This guy’s tattoo was nowhere to be found, and he looked like he was ready for his first day on the job as a sales guy. Or a missionary.

  Since Ed had been arrested, causing Hammer to go under the radar, he wasn’t sure what he’d been up to.

  Phil’s face twisted. “Kenny Aggerton? That’s what this is about?”

  “Did you kill him?”

  He made a pfft sound. “I wouldn’t waste my time.”

  “So you’re busy? You still have that sweater you grabbed from my car?”

  “That’s what this is about?”

  “Can you just answer the question?”

  Hollis set their plates down. Tate had to sit back.

  She glared at him—probably for yelling at Phil—and then wandered off. She glanced over her shoulder and glared at him again. For good measure, of course.

  What? All of a sudden, he was the bad guy. Did she think Tate would lead Phil astray with his wild ways? She had no idea who this guy was.

  When she was out of earshot he said, “Walk me through what you’ve been up to.”

  “Last I checked you weren’t FBI, which means I don’t have to tell you anything.”

  “Humor me.”

  Phil squirted tomato sauce over his hash browns in a criss-cross pattern until it was virtually unrecognizable. “Ed got me Aggerton. He was the key to the supplier.”

  The local money guy. “You know where the drugs are coming from?”

  “Not yet. I got the local guy, but this stuff is coming in over the border. I don’t know where yet, or who. Or how.”

  Not much of anything, then.

  “Aggerton was my route up the chain.”

  “Now he’s dead,” Tate took a bite of spicy sausage. “Maybe because you talked to him.” He shrugged, offering it as a question.

  Phil studied him. “Anything’s possible.”

  Tate said, “I think they’re gonna try and pin it on me. I also think I have a related player, but I don’t got a way to tie him to your business.”

  Tate explained a bit about his ex-wife’s current husband.

  Could be he just had a giant grudge against Rob because of how he treated Claire. Could be Councilman Gaynes was a spouse abuser, but otherwise a law-abiding citizen. Maybe.

  Phil considered this new angle. “It’s a mess, that’s for sure. More complicated than my grandma’s cross stitch. Bunch of yokel players who think they’re big time when the real money isn’t here. It’s in the major hubs.”

  “Small town kings.”

  Phil shrugged. “I’ve seen it before. These guys at least aren’t the crazy type. They just think they’re tough. It’s the guys above them in the food chain that worry me. I haven’t been able to get anything on who they are, or where they come from.”

  Tate blew out a breath. He’d been hoping for more than this. Then he’d have had his brother-in-law read Conroy in on the undercover FBI operation going on in Last Chance County.

  “But I have an idea,” Phil said. “And I need your help with it.”

  “Okay.”

  “You have no idea what it is.”

  Tate shrugged. “Does it matter?”

  “No.”

  “Does it involve something I’m not going to like doing?”

  Phil narrowed his eyes. He took a moment to study Tate. “No.”

  “Good.” Tate ate another bite of his breakfast. The “Steve” apparently. A variation on the “Saturday Tate.” Whatever that meant. He had no idea. “So when are we doing this?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Plenty of time for you to tell me what you and Aggerton talked about minutes before he died.”

  Phil said, “You can read all about it in my report.”

  “When you’re done with this Op. In what, two years?”

  He made a face and took a sip of coffee. After he’d swallowed, Phil said, “My plan was to get Aggerton to roll over on his bosses. Then, I’d flip for the international contingent. Go all the way up the chain and dismantle the entire operation. Aggerton was dragging his feet.”

  Tate nodded. Not surprising.

  “He was also murmuring about things getting too hot.”

  “Did he know who you really are...even just an inkling?”

  “No.” Phil said, “But there’s a rumor going around that someone sold out Ed Summers. A lot of finger pointing going on, everyone looking at everyone else to see if they can figure out who the weak link is.”

  “Could be that Aggerton knew who it is. Or figured it out.”

