He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small envelope.

“This is the group of men they got to hunt this woman down and kill her.”

He handed over the envelope and Stephan looked at the contents inside.

He knew these four men. They were ruthless killers, mercenaries trained in survival and ready to kill on order and impulse. He needed to contact Dmitri. Lauren was as good as dead with a Mexican hit put out on her.

Chapter 10

“Mary, what is it you want us to do?” Galvin asked Mary as she stood in their kitchen by the island.

“I want her protected. She’s a good woman. These men who are after her, they want her dead.”

“She isn’t exactly being cooperative. We have rules and procedures she must follow,” Harper added.

“But we also need to ensure that the information we’ve gotten on her is accurate. We have our own investigating to do,” Orin told her as Mace walked into the kitchen with his laptop.

“She’s always been independent, and has taken care of May and her sisters for years. She doesn’t accept help from others. It’s not like her at all. This situation she was placed in has angered her and made her very distrustful. But from my understanding of these men who are after her, Lauren cannot handle them alone. Dmitri trusts the five of you. I’m asking you to trust me and take my word. Lauren did nothing wrong. She’s not corrupt or at fault for what took place months ago.”

“When we spoke to her today and asked some questions about her past and why she became a cop, she changed the subject. Mace is looking into her background. Is there anything you can tell us that would explain why she’s so secretive and why she isn’t willing to answer our questions so we know she’s really the victim here?” Galvin asked Mary.

“She had a tough childhood. An experience she never talks about nor would she talk about with five men she just met,” Mary explained.

But Galvin noticed she was hesitant, too, and he couldn’t help but to wonder what had happened to Lauren.

“Perhaps I could make it a little easier for you, Mary,” Mace said and then turned the laptop around so the others could see it.

Gus read the bold letters of the newspaper article.

“Twelve-year-old shoots and kills intruders and saves sisters, but couldn’t save parents.”

“Jesus!” Gus stated aloud and ran his fingers through his hair.

Gus continued to read the article and every detail of the home invasion, the assault on Laurens’s parents and sisters. The execution of her parents by the criminals was heart wrenching. At twelve years old, Lauren killed multiple men and saved her sisters before they were murdered..

“It hadn’t been easy. May was the only relative in New York and willing to take in these three troubled young girls. May would call me and talk to me about the rough nights the girls had and how counseling went and then the need to move to the city and get out of the suburbs. They all thought being around friends and going to school would be comforting, but Carly and Daisy were so timid and shy, they closed up and barely socialized. Lauren was on the defensive. Kids constantly questioned her about how it felt to kill someone. They were inconsiderate.”

“But she must have been fine psychologically to have passed and gotten into the police academy,” Orin said.

“She was a phenomenal student, and even had the grades, the motivation to become a lawyer, but she’s antsy. She could never sit still. She liked a challenge physically as well as mentally. When her and her sisters moved to May’s place in the city, Lauren was drawn to the action, the constant activity, and the sounds of sirens and people in need. She wanted to help. She volunteered at the shelters, at different victim support groups, and even survivors’ groups. She wanted to be there in an emergency and be the first to respond to help people survive and not become victims. And she’s damn good at her job. It’s how she got promoted to detective so quickly. She’s got great instincts, a knack for police work.”

“She definitely received a lot of awards. Her bio and file are impressive,” Mace said as he scrolled through other material on the computer.

“What do you know about her partner? This guy Frankie?” Harper asked her.

“They were close. They worked together for a couple of years. She said he was the best partner she ever had, and felt comfortable with him. I think because her commander, Jonathan, knew what happened to her parents, kind of set the partnership up. He thought they would make a great match,” Mary informed them.

“Jonathan Mathews?” Mace asked.

Mary nodded.

“Yeah I’ve got some information on him. Mathews was a personal reference on her application for the police department,” Mace told them.

“He knew her parents?” Orin asked.

“No, I believe May said that he was friends with a friend of her parents. Louise and Al, Lauren’s parents, were very well known in the community and in the city for all the fundraisers and events they supported and sometimes coordinated. They were very good people. Made a lot of money in business and stocks and felt that giving back to the community and less fortunate was the right thing to do. They wouldn’t hurt anyone, and always gave the benefit of the doubt. When the police investigated the home invasion, they looked into individuals Louise and Al had contact with and who would know their financial status. But the guys Lauren killed were ex-convicts, probably hired out for the job, and since they were dead, there was no way to interrogate them,” Mary told them.

“Gus, I want you to look into the case deeper. Find out what you can, and see if the setup looks familiar,” Galvin said as his cell phone rang.

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