like these guys shouldn’t have anything to do with the Kellys, right? The Kellys were mostly retired and living the good life. Here are these four dudes with no connection to them. What if the lack of connection is the connection?”

Seth blinked. “What?”

“Think about things that bring people together. Most people at a marathon don’t know each other. But you could meet anyone there. What if they met there? What if this has something to do with the charities they were involved with?”

Seth nodded. “That’s a good point.”

“And he’s right,” Charity announced. “They were all involved with fundraisers for an education fund here in Hawai’i.”

“What kind of education fund?” Kap asked.

“Hmm, let me do some digging.” A few humming seconds later, she had her answer. “The Ho’ona’auao Fund, which was actually founded by the Kellys.”

“Dig into it,” Seth ordered. “It’s weird that they founded the charity. What is its mission statement?”

“This fund is dedicated to education activities such as after-school programs, Hawaiian language classes, scholarships, and school upgrade projects. It was founded in memory of Anela Kelly. Oh, that’s his mother. She was a schoolteacher.”

“Still. You know that some of them hide their most nefarious deeds behind family connections. See if you can find anything at all,” Seth said. “Hammer, can you see if there are any FBI investigations into it?”

“Already working it.”

“We have another issue,” Seth said, turning to look at Ryan. His stomach tightened because he had a bad feeling about what was coming next. “There is little to nothing about Keely Templeton online.”

“I thought your fiancé said she was a YouTuber?”

“She is. But until about nine months ago, there was nothing.”

“Not true, Seth. She was connected to a restaurant,” Charity said. “That is before she walked away from it. I’ve seen some references online about her partner—former boyfriend—having an affair. She ditched him and moved to Hawai’i.”

“I know, but that seems like a hasty move. Also, her house is owned by the KT company.”

“Her company?”

He shook his head. “Hammer and Charity have yet to find out who owns it and how it’s funded. I’m gonna need you to interview her.”

Ryan frowned. “She’s not a suspect.”

He would bet his life on it.

“I know. But there might be something about her that caused this. Maybe there’s a person who is stalking her? Hell, from what we are learning about her move here, there’s a good chance that her ex realized he wants her back, and that’s what this is about. You never know.”

He rolled his shoulders once again. “I need a shower.”

“Yes, you do,” Autumn said as she walked by them on her way to the break room.

“Take Kap with you. I want to know what her mood is. From what I understand, Lulu said her parents are coming over, but there’s no way they’re here yet. Flights from Texas take at least nine hours, and that’s if they can find a seat.”

He nodded, even though he didn’t like it. Just popping in on a woman who was a victim of a crime didn’t feel right. Still, he was happy that at least it would be him. With that in mind, he told Maya to go take a nap, and he headed off to the showers.

Less than twelve hours after getting out of the hospital, Keely felt as if she were being invaded.

It was bad enough that Aunty Lulu was watching Keely as if she were about to die, but it got worse when her parents arrived.

They had been there all of thirty minutes, and her father was already making insane statements.

“This would have never happened in Texas.”

Like that.

She had actually almost been kidnapped when she was a kid.

Well, they thought it might have been a kidnapping attempt; they still didn’t know.

But that had happened in Texas, in the city where they still lived.

She didn’t roll her eyes, but she wanted to.

Riki Templeton was towering over her bed, acting like an avenging angel.

Long, wavy hair was up in a man bun. She’d heard her mother say that it was sexy, and that was something she preferred not to think about.

He wasn’t as big as he had been when he had played in the NFL, but he was still a giant to her.

He probably always would be. Her father hadn’t been happy that she wanted to live in his birthplace.

He had absolutely nothing against Hawai’i.

He loved it. But his life was on the mainland with her mother and her brothers. That was not for her. Not anymore.

“I like it here.”

She wasn’t lying about that. There was something that hummed in her soul every time they came to visit the islands.

Since she’d moved into her grandmother’s house, it had only grown.

She loved discovering new little places to shop, to eat, to breathe in.

She also loved learning more about Hawaiian traditions and food.

Her father taught her many things over the years.

He was damned proud of his heritage, and the more she learned, the more she understood so much about what drove him to be such a good husband and father.

If she had been a normal woman with a normal family, her parents would still be on their way to Hawai’i. But thanks to money on both sides of the family, they had used a private jet.

“Then you can come back to visit.”

Her mother and she shared a look. Being the two girls in a household of stinky boys, they had always been close. Monica Rogers-Templeton had been a business major when she’d accidentally run into the star linebacker’s motorcycle. Her father had always said it was love at first sight.

“Why don’t you go talk to Lulu? She’ll know all about this team that saved our baby,” her mother said.

Ugh. Yes, she was the baby of the family, something no one ever let her forget.

It was why she chose the Culinary Institute of America over schools closer to San Antonio, Texas.

She adored her family, but they always saw her as a baby, the one who needed help.

Granted, this house was saving her a ton of money, but when Chad had bought her out of their business, she had invested wisely. She could afford to live in Hawai’i.

Her father’s gaze moved from her mother back to Keely. “Fine.”

Then, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I just want you safe.”

The whispered confession had her eyes burning. She had nothing but love for her father. He loved loud and big. Most of the time, she adored him. “I know, Daddy.”