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Her skin flushed and she had to look away. “Then let’s work.”
Even Flynn’s chuckle was sexy. But his words became brisk and matter-of-fact as he described the evidence surrounding her family. Gambling. Money laundering. And worse, horrific stories of women and children being trafficked to other countries. Years of circumstantial evidence, but not enough to prove her grandfather’s connection to any of it or to bring him to trial. Not when there were bigger problems to worry about.
Flynn tapped his pen on his notebook. “I keep going back to the night of the explosion and the number of people in the house.”
It bothered her too, but it was still difficult to go back and remember that horrible day.
“I think we should assume the man in the room with you was killed.” Flynn’s voice was harder than it had been. “And I can’t say I’m sorry about that. He deserved exactly what he got.”
Tessa nodded. She felt the same.
“Do you know how many explosions you heard?”
She’d gone over it so many times in her head. “At least six. Unless the concussion I had messed with my hearing. But I heard four or five before the one near the room blew. And then I don’t remember any more.”
Flynn moved his chair around the table and sat beside her. His big arm wrapped her in a side hug. “I’m sorry to make you go back. I want to see if your memory matches the police or FBI reports.”
“Do those match up?”
He kissed her forehead. “Smart girl. No, they don’t. At least, they’re not identical. The FBI report is much more detailed than the one produced by the local Sheriff’s department. It has information that was never released to the press.”
“Still only two deaths reported?”
He sighed and hugged her. “Three. The two male remains and you.”
That was a horrid thing to hear. An official report of her death. “Why wouldn’t they have told the truth in the report? And if they lied about my death, did they lie about anything else? Everything else?”
Flynn’s hand ran up and down her arm. “As I said, smart girl. Until yesterday, I believed the report was accurate, although I wasn’t sure of the identities of the two men. I’m sure people with more clearance than I have know the truth, but to keep witnesses safe, FBI reports don’t include all the details.”
That made sense, but it still made it creepy. Her death was in an official report.
She finally asked the question that had been circling in her head. “Do you think my father and my uncle are dead, or do you think they’ve been in hiding with the Pavic family all this time?”
Flynn sighed. “I don’t know. I always thought it was a weird way to kill people. Even as a kid. There have to be easier ways to take out a person than blowing up a large house.”
“Did the report say how many explosions?”
“Twelve.”
“Twelve?” There must have been nothing left. Which wasn’t a loss. It was only a house, not a home.
“How good are you at sketching people?”
Flynn’s question had her sitting back and looking at him. “I draw a mean stick person. Why?”
He smiled. “I was hoping you could draw the men you’d seen that night. And your father and uncle. There aren’t any photos of them. There are files of known associates of the Pavic family, identified and unidentified. If you could draw, then I could compare them at work. I can’t access the files outside of the buildings and we’re not taking you into an FBI office.”
Even with the blows to the head and the concussion, she was pretty sure she could describe the other men, especially the one who’d wanted to rape her. “I can maybe describe them to someone. If you have someone you trust.”
He hugged her again. “I think I know just the person.”
Flynn rolled the idea around in his head for a bit. It would definitely mean letting more people know Tessa had a different bio than her Wit Sec one. Was it worth the risk?
Tessa tilted her head to look up. “Who is it? Can they be trusted?”
“Her name is Josie Ellis. She’s an artist from Sacramento who volunteers her time to do police sketches. She’s worked a lot with Nico Rivera. I’ve only met her a few times, but I’d say she can be trusted. Probably best to check in with Nico, though.”
Tessa’s body tightened against his. “Every time the circle gets bigger, I worry about putting these people in danger. I can’t ask a random stranger to put herself at risk by helping me. No.”
