Alive.

See him alive, she told herself.

She rolled her hands.

“When he wasn’t whittling some new trinket, he played with two silver balls. Like worry stones. It was a habit.”

Reed flipped through a few pictures. “Did he keep them in here?”

“This is where I noticed them. It wasn’t something he did when he was at the hospital, so I doubt he kept them with him.”

Reed pulled open drawers that they’d dropped the contents back inside in their haste to make the room look normal.

They didn’t find them.

“They aren’t here. The coroner report should tell what was found on his person when they brought him in. I’ll see if we can get a copy.”

“Seems like an odd thing to be missing,” Wade said.

“Were they valuable?” Reed asked.

“I have no idea. No more than anything else in here, I suspect.”

“Sentimental? Did they belong to a family member? His mother?”

Trina shook her head. “His grandfather gave them to him. That and this.” She picked up the inkwell and fountain pen that sat on the corner of his desk. “It belonged to his grandfather on Ruslan’s side.”

“‘To my pride and joy,’” she read aloud.

Wade moved beside her.

“So the grandfather called him his pride and joy. Not his own son,” Reed mused out loud.

“I didn’t question it. I just know that at some point Fedor pointed out the pen and showed me what was written on it.”

Reed smiled and set the pen in question back on the desk. “So Grandpa loved his grandson more than his own son, and the only things missing in here are the silver worry stones.”

“Shouldn’t we tell the police?” Wade asked.

“We will . . . eventually.”

“Eventually?”

Reed sighed. “There are always leaks in investigations. Just like me having the pictures of this office the night Fedor’s body was found, someone else might be listening in on other facts. Two missing silver stones mean nothing unless we find them with someone who shouldn’t have them. Then maybe we will have a direct link to our killer.”

“I would think stealing anything like that would be a stupid mistake for a killer willing to go through all this effort to hide.”

“Many perps collect trophies of their kills. In this case, there might be a personal connection. Considering Ruslan is the number one suspect, it wouldn’t be a stretch to pin him for a man who wanted to be his father’s pride and joy . . . and therefore, he grabbed the stones at some point. Could have been the night of Fedor’s death, or maybe last week. It’s hard to say.”

“Why not let the information leak and sit back and watch? If it’s Ruslan, he might try and get rid of the stones. Or bring them back here,” Trina said.

Reed paused. “That’s certainly an option, but not until this house is empty. Our murderer has been free for a year. Chances are they think they’re home clear, but now that the police are opening up the investigation again, things will heat up.”

“We need to get Avery out of here,” Trina muttered.

“We need to get you out of here.” Wade wrapped his arm around her waist.

She rested the side of her head on his chest. Leaning on him had become a habit, one she didn’t want to break.

Reed’s cell phone rang and he turned to take the call. “I’m afraid to ask why you’re calling.”

Reed looked at Trina and Wade as he spoke.

He didn’t blink. “Is that so. Why?”

There was a pause while he listened.

“Can you tap that feed into our system?” Reed smiled. “Of course you can.”

He nodded. “Where is Ruslan now?”

Trina heightened her attention to Reed’s conversation.

“No, I have New York covered. Do you need backup?” Reed grinned again. “Of course not. You know how to get ahold of me if you do.”

He hung up.

“Who was that?” Wade asked.

“Sasha.”

“Catwoman?”

Reed smiled. “Yeah, her. Seems Ruslan had a need to visit his son’s grave.”

Trina narrowed her eyes. “What? Why?”

“To place flowers, of all things . . . flowers hiding a camera.”

“He wants to see who is stopping by?”

“So it appears. Only we’re attempting to trace the feed back to him.”

Wade squeezed Trina’s arm. “My mother is on her way back to Texas.”

Reed held up a hand. “And Ruslan has already left.”

“Where to?”

“The flight plan was Mexico City. Sasha is following.”

Trina turned a full circle in the room. “Ruslan has to be behind this. Behind Fedor’s murder.”

“Why would a father kill his son?” Wade asked.

Trina lifted her head. “I don’t know. But I know someone who would.”

“Who?” Reed asked.

Trina scanned the room again. “Alice.”

“But she’s dead.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s done talking.” And it was high time Trina heard what she had to say.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

While Trina accompanied Avery to her follow-up appointments with the plastic surgeon and the orthopedist one last time before returning to Texas, Lori and Reed detoured to the law office of Dwight Crockett. Alice’s estate attorney had been the one to say there would be letters arriving throughout the year, and since there had yet to be one such note, Lori decided to probe further.

With the help of her friends, Trina locked up the Hamptons home and packed all her personal belongings. Everything else would be dealt with later. If Trina had any say, she wouldn’t deal with it ever again. The skeletons in the closets there seemed to come to life, and she was getting tired of jumping at her own shadow.

Shannon met Trina, Avery, Wade, and Cooper, the relief bodyguard, on the tarmac. They arranged a jet large enough to accommodate their group through Fairchild Charters, a company Trina had once worked with and had one day hoped to equip with her team of elite flight attendants. Now she was using their services as a paying customer.

Strange how life worked out sometimes.

She recognized one of the pilots when she entered the jet.

They exchanged pleasantries before she introduced him to everyone. “We’re just waiting for Reed and Lori.”

Unable to help herself, Trina assisted the flight attendant serving and did a quick check to make sure they had everything they needed for the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Texas.

The surgeon had removed the bulk of Avery’s bandages, leaving her with a small scrap of material over her nose. Most of the swelling had gone down, and the colors on her face were a nasty yellow green, but even those were looking better each morning.

The longest lasting effect was the haunted look in Avery’s eyes. Trina saw it every time Avery didn’t think anyone was watching her.

Social services at the hospital had suggested Avery see a psychologist or counselor of some sort to help deal with the aftereffects of the assault. At the time, Avery didn’t want to hear it. But maybe in a few weeks Trina could talk her into it.

“We’re here,” Lori announced as she and Reed climbed the steps into the plane.

Trina met the whites of Lori’s eyes. “Do you have the letters?”

Her smile waned. “Let’s get on our way.”

The hope in Trina’s chest sunk.

When the pilot had the jet in the air, Lori relayed her conversation with Mr. Crockett.

“He had been instructed to send the letters to a mailbox in Arizona.”

“Arizona?”

Lori nodded. “Starting six months ago.”

“Who was supposed to pick them up in Arizona?”

“Dwight didn’t know. He was assured the letters would get to you,” Lori told Trina.

“I haven’t gotten them.”

“I told him that. He seemed surprised.”

Reed unbuckled his belt and moved to the minibar, selected a bottle of water.

The flight attendant attempted to help him, but he waved her off. “I’ve already informed the team. We’ll find out who has control of the box and if the letters are just sitting there, or if Alice had another party invested in getting them to you.”

“Did he send out everything?” Trina asked Lori.

“He says there is one more letter in his possession. I asked him to hold on to it until he hears from me. In light of everything going on, he agreed.”

“Well, that’s something, at least.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Avery asked.

“I’ll get you comfortable at the ranch, and then Lori and I will go to the bank, check out whatever is in that safe deposit box.”

“I’m going to have to go home for a few days,” Shannon interjected. “I don’t want to miss any more appointments than I have to.” She paused. “Unless you need me.”

“We have it,” Avery told her. “But take a bodyguard.”

“I doubt anyone is after—”

Reed stopped her. “You’ve heard every conversation we’ve had. I’ll have someone on the ground ready to accompany you wherever you need to go until we get to the bottom of all this.”