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“Christ Almighty.” Seth handed the phone back to Dillon, who stared down at the tiled floor, his fingers pressed hard around the rectangle-shaped piece of metal and plastic in his hand.
The drugs? That had been years ago. Cocaine. An addiction Dillon had overcome with the full support of his brothers, mother, and extended family. And speaking of Aurora’s family… That was complete bullshit. Roland Justice had always stood by his sister with her life choices, including Dillon’s birth. If he hadn’t been supportive, he’d have never used all his influence to help Aurora complete the adoptions smoothly.
Seth’s oldest brother dragged a hand through his hair. “I’ve taken two calls already, one from my uncle, and the other from the newspaper wanting to see if I had a comment. They think there’s potential for a human-interest story.”
What the hell was happening?
Seth added up each attack in his head. “The bastard’s going for the drawn out pain. Sticking the knife in deep enough to make us bleed each time, but never a fatal jab.” A battle of attrition. One their unknown adversary seemed to be winning.
“Exactly.” Adam’s voice came out like a low, angry growl.
Seth looked over his brothers. “Should I expect Zach this morning or is this it?”
Dillon shook his head. “Zach’s at his cabin with Milly. He’s bringing her in later this morning.”
Seth nodded. “So is there more news?” He glanced at Adam who kept glancing toward the front door. “I get the feeling looking at Adam that he’s not done.”
“You guessed right.” Adam glanced at his watch. “We have about five minutes before we can expect an agent from Homeland Security. Dane Tollison is a colleague of mine who contacted me early this morning. The post revealing my service record was flagged by various agencies, including the one he works for. There’s a connection point between me and an investigation he’s working on. It set off an alarm bell, and he called me first.”
“What’s the connection?” Heath asked the question on Seth’s lips.
Adam stared at Seth, concern warming his gaze. “You, little brother.”
Seth heard the words in his head, but they didn’t gel. “What are you talking about?”
“You and Stanton Fox.” Adam said as a surge of unease crawled over Seth’s body. “He’s under investigation by the DHS and a couple of other entities. Whatever shit Fox’s into is deep, ugly and explains why the prick’s private business dealings are so secretive.”
“Bloody hell,” Heath cursed.
“And the shit just keeps getting deeper.” Dillon looked to the heavens.
A buzzing at the door signified their guest’s arrival.
What the fuck had Seth got his family into? The sale and the payoff from Brooke-Porter Digital was his moment to prove himself, to show everyone their faith in him was justified.
And now the Feds were at his door?
Adam stared at them all in turn, finishing with Seth. “Don’t volunteer information. Answer only if you have to.”
As Seth walked down the hallway toward the entry door, each step felt like a chasm widening between him and his family with the soil crumbling away down a steep cliff until he couldn’t cross back.
He opened the door to a man who was tall and built, with military-short, brown hair, salted with grey at the temples. But his carved features appeared mid-thirties at best. Cool, assessing hazel eyes stared back at him.
“Mr. Justice?”
The politeness only added to the alarm ringing in Seth’s head.
“Yeah. I’m Seth. And you are…”
“Special Agent Tollison.” The man showed his DHS ID. He gazed down the hallway. “Adam here?”
“Correct.” Seth moved aside and motioned toward the living area.
Tollison walked past. Seth followed and then stood as his guest and Adam studied each other across the living area.
“This everyone?” asked the agent.
Seth frowned, but Adam kept his gaze on Tollison. “Our brother Zach’s with his kid elsewhere. For now, this is everyone you need to speak to.”
