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“No,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Agreed,” Riley said, then looked at Andi. “Any ideas?”
“Nothing certain, but I have a theory.”
Christian arched a brow.
“It just came to me on the way over,” she continued. “Think of the specific items that have been taken.” She pulled her notebook and a catalog from her satchel. “My boss sent the catalog of Tad’s collections over when the case started.” She flipped the catalog open. “All of the pieces taken are either Aztec in origin or were from Mexico. His are rare collections, even the wine he’s amassed—some of the rarest in the world, but that’s gone thanks to the fire. So they got nothing from the Taos gallery.”
Greyson draped one hand over his knee. “But you think they’re amassing a collection for a particular collector. Someone with lots of money and a taste for the finer things?”
“Exactly,” she said.
Christian loved to watch Greyson’s mind work.
“So ... the question is,” Riley said, “if they are planning to hitanother gallery, which ones contain an Aztec or Mexican heritage collection?”
“Exactly,” Andi said.
Christian looked at Andi. “Let’s start researching.”
She nodded. “And it would be a good idea to cross-reference any that you installed the security system at, along with any that my company insures.”
Christian sat back and stretched out his legs, crossed his ankles. “Excellent idea.” He shifted his gaze to Greyson. “There’s one thing we need to do first.”
Greyson arched a brow. “Oh?”
“Confirm that Ethan Poppin is still in jail.”
Riley’s brow pinched. “Ethan Poppin? Where did that come from?”
Christian exhaled. “It’s a huge long shot, but he was livid I didn’t go through with the heist. He blamed me for him getting caught, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to get some revenge ... if he were out of prison.”
“Do you really think he could pull off this level of heists?” Greyson asked.
Christian sat forward, propping his elbow on the table. “His being involved doesn’t make sense for three reasons. First, he should still be in jail. He has years left on his sentence. Second, to answer your question, no. He was never that good, which is why he got caught. And third, all the notes have been directed at Andi and written in a woman’s handwriting—I’m assuming Julia did them before she was killed. So, to me, it makes far more sense that it’s someone Andi busted, if revenge is our thieves’ motivator. However...” He linked his fingers together. “I want to cover all my bases.”
“Grant has gone through the list of those I had a hand in convicting,” Andi said. “They are accounted for. Two are under house arrest and the two on parole are where they’re supposed to be. None seem to have the funds to hire someone either. But...”
“I can do some financial digging,” Greyson offered.
“That’d be great,” Andi said. “You just never know.”
“Which is why I want to rule Ethan out,” Christian said. “Rule out all possibilities, no matter how remote.”
Greyson smiled at the saying he’d always impressed upon the team. “The other factor to consider is whether Ethan might be pulling the strings from behind bars. Sadly, it happens more often than we’d like to think.”
“Agreed.” Christian nodded.
“I’ll place a call to the warden while you guys research potential galleries,” Greyson said.
Christian took a sharp inhale and streamed it out. He needed to relax. It was probably a fool’s errand to even check. Ethan had never been that good, but something wove its way inside him this morning, whispering Ethan’s name. And it wouldn’t let go.
FIFTY-SIX
CHRISTIAN LOOKEDto the door the minute Greyson returned from his desk, a legal pad in hand. “What’s the word?”
“They kept me on hold forever and then told me the warden would have to call me back. No one would answer my questions. They said I had to wait for the warden.” He looked to the glass panels. “So I see you’ve made progress.”
