Framed (11 page)

Throwing my Jeep into park, I grabbed Buttercup out of her carrier and exited. Making my way up the pebbled drive of my father’s house, I turned when I heard a blast from a car horn. Prez and Mickey D’s nondescript silver rental pulled into the driveway followed by a black SUV. I watched as they peeled their large bodies from the small sized sedan. When I’d questioned them about their choice of vehicles their first night here, they said no one pays attention to ugly (silver) cars. They were on a ‘Seek and Destroy’ mission and wanted to fly under the radar. I failed to point out that their size pretty much puts them at a disadvantage no matter what they drove.

Prez moved towards the SUV and I turned my eyes as well. A man who looked vaguely familiar folded out of the big black vehicle. He wasn’t as big as the SEALs, but there was something about the way he carried himself that I recognized.

“Harley, come meet Kyle, Kade’s brother,” Prez shouted.

Of course, that’s why he seems familiar
.

I should have recognized him from all the news reports and newspaper articles, but it had been a while since he’d made the papers and he looked different. His hair was longer than it had been back then and he looked worn out. Dressed in jeans and T-shirt, he looked more like a college kid than a man in his late twenties. He had the same dark brown hair and brown eyes as Kade, but he wasn’t as big.

Reaching out my hand to shake his as he approached, I had to move Buttercup quickly when he moved right past my hand and into my personal space, wrapping me up into a hug and whispering, “It’s great to finally meet you.”

Um?

“Finally?”

“I’ve heard about the one who got away for years and, I gotta say, he wasn’t exaggerating. I can see why he lost sleep thinking about you.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

“He talked about me to you?” I breathed out in shock.

“Hell, yeah, he did,” Mickey D jumped in. “He didn’t think he’d ever see you again after high school. But he always said if he ever got married it had to be to someone who took his breath away just like his mystery girl did.”

“He said that?”

“D, maybe you’re letting the cat out of the bag. Kade might—” Prez tried jump in but Mickey ignored him and kept going.

“I may have cleaned it up a bit . . . Okay, a lot. But that was the gist of it,” he grinned.

“D, I don’t think you should be speaking for Kade,” Prez warned again.

I ignored Prez as well, wanting to know exactly what Kade had said about me all these years. Let’s face it, what woman doesn’t want to hear that a man she has fantasized about for years felt the same way?

“Did he say anything else?”

Mickey nodded emphatically.

I stared at the huge man, waiting. He grinned, as if he was saving the best for last, and then mumbled, “You gave him a hard-on that would cut glass.”

Prez groaned, then whacked Mickey behind the head. Heat ran up my neck and settled on my face as I turned my eyes to the ground to keep from looking at anyone.

You had to ask!

Coughing to keep from laughing, Kyle saved me from further embarrassment by thankfully changing the subject.

“Did you see Kade today?” he asked through a sheepish grin.

Yep, definitely Kade’s brother.

“Um, yeah. He was, um, he wasn’t mostly dead anymore,” I responded with a sheepish grin of my own.

Kyle clearly hadn’t been brought into The Brotherhood of The Princess Bride because the look on his face showed some confusion but mostly horror.

“It’s a joke,” I rushed out. “He’s fine. Healthy as he can be for someone who needed stitches and had a concussion,” I assured him, leaving out that I knew he was recovered since he thoroughly ravaged me within an inch of my panties flying off.

After no communication with The Brute Squad since last night, I was dying to know if they had any news. “Can you guys stay for a minute?” I asked, motioning towards the house, hoping they could stay long enough to fill in Dad and me.

“That’s an affirmative. We brought Kyle along so we could fill everyone in at the same time,” Mickey explained.

“Please tell me you have a lead.”

“Lead, no. But the fact that the man seemed squeaky clean up until his death tells me he was either living a double life or he stumbled across something right before his death that got him killed.”

“So where does that leave you?” I asked.

“It’s time to get a look inside Consolidated Poly. A company that big has to have secrets. We’re gonna break in tonight and find them. Then we’ll see if they lead us back to Sutton.”

