“Did he give a name? Say what happened?”
I cocked my head. “No name, but … what?”
Jaxson sighed. “Our sister, Charlotte, went missing twenty years ago and hasn’t been seen since.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “But I don’t know if this is related.”
Parker and Jaxson shared a look that had me bracing myself.
“Bob Ackerman was one of the cops assigned to investigate my sister’s disappearance,” Parker said.
“They never found a trace of her,” Jaxson added, swallowing hard.
“Jesus.” My chest tightened. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. Thanks. We’ve been searching for Charlotte for two decades, and we always knew something didn’t add up.” Parker shook his head at his brother.
“It’s the reason we joined the force. K-9 for me,” Jaxson said. “And Parker’s a cold case detective. We still hold hope Charlotte’s alive, but ...”
The sadness in their eyes cut straight to my core. These brothers had been through hell. Not having answers could be just as devastating as the brutal truth.
The implications of Bob’s involvement in Charlotte’s case settled over me like a toxic cloud. Bob’s corruption went back decades. How many cases had he touched? How many investigations had he compromised?
How many families had he failed?
The cave felt smaller.
“Where are the notes?” Parker asked.
I hadn’t planned to hand them over just yet. Not until I understood everything they contained, not until I’d processed what Frank had done, what Bob had done, what I’d been blind to for so long.
Parker exchanged a look with Aria. “I need those notes. There could be a dozen cold cases connected to Bob Ackerman that I could solve.”
“Okay. Just hang on a sec.” Aria turned to me. “When did you learn Bob was corrupt?”
“When we saw him compromising a murder scene,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s when he shot at us,” Kayden said. He turned his bloody arm toward us.
“Shit, Kayden. I meant to have the medics check your arm,” I said.
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll get the first aid kit from the chopper.” Levi sprinted away.
“When did he shoot at you? Where? And why?” Parker’s questions came without pause.
While Kayden and I explained everything that happened from Lyle’s call yesterday, to finding Bruce and Wayne dead, to Bob attempting to kill us, Levi returned with the first aid kit.
I’d thought Mitch was a big man. Levi matched that and more. Six-foot-nine, easy, and built solid. Blond hair, dark brows, three-day stubble. He handed me the kit without a word and took up a position at the edge of the cave, leaning against the wall with one foot up. Quiet. Watchful. I had a feeling he had a backstory I’d want to hear one day.
We kept the story going as I treated Kayden’s wound, once again suggesting that he needed a hospital. Once again, he refused. Stubborn bugger.
Kayden kept looking at me, and I saw the question in his eyes. Why don’t you hand over Frank’s notes?
Aria pulled out her phone. “I’m going to make a few calls. When I come back, you can tell us how Bob escaped, Sapphire.”
“Of course.” I nodded.
