Page 68 of Eden


Font Size:  

Lachlan shook his head softly. “I have no idea... but I have the CIA case files on that bust, so let’s start there.”

“We need to be careful with this. You’re technically off the case, Lachlan,” she said gently. “If you involve yourself too far, you’re going to create issues for your defense when you go to court.”

How convenient,he thought. He paused—how convenient indeed. Maybe that was the plan: to frame him and then have him taken off the case so he wouldn’t find the truth.

“I can still review case files,” he said. “If we find something, you investigate it. But I want to help in whatever way I can.”

Bethenny searched his eyes, then nodded.

He grabbed his laptop from his office and took it back to the kitchen. He logged into the CIA portal, not having to think twice about his log-in even though he hadn’t used it in years. He felt like his old self, and he’d forgotten how good that felt.

Lachlan had no idea where to start and he knew this could take days, or even months. But if it cleared his name, he would go through every document twice if he needed to.

Valley Kings

Lead Agent: LT06

Arrests: 22

Deaths: 11

Resulting incarcerations: 18

He opened each file for the Valley Kings’ case and read through each document with Bethenny.

They made a list of notes, of details for her to check.

“If Jim is doing the books for Albert Bonnano, he’ll be reporting directly to Albert. One of the eighteen incarcerations was his son, and Albert’s brother died during the ambush. If I’d known about Jim’s connection to the Valley Kings, I would’ve made this connection sooner. But now it makes sense: Eden’s death was a revenge killing for the ambush I led, and now he’s framing me.” Lachlan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Surely Eden’s death would’ve been punishment enough, but Albert Bonnano was a sociopath.

“I need to find evidence of communication between Albert and Jim,” Bethenny said, chewing on her cheek.

Lachlan’s first impulse was to advise her that was going to be next to impossible, given these people used burner phones and knew how to evade the law, but it wouldn’t help his case to discourage her.

She pulled back. “I have to get back to the station and keep looking at this. I’ll also check the prison visitor logs for the son,” she said.

He nodded. “Thank you.”

Thank you for everything.

Lachlan had spent much of his life alone. He’d grown up an only child and spent most of his childhood alone as his mother worked hard to provide for them. When he’d married Eden, he’d felt like he had a family for the first time ever, and losing that had broken him. But as he looked at Bethenny, his heart dared to imagine again.

She tapped his chest. “Stay out of trouble,” she said with a smile, but he knew she was deadly serious.

Stay out of trouble meant stay out of her case, but that was going to be more difficult than either of them knew.

He walked her out, standing at the front door until she climbed into her car and drove off. He closed the door, locked it, and double-checked it was locked. He looked through the blinds to see two patrol cars outside, which threatened to sour his mood. It was a waste of resources, monitoring him—they should be out looking for a killer.

He sighed heavily as he went back to the kitchen and loaded the empty coffee mugs into the dishwasher.

He looked around the living area, not sure what to do now. He’d spent so many years running, both physically and mentally, from his past. Running meant keeping busy. He hadn’t taken a day off in years. He hadn’t taken a sick day. He hadn’t stopped for fear he might fall apart and never recover.

But now he didn’t have a choice.

His eyes landed on his laptop again. He opened the browser and typed in his brother-in-law’s name: Jim O’Connor.

There were no news articles about him and only two photographs taken at a local fundraiser six months ago. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at Jim’s wife, Diana. She looked so much like Eden. Diana was two years older, but they could’ve easily been mistaken for twins.

Lachlan stared at the photograph of Jim.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com