The low rumble of Prez’s laughter filled my dad’s living room. He was playing with my diva dog before heading to the shower to clean up and change clothes. Dad was pre-heating the grill while potatoes cooked in the microwave, and Kyle was chopping lettuce for a salad as I pulled another beer from the fridge and placed it on the counter for him.

Looking around at all the food that was being prepared, it wasn’t lost on me that we were enjoying a nice evening on my dad’s patio while Kade was stuck behind bars. The injustice never failed to darken my mood.

You hear it all the time: innocent men and women being released from prison, losing half their life to clumsy police work or defense attorneys who didn’t have a clue what they were doing. I wondered if this would be the case for Kade. I was praying harder than ever the boys would find what they needed to help set him free before he spent any more of his life behind bars.

“They’ll figure it out,” Kyle said, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Pardon?”

“You were worrying at your lip. Prez and D will figure it out. He won’t be in prison much longer.”

Pulling myself up onto the counter top, I regarded Kade’s younger brother for a moment. I was right when I thought he looked tired.

“How’s your grandfather?”

“Pops? Cancer has taken its toll on him. I’m not sure how he has survived this long, but I honestly think that if Kade had been a free man all this time he would have passed already. In my opinion, he’s been hanging on so he can see Kade vindicated.”

“Do you live with him?”

“Yeah. I was living with him when he got sick; I’d gone back to school to get my master’s degree in education. I moved back home to save money so I could focus on my degree. I’ve had to cut back on classes, though, to take care of Pops.”

He’s as much a victim of this injustice as Kade.

“Do you have any help? A family member who can give you a break?”

“Hospice comes by to give me a break. They’re with him now.”

The dark circles under his eyes told the story. He was all his grandfather had and the same for Kyle. With Kade in prison, unable to help with the care of his grandfather, Kyle was, in a sense, also in prison of sorts. Caring for a loved one who is dying is rewarding and life changing, but with no one to help, can become all-encompassing.

“Kyle, if you ever need more help than what Hospice can provide, I want you to know that you can call me. My mother died of cancer a few years back, so I know what you’re going through; I’d be happy to lend a hand.”

Kyle smiled a genuine smile, nodding his head that he would keep me in mind if he needed help.

“Kade always did have good taste in women,” he mumbled before getting back to work chopping the salad.

Dad walked in as Kyle was talking, grabbing the steaks he’d pulled from the freezer. He smiled at me as he was about to leave the kitchen, muttering as he left, “A man would have to be blind not to see my baby girl has a heart of gold.”

Jumping down off the counter, I ignored their compliments. Doing what’s right when someone was in need should be standard operating procedure for all humankind. It seemed weird being complimented for doing what any compassionate person would do.

Sometime later, the boys came down the hall from the guest bedrooms and grabbed a bottle of beer before they made their way outside. Kyle and I followed with the salad, placing it on the table as we all took a seat to enjoy the warm Florida night.

Boats were trolling on the river, seagulls following in their wake squawking for a treat. The palms that lined the shore gently swayed as a humid breath lifted the palm leaves. The sun was setting, casting a warm glow on the horizon as another day ended. It was a typical Florida night and the only thing missing to make it perfect was Kade.

“We might as well bring you up to speed now before we eat,” Prez stated, as my normally finicky dog curled up on his lap and closed her eyes, enjoying the big man’s attention.

Dad closed the grill lid and turned towards the table as all eyes landed on Prez.

“In a nutshell, we found no one who could confirm seeing anyone else in the alley with Kade and Sutton. We spoke with the bar owner, the bartender, and any other witnesses from that night. They saw no one but Kade follow Sutton outside.”

“That they were aware of,” Kyle interjected. “Kade said Stan was looking back at the front door to the bar when he got up and ran out. If one of the three men opened the door, then left immediately, they wouldn’t have seen him.”

“We know this. But we have to have an eye witness or security footage to corroborate Kade’s claim.”

“Have you checked with other businesses in that area?” I asked.

“The alley where Sutton was found, which is more like a narrow street, is shared with a retirement complex. They use the alley for deliveries, so it’s not heavily guarded by security cameras. The one from the bar covered the door and only caught Sutton and Kade leaving, and the one from Sunny Shores seems to have been off that night.”

