Page 97 of Three

Serena replies straight away, “I found a reiteration. Jasper Penn always donates to one charity.”

“That doesn’t sound odd. Everybody has a favorite one,” Raph explains.

“Name?” Michael asks eagerly, he seems really taken by the investigation part. Can barely sit still on top of his husband.

“Young Embrace.”

Ramiel starts typing on his phone.

“It’s an old charity for disadvantaged children,” Raph says.

“God, I love your amazing memory.” Michael kisses his husband’s cheek.

“Only that?” Raph gives him a wicked smile.

“Jasper probably feels responsible for his brother’s actions. Donating is his way to atone for it.”Just as I did with the triplets.I welcomed them into my life as a sort of penitence on top of honoring my promise to a friend. Which turned out to be beneficial. For all of us.

“Or maybe it’s just all a pretense to show voters how philanthropic and benevolent he is,” Lori suggests.“Politicians are busy bees, always with an agenda. Most blokes are.”

Gabe sends him a long glance.

“Have you ever seen a volunteer from Young Embrace? Did a kid who was helped by the charity ever talk at one of those events?” Rague asks.

“Don’t think so.” Gabe looks at Uri for confirmation, and he shakes his head.

“No,” Raph confidently replies.

“It’s because Young Embrace is a shell charity,” Ramiel declares, typing on the keyboard of my laptop at an impressive speed. “It was founded twelve years ago. The charity’s offshore account was opened by Martin Cox, who was an accountant and the son of Mary Clark, an assistant who worked at Golden, Penn and Sighy.”

“My uncle’s law firm?” I ask, confused.

“Ithink your uncle used it for money laundering,” Ramiel continues. “He had a lot of known criminals for clients. Maybe they forced him, maybe it was his idea, or Martin Cox’s. I don’t know, but he was part of it.”

“Charities are trusted by the general public and can be tax-exempted.” Gabe nods. “Did you find large, one-time donations or a series of small ones from unidentified sources?”

“Both,” Ramiel confirms after checking on the screen.

I try to blink away the shock. Uncle Ray? He was cold and so fucking strict, uninterested in anything but public opinion and his job. And now a criminal? Is that why he fought with Opal when she announced she wanted to be a cop like me?

“You said that it was founded twelve years ago. My uncle died two years later. Did this Martin Cox keep it going?”

“That’s when Jasper came in. A month after your uncle’s death, your cousin started donating money to the charity, and his political ascent began.” Ramiel grabs my fingers, but I pull back.

“Fuck!” I cuss, stroking both my hands over my head and gripping my nape hard. So, it’s true. My family is a bunch of fucking criminals. Jesus! Fuck!

“There’s more.” Ramiel’s eyes are pained, and the sight makes me feel even worse.

“Opal?” I whisper, dreading his answer.

“She doesn’t seem involved. No link. We still don’t know where she is, though.”

I take a deep breath in, but it doesn’t fucking help. “So what is it?” I bark too roughly at him, but I feel like a bomb ready to explode.

“On the dates Norman Jefferson and Malcom Bindy were murdered, five hundred K was transferred from the charity…both times.”

“The payment for each hit was five hundred K.” I remember the way Jasper looked at me in the Costco parking lot. The way he said I looked fine. He was surprised. Did he expect me to be dead? Hurt?

I grit my teeth, and spinning to my left, I vent all my anger on the wall. My fist goes through the plaster, tearing a hole. The deafening sound is followed by an eerie silence. I pull my bloody fist back and press my forehead to the wall. The pain hasn’t registered yet. My hearing is muffled, I feel like I’m underwater without any control over my body.