  Tate knew Meena Tathers, Mia’s sister, had provided the location of Aggerton’s books—the ones that had been confiscated by police. They were the basis of the case against Summers.

  Tate considered the man across the table from him. Sure, the guy was an FBI agent. But undercover work took a certain kind of person. Could be that “Phil” had decided killing Aggerton was the way to protect the integrity of his operation. The means being justified by the end result everyone at the FBI was watching and waiting for.

  Phil nodded. “Maybe whoever killed him did it to shut him up.” His gaze narrowed. “Yeah, no. It wasn’t me.”

  Tate shrugged. “I don’t know you, man. I know my brother-in-law, though. If he vouches for you, then I’m good.”

  Tate would be calling Eric as soon as he left to make sure Phil was solid. And that whatever Op he had planned was above board. Not that everything Phil did had to be run through his handler, but Eric had to be aware. At least of the gist of things.

  “He’ll vouch.” Phil said, “He really married your sister?”

  “Came here, asked for help with a case. She was my receptionist at the time. The rest is history.”

  Phil chuckled. “No way I’d let a feeb touch my sister. I know too much.”

  The guy had sisters? Tate didn’t have time to find out, or the headspace to care all that much. But it still said a lot about a man how he treated his sisters. And how he felt about the bureau he worked for.

  “Got a picture of this guy you think is connected?”

  Tate pulled out his phone. He went on the city’s website and pulled up the file photo for Rob Gaynes, then showed it to Phil.

  “Huh.”

  “What does ‘huh’ mean?”

  “I seen that guy around.”

  Tate waited, but Phil didn’t say more. “If he’s involved in…” Someone walked past the table. “…what you’re doing. I need to know that. It’s important.”

  “Guess we’ll find out when we go to work.” He finished his breakfast. “So the cops are looking at you?”

  “No thanks to you—wearing my hoodie.” It was important to Tate that he point that out.

  Phil cocked his head. “All part of the service. Except where a killer avoided surveilance while I was spotted.” The fed meshed his lips together.

  Tate said, “If I don’t figure out who had a beef with Aggerton enough to cut him up, I’m gonna be in hot water with the cops. And I try to stay on their good sides.”

  “Knife?”

  Tate nodded.

  “Nasty way to go.”

  Tate pulled up the sleeve of his sweater. “I know.” He lifted the bandaged part of his forearm. “Same knife that killed Aggerton.” Or so he was assuming. Maybe he was wrong.

  Phil shook his head. “They are after you.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Help me with my Op, and I’ll help you figure out who killed Aggerton. Could be the same people trying to keep their ID’s from me, killing him so their names don’t get out.”

  “Deal.” Which meant Aggerton knew more about the drug trade in Last Chance County than Tate had ever realized.

  “Phil is here to help.”

  Hollis took his plate. Another wink. Thankfully, that last comment was all she heard. When she moved away, Phil watched her go.

  “Don’t get too helpful there. You need your head in the game.”

  Phil took one last look. The hulking man apparently had a soft spot for the diner owner. Then he turned back to Tate. “You gonna tell the cops Aggerton fronted you the startup money for your business?”

  “Now that I know it’s dirty? No way.” Tate shook his head. “I paid back that debt in full, plus interest.”

  Now that Aggerton was dead, there was no way he’d be able to come back to try to collect more. Not the way he’d attempted to do a few times over the years. He’d even had to have Eric walk into Aggerton’s home, flash his badge and tell Kenny to quit pressuring Tate.

  He wasn’t proud of some of the things he’d done. But Tate stood by the man he was, even if that man had to call in favors every so often to keep a hold on his honor.

  Just so long as Savannah never found out.

  Ten

  “So you’re springing her loose?”

  Savannah sank into one of the chairs in front of Conroy’s desk. Mia sat in the one beside her. She was pretty sure she saw the chief wink at her partner but chose to strategically ignore it. They were engaged now, so she knew it wouldn’t be the last time she saw him do that. Might as well get used to it.

