Mace’s jaw got tight.
“Brody, just finish it,” Hank put it quickly.
“Wel , I found out al this shit about Stel a’s folks in, like, an hour. Kim’s good at asking questions and friends and neighbors talk, especial y when someone’s sick, so we had the story real quick.” Brody stopped, swal owed, turned to Mace and said, “Ovarian cancer. That’s where it started.
They thought they caught it but it spread.” He paused again and shared quietly, “It’s not looking good.” Mace sucked breath into his nose but nodded at Brody to go on and he did. “Wel , I don’t know why I did it.” Brody shrugged and fidgeted. “I’m no detective like you guys, but it was weird. I mean, why would anyone f**k with a sick woman? Kidnap her daughter?” More hostility from Mace but Brody soldiered on, “So, I started to look deeper and this is where it gets real y weird.”
“Fucking hel , Brody, just –” Lee cut in.
“I’l finish, I’l finish,” Brody said, putting a hand up to Lee then dropping it. “You know that guy who came around awhile ago? Out of the blue, makes a meeting with you, wants to invest in Nightingale Investigations, tryin’ to talk you into expanding?”
“Yeah,” Lee answered but Hank was watching Mace and he didn’t like what he was seeing.
“You shut him down but I got a hunch. I looked into him.
That trail was deeper, harder to track but I got it eventual y and that guy, and his money, is linked to Mace’s dad too.” Lee’s eyes sliced to Mace and he muttered, “Power play.”
“What?” Brody asked.
Lee’s gaze moved back to Brody. “Anything else?” Brody shook his head. “That’s it so far.”
“You feed this to Vance?” Lee pressed.
“Yeah,” Brody answered.
“Keep diggin’,” Mace ordered and Brody’s head turned to Mace as Mace kept talking. “Everything. Look into Stel a, me, Lee, Nightingale Investigations –”
“Luke,” Lee said.
“Fuck,” Mace mumbled.
Hank closed his eyes. He knew about Luke too. It would be a long shot; Luke’s past associations were buried in a lot of folders where black marker was undoubtedly used heavily. Stil , you had enough money, you could find out anything. And Preston Mason had more than enough money.
Hank opened his eyes again when Lee started talking.
“Anything, Brody, anyone, any member of the team, any one of the Rock Chicks. This is your mission. You sleep it, you eat it, you f**kin’ breathe it. Find out if Preston Mason has uncovered anything or tied himself to any of us. Even you,” Lee demanded.
“Me?” Brody asked.
“You,” Lee replied. “And while you’re diggin’, you’re buryin’. Anything you can find, they can find. They haven’t found it yet, you bury it so deep it’l never be found.”
“Seven years,” Mace put in and Brody turned wide eyes to him. “Go back seven years.”
Hank tensed and so did Lee.
“Mace,” Lee’s voice held a warning.
“Got nothin’ to hide,” Mace replied.
“You do,” Lee returned bluntly.
“Not from him,” Mace went on.
Lee was silent.
“He knows I know,” Mace said, his voice fil ed with soft menace. When Lee didn’t reply, Mace went on, “I got the upper hand, Lee. He knows it. He wants it back. Or, at least, he wants my silence.”
“What are we talkin’ about here?” Hank asked.
“Caitlin,” Lee replied and both Hank and Brody pul ed in breath.
Mace never talked about his sister.
“I know who took her, I know why,” Mace told them both, straight out. “My f**kin’ father was involved in some bad shit, f**ked over the wrong people and Caitlin paid the price. He doesn’t want that out and he doesn’t like that I got it to hold over him. He’s playin’ me and he’s usin’ Stel a to do it. He’s demonstratin’ his power, his reach. He wants to ensure my silence. He wants me to know he can control me. He wants me to know, I talk, he can make it hurt.” Lee looked at Brody. “Find Preston Mason’s weakness.”
“I got his weakness,” Mace reminded Lee.
Lee’s gaze cut to Mace. “I want more.”
Mace and Lee locked eyes. Mace nodded and turned to Brody. “What’l it take to bring the mortgage current?”
“Around six K,” Brody replied.
“I’l get you my bank details, you do the transfer to bring it current and I want details on their other debt,” Mace demanded.
Brody’s eyes bugged out. “I have the details and you can’t have that kind of money. Nobody has that kind of money.”
Hank hitched a leg and settled on the desk, one foot on the floor, one foot swinging.
“Col ection,” Hank said.
“No f**kin’ way.” Mace’s voice was terse.
“I’m in. I’l talk to the boys,” Lee added.
“This is my problem,” Mace clipped.
“It’s not your problem. It’s Stel a’s problem,” Lee returned.
“Like I said, it’s my problem,” Mace shot back.
Lee nor Hank nor even Brody could answer that. It was just the flat out truth.
“Dudes, even if everyone puts in, it isn’t gonna touch it.
When I say they got debt, I mean they got debt, ” Brody informed them.
“Get Kim on the phone again, talkin’ to friends and neighbors, the local church,” Hank ordered Brody.
“Holy crap,” Brody said.
Mace did not like the turn of the conversation.
“Don’t piss me off,” Mace warned.
“We’re not tryin’ to piss you off, Mace,” Lee bit out, his voice hard. “I’m guessin’ Stel a sat, alone and unprotected, in the back of that limo and Preston Mason threatened her and that pisses me off. She’s yours and you’re a member of my team which makes her mine. Anyone messes with you, or her, they mess with me. No one f**kin’ messes with me. We got enough on our plates with Carter; we don’t need your Dad havin’ a way in. I’m cuttin’ off al his routes.
That costs money, f**k it. Bottom line, a woman’s dyin’ and that woman is Stel a’s mother and your father is leanin’ on them. Suck it up, we’re al steppin’ in.” Without waiting for a response, Lee turned to Brody. “Find me something on Preston Mason and if he’s got in anywhere, I want to know.” When Brody sat staring at Lee and not moving, Lee leaned forward. “Do it, Brody. Now.”