“On purpose?” I rushed out, a tingle of suspicion running down my spine.

“The staff said it happens sometimes. A glitch in their system.”

“What about the tenants?” Dad asked.

“All the tenants who lived there at the time of the murder were either asleep or in the hospital. No one saw anything. The only footage we’ve been able to find that shows any activity coming or going from behind the bar was of a Black SUV driving down the alley,” Prez continued.

“Was it at the same time as the murders?” Kyle asked.

“Ten minutes before Sutton ran out the back door.”

“What about anyone entering from the front? Any lone gunmen around that time?” I inquired.

Nodding, Prez sat back and took a pull from his beer. “We have one lone man entering around that time, but the footage is grainy. A man leaves the bar within moments of that figure entering, but we were unable to ascertain if it’s the same individual.”

“It’s the same,” Kyle replied. “Can’t you, I don’t know, get a satellite image from that night? You’re SEALs; you can do anything.”

“Kyle, we’re SEALs, not NASA. We can hack into a lot of places and get away with it. Not NASA though. If we hack into their satellite systems, we’ll end up in a cell next door to Kade. We want to get him out, not get ourselves in.”

“I can’t believe Sunny Shores don’t have other security cameras in case one of their residents wanders off. I mean, the ocean is just across the street, you’d think they’d want to keep some little old lady with Alzheimer’s from drowning.”

“They’re covered, Harley. The rest of the cameras are at the front and side of the building. There’s no back exit for residents, it’s only for employees and deliveries, so they only needed one camera,” Mickey explained.

“You’re sure you talked with everyone who had an apartment on the back side?’

“All but Mrs. Montoya, who was in the hospital,” Prez confirmed.

“Shut up. Her name is Mrs. Montoya?”

Prez grinned, and Mickey D chuckled at my surprise.

“God’s honest truth,” Mickey laughed. “When I saw her name on the list I wanted to talk to her just to ask if she was looking for the six-fingered man.”

“That’s so weird. It’s like a sign or something.”

“What’s a sign?” Kyle asked confused.

Looking around the table at the other grinning faces, I asked, “Anyone have time for a movie?”

“Sorry, princess. You know how much I like to watch, but I’ve got a building to break into, a killer to find, and a friend to release from prison. I’m swamped,” Prez replied in his best Prince Humperdinck impersonation.

“Wait, break into a building?” my dad bit out.

“I’ll explain later,” I told him.

“Never mind,” he answered, throwing up his hands. “Ignorance is bliss, and I can’t testify if they get caught,” he continued before lifting the lid and flipping the steaks.

Looking back at Prez and Mickey, I couldn’t help but be worried. “I know you’ll be careful, but I have to say it anyway. Please be careful. I don’t know any SEALs I can call to get
you
out of jail.”

“Piece of cake,” Mickey scoffed, incensed by my lack of faith.

“I know, I know,” I raised my hand to wave off his protest, “you’re big bad SEALs, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, blah, blah, blah. I’ve said my piece so just be careful for goodness’ sake,” I lectured.

I thought about them breaking and entering the enemy’s domain in the dark of night, and I shivered. Better them than me, that’s for sure. Hiding in the shadows, searching for a killer, wasn’t my idea of a ‘piece of cake’ mission. “Kyle and I’ll just stay here and watch the original Brute Squad while you’re out raiding the castle.”

Both men groaned in unison.

“What?”

“Storming the castle,” they both replied.

Whoops.

“Jesus, woman, don’t quote it if you’re gonna fuck it up. That’s sacrilege,” Mickey chided. Then he looked at Prez, and in all seriousness said, “I’m rethinking making her part of The Brute Squad.”

Prez scoffed at that announcement, shaking his head slowly, both brows raised over wide eyes. “I think that’s a smart move, my brother,” he mumbled, “seeing as if Kade finds out you made her part of The Brute Squad he’d castrate you this time.”

“Good point,” Mickey agreed instantly, automatically covering his crotch at the veiled threat.

“I can speak for myself, Prez. If you boys need my help in any way, you’ve got it.”

“I don’t think Kade—”

“He can’t tell me what I can or can’t do,” I stated firmly.