“The person who is talking to Pocher came to me the minute he was approached. I told him to go along with it, keep the money they give him, plus a healthy fee from me, and I, in turn, feed Pocher information as I see fit.”
“You’re in control.”
“Yes, beautiful. I am in control, but often control is subtle and unassuming, and therefore, far more powerful.”
My mind is still on my mother and some of Kane’s accusations about Murphy come front and center. “You said Murphy had contact with Pocher up to the time my mother died,” I say, aware that I haven’t followed up on this, aware that I don’t want Murphy to be one of them, one of the Society. I’m also aware that anything I hide from or deny, such as my own self, backfires.
“I did,” he confirms. “I have a guy I use to dig things up. He was able to make the connection. They attended a couple of events together. They shared a couple of phone calls. That’s all he found and I had him dig deeper.”
“Is he as good as Lucas?”
“I don’t have a way of quantifying Lucas’s skills, but Lucas takes risks you don’t want to take when these two men are involved.”
“I have to have him try to connect the dots. How do I know that Pocher isn’t using Murphy to do the same with me?”
“That’s my problem with Murphy,” he says. “You don’t. We don’t.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Before we’ve even made it home, Andrew calls me. “We need to talk about warning the people on that list Marilyn handed over. And the press conference I’m being pressured to hold.”
“We’ve talked about the press conference. Just handle it. And as for warning people, I’d be cautious how you do that. Make it individual. Anonymous threats to them, possible tainted food. Mary, Mother of Jesus, do not make it about a serial killer. And on that note, I leave that to you and Houston. I need to disconnect to actually work the backend of the case.”
“I’m going to hold the press conference in the morning. You want to be there?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Danica got the samples and there’s nothing here that helps us much. And can I use Lucas as I wish?”
“Well, he’s not a blood relative so I suppose you can.”
“Lilah,” he snaps. “Use Lucas how you wish, but don’t tell me the juicy parts.”
He hangs up.
Kane laughs. “You know how to end a conversation.”
I sigh and say, “I have to call Murphy. We need a military consult on this.”
“You sure this is a good time to do that?”
“You’re right. I’ll text.” And so, I do. I shoot him a message. He replies quickly, with a confirmation he’ll help. Nice and easy. No accusations. No anger. Okay, there’s a little anger but only one of us knows about it.
For now.
***
We head home and meet Jay at our apartment.
The group of us—me, Kane, Kit, and Jay—have just gathered around the kitchen island when Kit gets word that Andrew is downstairs to see me. “Nice of him to tell me he came to the city. Send him up,” I say, eyeing Kane. “I’ll take him up to Purgatory. I know you have things to talk about with Kit and Jay.”
A few minutes later, Andrew is at the door. “I thought you had a press conference.”
“It’s here and I wanted to get our team together with Houston’s team.”
I back up. “Well, come on in.” I motion him inside and into the kitchen.
“Chief Love,” I say as he brings our present company into view, “meet our cartel. I know you’re always talking about them and thinking of new ways to put them in jail. Let me help by giving you insight into who they are so that you can later be an asshole and try to use it against them.”
“I’m not trying to arrest anyone,” Andrew states, holding up his hands.
I continue. “Jay is my personal bodyguard who’s dating a librarian who likes tea so he’s now pretending to like tea. She’s a blonde babe, so you know how that goes. And Kit doesn’t talk much, so I like him more than Jay. He also eats a lot and thinks we don’t notice. We don’t know his sexual preference because he never seems to date.”
Kit grunts. “Seriously, Lilah?”
“And both,” I say to Andrew, poking his chest, “could kick your ass but won’t do it because you’re my brother.”
Andrew grinds his teeth and looks at Kane. “How’d it go with Pocher?”
“Your sister didn’t kill him,” he says. “And he’s still an arrogant prick. To me, that says Lilah’s willpower wins the day.”
I’m pretty sure that is the most Kane has ever said to my brother. There’s an uneasy comfort to the two of them now, which makes no sense, but somehow, it does. It’s as if they shouldn’t be okay with each other and yet they are. Burying that body together didn’t make them bond. But it changed the dynamic between them.
“Marilyn is watching Ann’s parents’ house,” Kit says. “Her parents aren’t home. There’s no police presence.”
“I made sure of that,” Andrew interjects. “Can we get pictures of her there now? Then we get that probable cause we’re going to need for proper surveillance.”
Kit bristles. “Our surveillance is beyond exceptional.”
“He means legal and official,” I say. “But what you’re doing right now helps. Get the photos and have them email them to me.”
I motion to Andrew. “Let’s go upstairs.”
Kane and I exchange a look and he says, “We’ll be in my office.”
In other words, in a place where he can talk without Andrew listening.
I follow Andrew to the stairs and as we head up, I say, “I’m actually going to let you inside Purgatory, which is my private space.”
“I’ve heard of this place called Purgatory. I didn’t know it was literally a place.”
Once we’re there, he looks around and picks up the pie I left there. “How old is this?”
“Damn, my pie. That sucks. It’s ruined.”
He tosses it in the trash. “This is just like that tiny hideout you had under the stairs you used to go to as a kid to eat sweets.”
“And hide from Dad. Kind of like Mom with the cottage I inherited until it burned down.”
He sits on the edge of the desk and I settle on a chair. “Are you going to rebuild it?”
“I don’t know. I have her on my mind, though. Standing in front of Pocher today, I wanted to make him pay.”
“And how do we do that?”
I arch a brow. “How do we do that?”
“I don’t know if he killed Mom. But I know what he did to you.”
“You need to stay out of it.”
“I’m not going to do that. And why the hell hasn’t Kane done something about it?”