  She said, “Mrs. Aggerton saw Tate arguing with her husband and so decided he must have been the one who’d killed him. Except that she didn’t really see them arguing. And she only came up with this story after her lawyer went into conference with her.”

  Conroy leaned back in his chair. “So this might be a conspiracy, where a group of people are working together to make it look like Tate did it?”

  “When you put it like that, it does sound far fetched.” Savannah said, “It only works if I’ve got a grudge against Tate, and I don’t want to look at anyone else for this. Plus the fact that I literally chased the killer from his office.”

  At least, she was assuming that man was the killer.

  “So who could this guy be?”

  Savannah didn’t have any idea—yet—who it was, and she had no other clear suspects. Before she could admit that to her boss, Mia said, “We’re not done looking through Aggerton’s personal files, but we’re most of the way there.”

  Savannah tried not to look surprised. She stared Conroy down. “Once we’re done, we’ll let you know if there’s anything of note.”

  Fact was, she hadn’t liked the idea of Tate being her main suspect anyway. Maybe she’d ignored pertinent information—or at least stayed in denial. Maybe she needed to step away and face the truth. Admit he was clearly involved.

  But then she would also have to face her own shortcomings, the ones she’d always known were there, and just do her job.

  The first test? Fail.

  Savannah couldn’t let that happen again. She couldn’t allow her feelings for Tate to override what was plainly obvious to everyone else.

  Savannah said, “I’d argue Tate doesn’t seem to care about Aggerton either way. Not enough to fly into a rage and stab him multiple times with a knife.”

  “Does the reason matter?”

  “If I had possession of clothes he wore that night, covered in Aggerton’s blood, then maybe,” she said. “But otherwise, I’m still putting it together. As it stands, I don’t think he’s involved other than as another potential victim, or the one they’re trying to pin it on.”

  Mia shifted toward her. “Have you worked a lot of murders?”

  Savannah shrugged one shoulder. “I haven’t counted, and there haven’t been so many since I moved here. Before two years ago? Yeah. There were a fair amount. Each one is different, but eventually I solved them all.”

  “All of them?” Conroy said, “I knew you were good. But no cold cases?”

  She shook her head in answer to Conroy’s question. “Most get solved in the first few weeks, but one took three years. I got there, though.” She said, “I really don’t like unanswered questions.”

  The cases would keep her up at night, along with everything else swirling around in her brain. She much preferred to work instead of sleep. Especially in the middle of a case. As much as she’d not been bothered at the scene itself, the images had stayed with her. Now when she closed her eyes she could see Aggerton, covered in blood. Once in a while, it would turn to a nightmare. He could even blink, his eyes white. The worst ones were where he reached for her.

  Conroy nodded. “We all saw Tate in the house with Ed Summers. His loyalty isn’t like ours, firmly rooted in this department. He doesn’t work all day every day to safeguard the people in this town and enforce the law.”

  Savannah wasn’t sure that was completely true. She actually thought Tate did protect people. In his own way.

  The chief continued, “The attack at his office could be completely unrelated. Who knows if the knife he got cut with was even the same one used to kill Aggerton?”

  “He’s right.” Mia spoke softly.

  “I’m not in denial.”

  Maybe she had been, but going forward she planned very much to not be in denial.

  Savannah said, “If he’s the killer, then I will arrest him. But I need enough evidence to erase any question. The wife’s testimony is suspect. All the rumors floating around town are just hearsay, and the video doesn’t even show his face. Unless we find his DNA on the body, or the knife with his fingerprints on the handle, then who can say? There’s a lot more work to do on this case, guys.”

  “We know,” Mia said. “We just want to know that you know.”

  Savannah shot her a look. “You don’t need to tell me how to do my job.”

  Mia nodded, conceding the point. She’d been a federal agent up until a few weeks ago. Now she was a lieutenant on probation, and Savannah was the one who got to sign off on whether or not Mia could do this job going forward. And that was in addition to the giant question mark over Mia’s future in law enforcement because of her hearing loss.

