Page 75 of Untouchable

She gasped. “What?”

“The phone wasn’t Marshall’s. It was Roman’s. Caleb’s grandfather. His mom’s dad. The big crime boss in Baltimore back then.”

His attractive face blurred slightly in front of her. “What are you saying?”

“It’s impossible to know from phone records like that, but this would be evidence that might point to the possibility of Marshall not being responsible for the murder. I’m sure the DiMauros are responsible, but it might not have been the man himself. Maybe he just informed them there was a problem with your dad, and the DiMauros did what the DiMauros do. They’re gangsters after all.”

“But there was that note.”

“I know.” He frowned and let out a sigh. “This is the stage of an investigation where it sucks. There is conflicting evidence, and we don’t know enough at this point to put it all together. But I’d say it’s at least possible that Marshall isn’t the guy on this.”

Her breath was coming out in shaky pants, and something had tightened in her gut. Something she couldn’t begin to identify. “So… so…”

“So all we can do now is keep looking. We’ll have to try to dig deeper.”

Her knees almost buckled. She grabbed at a shelf to steady herself.

“You okay?” Jack asked, looking concerned, and he reached out to give her his arm.

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My mom and I were so sure it was him.”

“Well, it really looked like him. And it still could be. Don’t take him off the table as a suspect yet. You know him better than I do. What do you think? Is he capable of doing something like this?”

She nodded, staring at a spot in the air. “Capable? Yes. Likely? I just don’t know.”

“We’ll start checking into Vinnie since he’s definitely a DiMauro and he was Marshall’s supervisor back then. He’s not active anymore, but he’s still around. We might be able to turn something up. If you’re okay where you are, you might be able to help us get some of the information we need. But we need to do some more work before I can tell you where to look. Whatever happens, you need to be careful.”

“I will.”

“As I mentioned the first time we talked, I don’t think what you’re doing is very smart.”

“It’s not smart.” Her voice sounded a little breathy.

Jack’s eyebrows lowered. “Shit. You like this guy, don’t you?”

She stiffened with a quick inhale. “I do not like him.”

Jack shook his head. “Just be careful. I’ve heard he’s a lady’s man, but men like him aren’t safe. You don’t get to the position he’s in so young without trouncing people who are older, more qualified, and who have more experience. And trouncing them usually means using unsavory methods. Even if he’s not a murderer, he’s connected. I don’t think he’s a nice guy.”

“He’s not a nice guy. He’s not nice at all.” She spoke the words with absolute conviction.

Whatever else Caleb was and had done, he would never benice.

“All right. I can’t stop you from doing what you want to do. Just be careful and keep in touch as much as you can. I’ll touch base in the normal way if I find something. You better get going.”

“Yeah,” Kelly agreed, shaking off her distraction of before. She needed to pull it together and not let the mortifying revelation she’d just had unravel her. “Thanks for everything.”

“Sure thing.” Jack stepped forward suddenly when the door to the workout room opened, and he pressed her back against a wall so it would look like they were talking intimately when one of the residents walked in wearing workout clothes. After verifying that the person was harmless, Jack nodded wordlessly toward the door and followed her out.

The hall was empty, and she shook her head when she saw a particular expression on his face. “You love all this subterfuge and sneaking around, don’t you?”

Jack chuckled appreciatively. “Of course. I never get to do it anymore. You wouldn’t believe what my job is like now. So much paper shuffling and calling people up, giving them jobs to do. That wasn’t why I got into the security business.”

The corner of her mouth quivering, Kelly replied, “I thought maybe packing a weapon made you feel all manly.”

“That was it.” His eyebrows twitched. “Of course.”

Jack’s expression was so amused and self-deprecating that Kelly surprised herself by laughing out loud. Then surprised herself again by feeling self-conscious at the warm, responsive flicker that appeared in Jack’s eyes.