Chapter 16
The sound of knocking at the back-porch door the next morning, followed by a loud bark, had both Moriah and KC moaning as they rolled from a mutual embrace and wiped the sleep from their eyes.
Moriah glanced at the bedside clock and was surprised to see it was after nine.
KC had held her close the entire night, and she’d slept like a baby—another memory to keep for when she was back on her own again.
KC groaned loudly as he sat up and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Sounds like Uncle Dan.”
Not wanting to be caught in KC’s bedroom, Moriah jumped up and frantically searched for her clothes. Swinging his feet off the side of the bed, he stood and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from his duffel. “Calm down. He’ll wait on the deck for us.”
Stopping short, Moriah gaped at him, her face redder than he’d ever seen. Clearly mortified, she almost yelled, “He knows we’ve slept together?”
“He’s hoping we are.” KC was mildly irritated at the morning’s interruption. He’d wanted to shower with her before treating her to breakfast in town. “He’s a bit of a matchmaker. Don’t be embarrassed. Uncle Dan is a true romantic and would never make you self-conscious about it.”
She nodded, but he could tell she was still not thrilled with the revelation by the way she was biting her bottom lip. KC threw on a clean T-shirt, kissed her sweetly on the tip of her nose, and headed for the bedroom door. “Go ahead and have a shower before joining us.”
After stopping in the hallway bathroom to relieve himself, he exited the cottage and found his uncle downstairs on the patio with a knowing grin on his face. The older man’s eyes sparkled with delight. “Hope I didn’t interrupt anything. Or did I?”
KC furrowed his brow as he descended the staircase. “Don’t be talking like that when Maura comes out. I told her you were a complete gentleman.”
“That I am, laddie,” Dan replied, using his mother’s off-the-boat Irish accent. “So, have you thought about what you’ll do about Team Six yet?”
Sighing, KC dropped onto the loveseat opposite his uncle. “I don’t know. As much as I hate to leave my men, I think it’s time. I spoke to Admiral Cohen before I left and told him I’d have an answer for him when I returned to duty.”
“You’ll make a fine instructor.”
KC nodded. “That’s what the admiral said.”
“Then he’s a smart man.”
Glancing around, KC realized something was amiss. “Where’s that mutt of yours? He’s usually slobbering all over me or passed out on my feet by now.”
Dan surveyed the area. “Around here somewhere. He wouldn’t wander far.”
He heard a noise and peered into the darkness below the cottage. “Damn dog is digging under the house.” Rising to his feet, he strode over and crouched down at the edge of the patio. “Get outta there, Jinx!”
His uncle appeared next to him. “Must have found a crab or something.”
The black dog had dug a large hole near the center of the house and appeared to be pulling something out of it. Annoyed, KC climbed under the floor joists and crab-walked to where the dog desperately tried to make the hole bigger. “What the fuck are you digging for, dog . . . gold?”
Jinx paused to look up at him with a big sandy grin, then immediately went back to work.
KC pushed the dog out of the way and peered into the opening.
Seeing black nylon fabric exposed, he brushed away more of the sand.
When he realized it was a duffel bag, he grabbed its strap and pulled it from the hole.
Pulling back the zipper, he sat down hard and stared at the contents. “Holy, fucking shit!”
“What is it?” Dan asked from the patio.
Dumbfounded, he fingered the banded stacks of bills, which added up to more cash than he had ever seen at one time.
Regaining his senses, he started to crawl out with the bag when he heard footsteps on the stairs.
Despite being underneath the house, he was still able to hear her.
“Hi, Dan. Where’s KC? I thought he was out here with you. ”
Climbing out from under the house, he saw her inquisitive expression turn to horror as he stood holding the duffel bag.
As the color drained from her face, a realization hit him like a punch to the gut—she knew about the money.
“Is there something you would like to tell me, Maura? I take it you know about this bag of money. What the fuck is going on?”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” All eyes turned to where Brian Malone came around from the side of the house onto the patio.
He crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared at Maura with laser-light precision, full of intimidation.
“She’s wanted for questioning in the murder of her mother, sister, and five-year-old nephew. ”
“No!”
She yelled at the same time KC and Dan’s wide eyes whipped back to her, and the men let out a “what?” in unison.
They all began talking at once until Dan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly to get the others’ attention.
“Hold it! Everyone calm the hell down! There’s obviously a story behind this whole mess.
” Staring at Maura, his gaze softened—it was evident the man didn’t believe he’d let a murderer rent his house. “Maura, did you kill your family?”
He haltingly put up his hand when Brian opened his mouth to interrupt.
“No! Absolutely not! L-Leo did!” She sobbed the words out through her tears.
Confused was a drastic understatement to what KC was feeling right now. “Leo? Your ex-boyfriend?”
“He wasn’t my boyfriend. He was my sister’s boyfriend.”
Sighing heavily, he gestured to the seating around the fire pit. “You’ve lost me. Sit down and tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Maura, Dan, and KC took seats while Brian stood behind his uncle, still glaring at Maura as if he was ready to haul her off to jail, no questions asked.
Jinx lay at her feet and, at the moment, was the only one who appeared to be entirely on her side, even though Dan seemed to be more than halfway there.
KC dropped the duffel at his feet, then leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees.
He glanced up at his brother. “First things first. Where’d you get this information? ”
“Yesterday morning, when you introduced us, I noticed she got pale and scared when you told her I worked for the SBI. You obviously didn’t notice.
My radar went up. When I went inside for the coffee, I saw her purse and looked at her license, which states her name is Moriah Jensen, from Chicago.
I went to the station after I left here to run her name but ended up working a road rage turned armed robbery.
I was so busy I forgot to run her through the system, so I swung by the station this morning, and lo and behold, I got a hit.
Four months ago, her family was shot to death, and she disappeared off the face of the Earth.
She hasn’t been named an official suspect yet but is listed as a person of interest.”
Turning back to Maura, KC tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes. Anger replaced his shock, and it took everything in him not to go ballistic on her. “What happened?”
She swallowed twice and tried to regain her composure.
Wringing her hands together, she stared at the empty fire pit and told them about the nightmare she had been living in for the past few months.
“My name is Moriah Jensen. I lived in a three-bedroom-apartment with my mom and younger sister. It wasn’t in the greatest part of town, but it was the best we could do after my father took off for good.
Susan, my sister, was always hanging out with a bad crowd and getting in trouble, but when she became pregnant, she changed.
She stopped seeing those assholes and took care of herself.
“When Nicholas was born, Mom and I helped as much as possible. Susan found a waitressing job and was going back to school for her G.E.D. Things were going well for all of us. Nicholas was a beautiful baby, and Susan really loved him. We all did.
“Then, about six months ago, I noticed the signs that Susan was using drugs again. I discovered she was dating this local drug dealer, Leo Simmons. I was furious and told her I would call Child Protective Services and have Nicholas taken away from her. I don’t think I could have done it, but I wanted her to believe I would file a report.
Anyway, she promised me she would stop seeing him.
“The day they were . . . were killed . . .”
She paused, took a deep shuddering breath, and released it slowly as the men waited in silent impatience.
“That morning, I went into Susan’s room to find a pair of shoes she’d borrowed from me.
Instead, I found that duffel.” She pointed at the bag now sitting on by KC’s feet. “Inside were the money and the gun.”
She shook her head. “I-I was absolutely stunned. I couldn’t believe my sister had brought a gun into the apartment with a five-year-old.
I didn’t want to wake my mother and upset her because it was her one day off, and she hadn’t been feeling well.
I thought I could handle the situation on my own.
Susan had already left to take Nicholas to preschool, but I knew he would be back at eleven.
I didn’t want the gun in the apartment when he returned, so I took the bag to work.
I don’t know why. It was such a stupid thing to do.