  Savannah said, “What about the books that were found in Aggerton’s office, the ones that were admitted as evidence in the case against Ed Summers?”

  Summers was Aggerton’s nephew, but there was no love lost between them. Summers had recently made Conroy and Mia’s lives a living nightmare. To top it all off, he’d killed Mia’s older sister in a car accident in high school. Saying they weren’t friends was putting it nicely.

  She said, “Could be Summers had him killed from prison. Maybe he didn’t want Aggerton to talk.”

  Conroy said, “The state police did come by and talk to Aggerton about his nephew. They reported to me that he shut them down, didn’t want to talk about anything having to do with Summers, or the account books found in his office.”

  “And charges against him?” Surely there was something, considering the money laundering and being an accessory to all kinds of things.

  “Pending.”

  She said, “Can I look at the books?”

  “You think something in Ed’s books will indicate a motive for murder?”

  Savannah shrugged one shoulder, reminding herself again that Mia had been an ATF agent and not a homicide detective. “It could give us a broader perspective on his associates.”

  Of which Tate was not. At least not recently. She’d searched for him first in Aggerton’s files. There had been no mention of him in the records, which went back seven years.

  So why would Tate hold a grudge long enough to finally snap, then bring a knife to their meeting and murder the man in a fit of rage? Didn’t make sense to her.

  Especially considering she’d seen the knife in the possession of a completely different person.

  “Risky. If you’re trying to rule out Tate.” Conroy said, “Since Tate surely had business with Summers, his name could be in there.”

  “What business?”

  Conroy shrugged. “Aggerton has financed a lot of local companies. Got them their start. I’m only guessing, but I figure Tate as well. Though, that would’ve been years ago.”

  Savannah bit the inside of her lip.

  “I’m sure it’s just lending but given the fact Aggerton’s money was dirty—who knows?” Conroy picked up the phone on his desk. “Anyway, I’ll find out where the books are now.”

  Savannah blinked.

  Tate could have borrowed money from Aggerton to start his PI business?

  “You okay?”

  She glanced at Mia, but didn’t answer.

  Conroy said, “I figure the books are either at the courthouse in the hands of the district attorney—or someone on his staff—or they’re in eviden—Yeah, this is Chief Barnes…”

  Savannah glanced at Mia while Conroy talked. “I can go get it, wherever it is.”

  Conroy said, “Thank you,” and hung up the phone. “They’ll call back and let us know.”

  She grabbed her coffee and refilled it. A chance to give herself a minute for her brain to process everything. When Savannah settled back at her desk, she pulled up the flash drive.

  Given what had been copied and edited, along with the comments in the margin, she could tell Mia had gone through it. Savannah decided to look again at the hate mail folder. Her brain just kept going back to Tate, though. No matter what information she went through, Savannah couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  She had to face the fact she didn’t know Tate Hudson. After all, there was a young woman in town who called him, “Dad.” There was a relationship there. One she was not exactly privy to.

  He had a life. She’d had one, and it had almost destroyed her. Everyone had a past. It was always complicated.

  So she knew Tate’s would be no different.

  She didn’t know him enough to say he wouldn’t do something like kill Aggerton. Though, if she was trying not to be in denial about the whole thing, she’d have to admit to herself that he was the kind of man who might kill if the occasion warranted it. Not a stabbing though. Tate wouldn’t be about the mess. He’d figure out how to make Aggerton disappear, and no one would ever figure out what had happened to him.

  Mostly because that was exactly what she’d have done.

  Mia said, “All this seems clean.”

  “Too clean?”

  Mia shrugged.

  “The financial records were like that. Which was why it was key for us to get that second set of account books for Ed.” It had made the whole case. “So if Aggerton did that much for his nephew, a guy he didn’t seem to like all that much except for his money, why wouldn’t he do that for his own accounts? Wash what could be found and keep the real stuff secret.”