“Yes. Less than whelming, if you will. I was not whelmed. You’re going to have to step it up if you want to fool those two.”
He smiled behind his cup. “I’ll remember that.”
“All right, good.” She took a deep breath to steady herself, then nailed Cruz with her best look of determination. “I’m ready to go all the way.”
Cruz choked on his coffee about the same time Auri realized her double-entendre faux pas.
“No, inside.” She patted Cruz’s back. “Inside Mrs. Fairborn’s house. Did you think I meant—?” When he gave her a hapless shrug, she asked, “Have you even met my mother? She knows about the devil’s doorbell, Cruz.”
“The devil’s what?” he asked between coughs.
“She will know if it’s been rung. We need a plan.”
“Why would we ring her doorbell if we’re breaking in?”
“No. The devil’s—Never mind.”
Sybil sat glued to the conversation, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two from behind her massive mug.
“And we had a plan,” Cruz said. “You chickened out.”
Auri sank against the seatback. “I know. I’m sorry. Did I mention that I’m pretty certain Mrs. Fairborn killed her husband, too?”
Her two cohorts refocused on her. “No, you did not,” Sybil said.
“He went missing around the same time and the sheriff never did a thing about it.”
“That sweet old lady,” Sybil said in awe. “A black widow. Whodathunk?”
“Okay. I’m ready now. For real this time. Let’s do th—” She stopped and listened. “Do you hear that?”
Cruz and Sybil looked around.
“That’s my mom.”
Sunshine texted Auri as she hurried down the alley toward Caffeine-Wah. She typed, I just needed to read your voice. I’ll probably be home late.
When her daughter typed back, I love you, Mom, her heart almost imploded.
She typed her usual smart-ass response, then entered the coffee shop through the back door.
Levi’s sister, Hailey, had sent up the signal, a code word they used that meant she needed a meeting ASAP. They’d been investigating Clay Ravinder for a few months now. He was threatening to take everything away from Levi, everything his nephew had worked so hard to build, and use it as a bargaining tool to get back into the Southern Mafia. Or, at least, one syndicate of it.
Neither Sun nor Hailey could let that happen. In fact, Hailey had come to Sun when she was still a detective in Santa Fe. As soon as Sun got some hard evidence on Clay’s less than aboveboard pursuits, thanks in no small part to Hailey’s ability to eavesdrop, she’d turn the case over to the feds.
They could hardly arrest Clay for his plans to run Levi out of his own business. They had no physical evidence he was planning anything illegal. But according to Hailey, Clay was working with Sun’s predecessor, a corrupt sheriff named Redding, and they were into everything from drugs to guns. Sun had a connection with ATF that could serve her well in this instance.
But Clay was getting restless. More volatile. More unpredictable. Sun might not be able to wait much longer. Still, she would have no case at all if not for Hailey.
Sun and Hailey’s mutual animosity had been serving them well. No one, not even Levi, suspected they were working together, much less that they’d become good friends over the last few months. Hailey was intelligent and caring, something Sun had never suspected growing up. If she’d known what Hailey had gone through, Sun liked to think she wouldn’t have been so quick to judge her. Then again, Hailey did steal her bike.
Sun ducked into the back of Caffeine-Wah and glanced around the storage room for her accomplice.
“Sunshine,” Hailey said from a dark corner.
Sun rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her. “Are you okay, hon? What’s going on?” She set her back.
Hailey wore that worried expression. The one Sun feared. If Clay ever found out his niece was helping the local sheriff bring him down, he would kill her. Plain and simple.
Her dark blond hair hung in tangles down her back and her red-rimmed eyes emphasized the depth of the circles underneath.
“What happened, Hailey?”
“Have you heard from Levi?”
Dread knotted her stomach. “I saw him this morning, but he escaped. Did he come home Saturday night?”
She shook her head. “He hasn’t been home in days, but I’m hoping it’s because you’re looking for him. Right?”
“Yes, hon. We’ve been looking for him. He was hurt Saturday night at the bar, but at least we know he’s alive.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. “Clay told me. It’s just … I’m worried Clay has done something to him.”
Sun’s stomach spasmed painfully. “Why? Has something else happened?”
“Not that I know of, but he’s exactly the kind of opportunist who would kill Levi and blame it on the injuries he sustained Saturday night.”
“But you don’t know that for sure, right?”
She sank onto a crate. “No, I don’t. But Clay met with Redding yesterday.”
Former sheriff Redding was getting to be a serious thorn in her side. He was as corrupt as they come and was not happy when Sun won the election against him.
“I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I did hear something about a Mr. Southern coming to see the plant.” Her expression turned panicked. “Sun, he’s offering the distillery to a higher-up in the syndicate. I know it. If we’re going to do something, we need to do it now.”
“Son of a bitch.” Sun turned away from her in thought. “But I don’t get it. What’s in it for Redding?”
She shrugged. “He wants the badge back. And Clay wants him to have it. The position would give Redding the ability to smooth the way for the syndicate to come in and take over. Because of that, Clay has promised to get it for him.”
Sun bit her lip in thought. “Do you know how?”
Hailey dropped her gaze. “I’m not certain, but they have a plan in place.”
“Way to bury the lede, Hailey.”
“Something about number three being their best option.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, Sun. I’ve been so worried about Levi.”
She turned back and knelt before Hailey. “No, I’m sorry. Have you texted him?”
“Over and over. He’s … he’s probably turned off his phone. Right?”
“Absolutely. He knows we can track him using his phone, and he was pretty dead set on finding those men who tried to kill his friend. Speaking of which, do you know Keith Seabright?”
Hailey shook her head. “Sounds familiar, but I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“Okay.” Sun considered not mentioning her trip to Hailey, but the woman was literally putting her life on the line for her family. She deserved the truth. “I think you should know, Hailey, I went to see your uncle Wynn.”
“Wynn?” she asked astonished. “He’s out?”
“No. Quincy and I went to Arizona. He wants me to look into his conviction. Says he’s innocent of the crime he’s in jail for.”