“Three days ago,” Holder explained. He didn’t flinch, didn’t seem uncomfortable. “I had some of my in-house guys go over it, but it came through the mail. We found some prints, but they were postal employees. No return address. I tried calling you, man, but you didn’t answer. I don’t have your cell so all I had was your office number, and even that was hard to find. I couldn’t get past security. Well, not in any legal fashion. I’m sorry I had to do it this way, but I needed your attention. I didn’t think leaving another message was a good idea.”
“But breaking into my office was?” Leo wasn’t at all happy about that.
Holder shrugged. “I thought about waiting around, but I figured I would freak the girl out. I left the envelope and waited for you. Sure enough you showed up.” Holder took a deep breath. “Look, man, I was a little pissed that you wouldn’t talk to me.”
“It was a busy day.” Leo eyed Kitten. “And that one doesn’t take the best of messages. I blew you off because I know you’ve been recruiting, and I didn’t want to deal with it. I honestly thought you might be looking for my brother. The last thing I wanted was for Wolf to end up as a mercenary.”
Holder’s mouth firmed to a flat line. “I did want to talk to Wolf, actually, but I can see he has a job tying up girls.”
“Best job ever,” Wolf said.
Holder shook his head. “Nevertheless, I was a little pissed. I was an asshole, but I had good intentions.”
Leo wasn’t so sure about that, but it did no good to press. He had other matters to get to. “And you’re telling me you had no idea who Shelley was when you talked to her on the train?”
Holder shrugged. “I tried to make an appointment with you. Check the lobby records. I walked out and hopped on the train which takes me straight to the place I’m staying. She’s a lovely woman. I was trying to hit on her. Then I was just trying to help her. She had a bad day. Though it looks like today has been rougher on her.”
All perfectly logical. Every question he asked, Holder had an answer for. Leo didn’t like it, but he also didn’t have anywhere else to go. “Can you send us everything you have?”
Holder nodded. “Of course, man. I’ll have them send you all the reports, but we’re still looking into it. I also think it might help to get back into Ada’s case.”
Leo’s stomach turned. That was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I have the case files. Don’t ask me how, but I got them yesterday. I thought you would need them. Whoever took those photos probably killed Ada. It’s got to be someone on our team.” His eyes trailed toward Ben.
Fuck. The last thing he needed was a new inquest. He was in a corner. If Holder took this shit back to the Navy, they might reopen the case with a new suspect. Ben. Ben had been on base at the time of her death, but Leo had no idea who would remember him. He needed to placate the bastard and fast.
Leo looked over at Julian, who nodded shortly. He and Julian had worked together long enough to know what the other was thinking most of the time. Julian was giving him permission to bring his troubles into The Club. “Steve, I would appreciate any help you could give us. Please, bring in the files, and we can go over them.”
And it would be a great way to keep watch on Holder.
Holder agreed and got on his cell, talking to an assistant.
Ben stepped forward, his voice low. “I don’t like any of this.”
Neither did Leo, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. Something was going on, and until he knew what it was, he didn’t want to let Holder out of his sight. The morning had been utter chaos. He still hadn’t spoken to Ben and Chase about what he’d wanted to. He turned to Ben. “Did you and Chase check out her place when you picked up the clothes?”
He looked over at Shelley. She seemed calmer as Wolf stroked her. She leaned into him, her head resting against his thigh. Jack Barnes was talking on the phone. Julian was speaking quietly to Chase.
Neither of those men were worried about their women because they knew Abby and Dani were safe. Sam and Finn would lay down their lives. It allowed Jack and Julian some freedom. It allowed Leo some freedom. He could talk to Ben without worrying about Shelley’s welfare because Wolf was taking care of her.
Fuck. He didn’t want to think about that. Could he do it? Could he really share long term?
Ben scrubbed a hand through his hair. “It looked fine at first, but I would bet a lot that someone’s gone through it.”
Leo let his eyes close. That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear. Everything was going to hell, and he could only thank god that he wasn’t alone. His brother had impeccable timing. “Anything taken?”
When he opened his eyes again, Ben was shaking his head. “Nope. Just an immaculately done search. I would have said no on the search but her underwear was moved around. Her clothes are all almost compulsively sorted, but someone had moved her underwear around. It was pushed to the front as though someone was searching through her drawers. I talked to her neighbors, but no one remembered much. The security there is complete crap.”
Leo nodded. “She won’t go back there. I get the feeling if my brother has his way, she won’t ever leave this club again. Let’s keep a close eye on Holder. If he’s here, then we know he’s not somewhere else plotting.”
Ben’s face tightened. “All right, but I don’t like it. I did a lot of research into Ada’s death, and I believe it was a SEAL. I hate saying that, but everything points to someone on the team. I think Ada knew something. I don’t know if it was about a mission or something criminal, but someone silenced her. I don’t buy that this whole thing is strictly about you. If all this guy wants is revenge, why wait this long?”
“Maybe because I haven’t had anyone serious in my life.”
“Leo, you were married and divorced since then,” Ben pointed out. “And you hadn’t touched Shelley when this guy sent this stuff out. It doesn’t make sense.”
But he had to go with it. “We need to look at everything with a fresh eye.”
Ben sighed, a weariness settling over him. “I’ll send you everything I’ve pulled together over the years. I truly believe Ada died because of something she knew or saw. The only man who could have been pissed at you was me, and I didn’t kill her. I think I could solve this damn thing, but I just haven’t been able to get back over there to talk to witnesses.”
No. It would be hard to get into the middle of a war zone. But Chase could probably make it happen. Leo looked over, and Chase was watching them. Leo could see it there in Chase’s eyes. He’d been trying to protect his brother, and now it was going to hell.
Leo knew the feeling. Holder got off the phone and started talking about logistics.
Leo listened, but his mind was on something else. His past was catching up to him, and Shelley was caught in the cross fire.
Coincidence? It seemed odd that she would be caught in her husband’s shit storm only to walk straight into Leo’s.
Perhaps Shelley was simply very unfortunate. Or perhaps Leo wasn’t seeing the whole picture.
One way or another, he would protect her.
Holder almost couldn’t hold back his glee as he left the building.
It had gone even better than he’d hoped. Not once had he expected that Leo Meyer would simply open up and hand him the keys to the kingdom, but damn, he’d found a way in.
Ben Dawson.
God, he’d known Meyer was a freak, and now it looked like Dawson was one, too. He’d had no fucking idea that Dawson had been screwing the girl, too. What a bit of luck.
He made sure there was plenty of space between him and the building before he ducked into a busy coffee shop. He bought a cup of decaf and waited. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty.