Fay's Six

That didn’t ease the sting of those that died. Their names would forever be engraved in her soul.

Walker handed her a file. “That’s the mother. I’ll take the father. We need to establish who has the most to gain by the kid being gone.”

“One could be blackmailing the other.” Fay flipped open the mother’s file. Rosie, real name Rosemarie Quinn, was forty-two years old. She worked as a manager for a local cell phone retail store. She had dropped out of college when she married Pete because she was pregnant with a child they lost.

“Wow,” Fay said softly. “They stayed together after a stillbirth and two more miscarriages.”

“Shit. That’s a lot of tragedy. Was that before or after Levi was born?”

“Before, which almost doesn’t make sense for them to hate each other so much. That kind of pain either brings people together or tears them apart.”

“This might shed some light on the situation.” Walker handed her a piece of paper. “Pete used to own his company, but it went belly-up two years ago, causing a lot of financial strain on the family. After that, the police were called to the family residence at least four times before they split, but never before.”

“Do we know if he had a gambling problem before he had issues with his company and problems at home?”

“Nothing that I can see so far, but we really need to do a deep dive, and reading through some printouts isn’t going to give us that.” She glanced over the folder. “No offense to the locals. I’m sure they are doing their best, especially since this boy has only been listed as missing for two days.”

“Sparrow’s a good cop, but there’s something you should know about her.”

“Yeah. What’s that?”

“Her old man used to be the head of the Renegades.”

Fay cleared her throat. “No shit.” She’d heard about the Renegades. They were a bad organization only recently taken down, but there were still rumblings of smaller offshoots in the making over the last month. “I’ve read about her mother.” All the pieces of the puzzle clicked. “Shit. That means Sparrow took down her own mom.”

“I wasn’t here when it happened, but yeah, she sure did.”

“That chick has my respect.”

“And the rest of this town,” Walker said just as the doorbell rang. “I hate it when people show up unannounced.”

“That happen often?”

“Almost never.” He stood and strode across the room with his drink in his hand. He peered through the peephole. “It’s Jake and Hank.”

“That can’t be good.” Fay’s pulse kicked up a notch. She didn’t like the uneasy feeling that settled in her belly. She had no idea if Walker felt the same, and she wasn’t about to ask.

Not right now, anyway.

“It’s not necessarily bad. Just might be a welcome to the neighborhood.”

“And how the hell would they know I’m here?”

Walker glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “I told them.”

Fucking wonderful.

* * *

Walker pulledopen the door and mentally prepared himself for whatever Jake and Hank needed to discuss.

In person.

Because they didn’t do that unless it was of the utmost importance.

“What brings you two by?” Walker left out unannounced since he figured that might be considered antagonistic, and ever since the mission at Wind River Mountains and the fact he’d questioned Hank’s pairing, he knew he was on thin ice.

“We need to talk to you and Fay,” Jake said as he pushed his way into Walker’s home. He tossed Fay’s rucksack on the floor next to the stairs.

“What the hell?” Fay was on her feet in seconds. “Why did you go into my room and bring my stuff here?” Her voice rose to an octave that Walker didn’t think was possible for Fay.

“Because you’re staying here,” Hank said. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Yes,” she said. “I mean no, sir.”

Walker knew this should not be a question that came out of his mouth, but he’d had just enough alcohol to ask it. “Why is it so important that she stay with me?” Walker closed the door and polished off his tequila. “I think we deserve at least an explanation. You both know the history between us and while some of it is water under the bridge, and we’re certainly cap—”

“Save the winded backpedaling,” Hank said. “She is staying here because where else would a girlfriend stay?” He made his way into the family room.

Jake followed.

Both men took a seat on the sofa.

“Any other questions about that?” Jake asked.

“No,” Walker said flatly as he took a seat on the edge of the chair that Fay had reluctantly perched herself in. “We’ve begun digging into the files Sparrow gave us.” He figured it was best to redirect the conversation.

“I’ve reached out to a couple contacts I have with the FBI to do a deep dive,” Fay added.

“That’s good. Glad to see you’ve jumped right into the assignment,” Hank said. “That’s only part of why we’re here.”

Walker exchanged a quick glance with Fay, who looked as puzzled as he felt. “Is there something wrong?”

“I wouldn’t say wrong,” Jake said. “More like interesting.”

“How so?” Fay asked.

“Lee Cameron applied for a position with the Brotherhood Protectors.” Hank leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together.