Page 86 of Seven Deadly Sins

“A file named Things I Want to Remember. I found it in miscellaneous.” He clicked on the folder. “Wow.” A list of names, the place Robert normally holds his meetings when too many people want to attend and won’t fit into the country club conference room. He made notes in parenthesis.

“This is a great score.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “James didn’t trust Robert one iota.”

“It doesn’t appear that way.” Liam straightened. “But why rebel and try to kill us?”

“Keep digging. Maybe you’ll find out. Look for a ledger or diary of some sort. I’ll order a pizza.” She stepped away, leaving him to keep digging.

By the time the pizza arrived thirty minutes later, he’d found a document where James listed everything that was spoken about at Robert’s meetings. From the notes, it was obvious James wasn’t comfortable with the escalating deaths and feared for his life if he said anything to the authorities. Hence the reason he tried to kill him and Harper.

His failure got him killed.

Liam straightened in his chair as Harper set a plate with three slices of mega-meat pizza in front of him. “Here’s the answer to one question at least.”

She glanced at the screen. “He actually thought if he killed us, no one would know? Robert has eyes everywhere. James had to know that.”

“The man was too scared to think straight. He’d also been pilfering evidence. I think the guilt became too much.”

“Then why not do a murder/suicide?” She bit into a slice. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Let me keep looking.” He turned his attention back to the laptop.

By the time he found what he was looking for, his eyes burned, and his mind spun. The man intended on getting Liam and Harper out of the picture so he could confront Robert himself. It wasn’t guilt at all that spurred the man on, but greed. “He wanted to be a partner and was going to blackmail Robert.”

“Idiot.” Harper shook her head. “I would’ve never pegged him for such a person. He’d always seemed so nice.”

“Money can motivate some people to do despicable things.” Unfortunately. He stretched his arms over his head, then got to his feet. “Tomorrow, we round up the people on this list.”

“Do you think we’ll find Robert?”

“Nope. I doubt any of them know where he is. Maysup said he hasn’t been in contact since the news plastered his name and face everywhere. Other than the mall, the man stays out of sight.” They would find him. Liam wouldn’t stop until they did.

He met Harper’s gaze. Neither would she.

With the two of them, the other two agents, and five borrowed officers, it would be a big task bringing them all in. “We should go to bed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

She nodded, her gaze still locked with his. As if they were drawn together by an invisible thread pulling them together, they moved toward each other.

He knew they shouldn’t get involved. It wasn’t a wise thing to do during a murder investigation, but he couldn’t help himself.

Wrapping his fingers in the long, silky strands of her dark hair, he pulled her close, his gaze landing on her lips. He told himself again that they were making a mistake right before he claimed her lips in a kiss.

Chapter Four

Harper rushed intothe large ranch house, following close on Liam’s heels. “Police!”

A man bolted from the kitchen and out the back door. The other two agents gave chase.

Harper continued through the house checking each room. Hiding in the walk-in closet was a woman and two grade school children. She put her gun away. “Ma’am, you’ll need to come with me. Is there someone you can call to care for the children?”

She nodded, eyes wide in a pale face. “Where’s my husband?”

“Being detained.” Harper motioned for the woman to leave the closet and watched as she called someone from a bedside phone.

After making the call, the woman took the two children to the kitchen to wait. Harper hated scaring the family, but she seriously doubted that the wives were ignorant of what their husbands were involved in. At least most of them, anyway.

They had ten people to round up, and this was only the first house. If they weren’t taken quick, the others would be alerted and flee. She cast a look at Liam, then toward the door.

“We need to move faster.”