"Perhaps we could offer him a part-time job here at Sheffield Media," Grace suggested.
Elsa shook her head. "I have a feeling that the part-time job he has is paying him ten times what a job here would pay. And that's what has me really worried, more than him moving in with some girl who is probably…" She stopped short of calling Troy 's new girlfriend a tramp, but Grace got the idea. "Anyhow, I'm afraid whatever is going on at that warehouse is illegal."
"I could call and talk to Chief Winters-"
"No!" When Grace gave her a puzzled look, Elsa explained. "We have no evidence that there's anything illegal going on. If the chief of police has one of his officers poke around down there… Oh, God, Grace, what if the police catch Troy committing a crime? He would go to jail. And even though his juvenile record is sealed, he did have a few run-ins with the law right after he turned eighteen."
Neither Grace nor Elsa had heard the office door ease open, so when Jed Tyree said, "Want me to run a check on the place?" both women gasped simultaneously.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Jed said. "I thought y'all heard me open the door."
"How much did you hear?" Grace asked.
"Enough to know that your assistant-" he nodded to Elsa "-that Ms. Leone's brother might get into trouble with the law on his new job."
Ever mindful of her manners, Grace said, "Elsa this is the Dundee agent I hired, Jed Tyree. Jed, my assistant and friend, Elsa Leone." After a moment of awkward silence, Grace asked, "How discreet could you be in checking out the warehouse where Troy is working part-time?"
"No, please, I can't afford-" Elsa protested.
"Consider it a freebie," Jed said, then responded to Grace, "I could be so discreet that no one connected with the warehouse would know I'd even run a check."
"That's discreet enough." Grace turned to Elsa. "Is it all right with you?"
Elsa nodded. Any other woman would have been in tears by now, but not Elsa. Years of being strong and tough and responsible had hardened Elsa. Grace understood that particular self-protection technique all too well. A person could endure only so much suffering and disappointment before erecting a giant shield around her heart.
"All right," Elsa said. "As long as the police aren't involved. I figure if Troy continues on his chosen path, he'll eventually wind up in prison. But I don't want to be the cause of it by sending the police to check on him."
"We understand, don't we, Mr. Tyree?"
Jed hesitated and during that momentary pause Grace noticed an odd expression cross his face. It was as if he truly did understand Elsa's concern. Had he ever been in a similar situation? she wondered.
"Yeah, we understand," Jed said.
Elsa offered them a fragile smile. "Thank you, Mr. Tyree."
"Call me Jed. And as soon as I find out anything, I'll let you know."
Elsa nodded, then said to Grace, "I'll get to work now. I'm so sorry I was late this morning."
"You had good reason," Grace replied.
The minute Elsa exited the room and closed the door behind her, Jed faced Grace. "You know the odds aren't in her favor."
Grace's gaze connected with his. "Meaning?"
"Meaning her brother is headed for big-time trouble and we all know it. He's got a high-paying part-time job at night in a riverfront warehouse. There's a ninety-percent chance he's working for Booth Fortier."
Grace's heart lurched at the mention of the monster's name. "Isn't that quite a leap? You're assuming-"
"I'm assuming nothing. Booth Fortier controls organized crime in Louisiana. Everyone knows it, including law enforcement, but the guy's been too smart all these years to ever get caught. He prides himself on being able to flaunt his wealth and power and thumb his nose at the police, the state boys, the Feds… He thinks he's invincible, which makes him twice as deadly. But it also makes him vulnerable. It's his major weakness."
"You seem to have learned a great deal about Fortier in a very brief period of time." Grace sensed that Jed's assessment of the mob boss came from something more than recent research on her case. "Did you know about Fortier before you took this assignment?"
"Yeah, I knew about him. Don't forget I'm from Louisiana."
"I see." But she didn't; not really. Not unless Jed Tyree had been in law enforcement, which he hadn't been-or unless for some other reason he'd kept tabs on Fortier's career. Was it possible that Jed had suffered a personal loss, as she had, at Fortier's command?
"I'll have the warehouse where the kid works checked out. It shouldn't be too difficult to find out which warehouse it is," Jed said. "Now, back to the case at hand-I've gone over the accident report from four years ago and taken a look at the photos of the scene. I agree with the police. From the evidence, it appears to be nothing more than a drunk driver who lost control of his vehicle and hit the car your husband was driving. But…"
"But?"
"If the other driver was so intoxicated that he couldn't control his vehicle, then why didn't his car go over the embankment the way your husband's car did? It is possible that his erratic driving, swerving back and forth, saved his life, which is what the police think."
"That's not what you think, is it?"
"My guess is the other driver wasn't drunk, he knew exactly what he was doing and once he'd made certain your husband's car crashed over the embankment, he turned just in the nick of time and went on his merry way. He'd been hired to do a job, told to make sure it appeared to be an accident. The guy was a professional."
"If he was a professional, why did Fortier kill him?"
"We don't know he was killed, do we?"
"But the letter I received said-"
"The letter you received said a lot of things, made a lot of accusations, none of which we've proven. Not yet. Whoever wrote that letter, wrote it to get your attention. He wants something. He'll contact you again."
"What?" Grace spun around and glared at Jed. "He said in the letter that his conscience was bothering him. Are you saying he-"
"To have that type of inside information means he's either one of Fortier's boys or he's close to Governor Miller. My guess is that he belongs to Fortier. He's double-crossing the head of the crime syndicate, which in Fortier's world is punishable by death, so this is no soul-cleansing confession. Believe me, you'll hear from him again. That's why I want your personal phone line here at the office tapped and your home phone as well."
"You think he'll call me?"
Jed nodded. "Either that or he'll send another letter."
"When?"
"Soon. He can't afford to waste time. Once Fortier realizes that you're having him investigated, he'll know why… or least he'll be able to make an educated guess. Then he'll start looking around at those closest to him and figure out who has stabbed him in the back. Out of fear for his life, our guy is working on a strict timetable."
"I'm impressed," Grace admitted. "You seem to know an awful lot about the way these people think. But I suppose you have to possess that type of knowledge in your line of work."
Jed didn't respond.
"What's next?" she asked. "Where do we go from here?"
"A great deal of investigative work is done by computer these days, so Dundee is already taking that route. And when Domingo and Kate arrive tomorrow, they should have a report for me. They'll be doing the hands-on investigation, but I'll be coordinating their efforts along with my own and with what's being done at Dundee headquarters."