Entangled Heart (Ashby Crime Family)

“No shit?” The words shouldn’t have shocked me as much as they did. Savannah had good instincts, and Mueller’s lack of a past hadn’t added up to me at all. “How long?”

“More than a decade, which is quite the long play for the Feds. That’s also why the file was locked up tight on a need to know basis. The only ones with access are Mueller’s former handler, Amy Mendoza, the Nevada ADIC ,and the FBI Director.”

“Explains why the FBI has been all over this case almost from the beginning. But it doesn’t explain everything.”

Beau shrugged. “Even my magic has its limits, Jamie. But what’s on that drive should point you in all the right directions. Use it wisely.”

I nodded. “Thanks for this.”

“Family helps where we can, right?”

“Damn straight.” Even if Charlie didn’t seem to get that these days. “I noticed your text this morning was from a Nevada number.”

Beau shrugged. “Been a Creech for a few months now, which is on a need to know basis as well.”

“Got it. And your girl? She come with?”

“Nope,” he sighed. “She didn’t want to move to the fucking desert so we split. No big deal.” It seemed like a big deal to me, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t push.

“Still sucks.”

“It does.”

I shoved the flash drive in my pocket and sat back. “How long are you in town?”

“Long enough to let my mom fill me up with food and pester me about finding a woman. And a beer or five when your shift is over?”

Shit. I glanced down at my watch to see I had exactly forty minutes before my shift started. “Sounds good, Beau. Thanks for your help.”

“What help?”

I let out a low laugh. “Exactly. Later, cuz.”

I made my way back to my condo with a heavy mind because I knew what I had to do, what the right thing to do was, but I still felt torn. I had to hand over this information to Agents Beck and Marshall. It wasn’t my problem that Mueller spent too many years undercover and forgot which side of the law he was on. That was probably what got him killed. Not following protocol and not checking in with his handler. Since the Reckless Bastards didn’t do business with Mueller or anyone like him, I had no conflicts about sharing.

But, just to be sure, I took the quickest shower I could manage and spent a few minutes looking at the documents on the flash drive . I made a copy for myself because Agent Beck didn’t like to share, and I had a feeling she wouldn’t take this information well at all. With ten minutes to spare, I stored my bag, hopped on my bike, and hauled ass to the precinct.

The first person I spotted was Agent Marshall. I cornered him by the coffee pot, and he greeted me with a warm, professional smile.

“Officer Ellison, what can I do for you?”

“I have some information that’s not going to go over well with, well you know who. Got any advice?”

Marshall finished pouring and then doctoring his coffee and turned back to me with a shrug. “I always prefer to rip the band-aid off fast instead of pussy-footing around. Be blunt and to the point. Say what you need to say and no more.” He laughed at my skeptical look. “I said it’s my preferred method.”

“And it works?”

“Hit or miss, but I’m not one for prettying up my words, so it works for me, if not for everybody else.”

“Good to know. Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?” Agent Beck popped her head into the breakroom, From the smirk on her face, she’d been eavesdropping, at least a little.

“Just some friendly cop advice,” I told her. “What’s up? Any news on what Bonnie and Mueller were doing together?”

“No,” she sighed. “Have you found anything?”

I nodded and looked around. “We should go somewhere more private for this.” It wasn’t something we needed the entire precinct to learn this early in the investigation.

“Just tell me now,” she said, her tone impatient as her blue eyes rolled skyward.

I let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know if you noticed or not Agent Beck, but Sadie didn’t seem all that surprised when we showed up, did she?”

“She’s a lot of things but stupid isn’t one of them, Ellison. She had to know we’d be around sooner or later.”

“And you think her attorney just happened to be there when we arrived?” I let out another breath. “Come on, Beck, use your head. These are my colleagues, so I’m not making any accusations, but wasn’t that just a little suspicious to you?”

Marshall let out a short cough and nodded. “He’s right. Let’s go into the war room. No two-way windows and no speakers. Now.” He led us down the hall and into the room, closing it behind him and leaning on it.