Birds of Prey (5 page)

Chapter Four

Cody studied the photos he’d placed on one board. The pictures were lined up in order of the Cast’s hierarchy. Adrian Brown was at the very top.

“He had the most to gain,” Cody told Ryder, tapping Adrian’s image.

“He’s a bit young to be taking over an entire Cast,” Ryder commented.

“Yeah, maybe he got tired of waiting.”

“He’d have had to have help. He was out of town. New York, on business,” Ryder added.

“That’s what draws me to him. It sure was good timing for him to be gone,” Cody admitted.

“Or it was just a really good time to take Gregory out without the second-in-command there,” Ryder argued. “They could have wanted to see how the Cast would handle it.”

“Duly noted.” Cody wasn’t even sure why he was so focused on Adrian Brown.

“What about the girl?” Ryder asked, pointing at Aubrey’s photo.

“No, she wasn’t involved,” Cody answered automatically. There wasn’t even any question of that. He knew Aubrey and she would never have got involved with killing someone.

“She’s involved with the new Cast leader. That puts suspicion on her,” Ryder said still looking at Cody. “It gives her power.”

Cody knew that. He had to clear Aubrey, fast. He wouldn’t put her in the line of fire. He had to protect her.

He’d screwed up once.

They’d been together two years when he’d left. They’d met at the university library and there had been instant attraction. He’d been a junior and it had been her first time away from her family.

They’d got serious fast.

He was older than she was and hadn’t thought far beyond having a good time. When he’d realised that he was in love with her, it had been too late.

Cody had had plans. And there had been no way that he could have dragged Aubrey around with him as he followed his path.

He’d ended things between them and had regretted it ever since.

But he had done his best to move on.

Returning to Lake Worth, he’d never considered that she would still be there. It had been amazing that they’d lived in the same hometown and never met until they’d gone off to college.

Plus Aubrey had always had her own plans.

Whenever he thought about the look on her face as he’d entered the room, his heart felt shredded. He’d caused the distress that was so obvious.

She’d been shocked, pissed, but it was the hurt in her eyes that had torn him apart.

He’d been tough on her during the interview. He’d been doing his job, though. If he could prove her innocence that could make up for some of the pain he’d caused her.

And maybe, just maybe they could move on from there together. Although he needed to figure out her current relationship status to make it work.

Members of the security team had had no problem telling him about Aubrey’s connection to Adrian when he’d asked them about the man taking over the Cast.

They’d seemed to believe that it would clear Adrian.

To Cody’s way of thinking, it had just confirmed that Adrian had an advantage with security and could use that to his benefit.

If Aubrey was in love with another man, her reaction to him when he’d pressed her against the wall hadn’t been what he would have expected.

If she was practically mated with Adrian, she shouldn’t have responded to Cody.

Oh, and she had.

Her pulse had quickened and he’d smelt her arousal. He’d managed to pull himself together before he’d crossed a line but it had been close.

“Cody?”

He shook off his thoughts. “What?”

“You okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved off Ryder’s concern. “Just thinking, man.”

“About Aubrey Reynolds?” Ryder lowered his voice.

Cody jerked back. “What?”

Ryder shuffled closer until their shoulders brushed. “Come on, man. I saw your reaction to her. And hers to you. Who is she?”

Cody knew that he could trust Ryder—did trust him—and the rest of his team. But he didn’t know how to answer the question. It wasn’t that simple.

Thinking, he met Ryder’s gaze. Ryder seemed to realise what Cody couldn’t say because he patted Cody’s arm.

“Is it going to be a problem?” Ryder asked with concern.

“No, not at all,” Cody assured him. He hoped it wouldn’t, anyway.

“I’ve got the info you wanted!” Chloe called from her desk.

“Put it up on the monitor,” Cody ordered.

“Adrian Brown,” Chloe said. Adrian’s picture came up. “No criminal charges, graduate of Arizona State with a business degree. He’s the CEO of Brown Electronics, a family business that’s been in operation for the last forty years. They manufacture security systems.”

“There’s our security knowledge,” Cody commented. “The dots just keep connecting.”

“I checked,” Chloe confirmed. “The Cast uses one of Adrian’s companies.”

Cody nodded. “Did you check his alibi?”

“I got that,” Byron spoke up. “He attended a conference in New York City. Flew in four days ago and wasn’t scheduled to return until two days from now. This is an annual convention and he registered for it six months ago. Arrangements were made over several months.”

“So it was common knowledge he’d be gone,” Cody noted.

“Yes, his name was on the website for the convention. He was on one of the panels,” Byron confirmed.

“And his return?”

“I checked the phone logs,” Byron answered. “At five fifteen that morning, a call was made to Adrian’s hotel room from the house. According to interview statements, Mike Williams was the one that made contact then. We have a warrant pending for his cell phone records.”

“Okay, financials?” Cody pressed.

“I took those,” Chloe responded. “Adrian’s net worth is around four million. He’s pretty damn well off. Nothing hits suspicious. I’ll need a warrant to go further. We don’t have enough yet to get one for the money. We were pushing it on the phone.”

Cody waved that off. “Let’s see what we can dig up then decide. What about Mike Williams?”

Chloe shuffled papers and picked up the remote again. Mike’s photo appeared on the monitor next to Adrian’s. “Mike Williams, forty-one, head of security for the Cast for the last ten years. Put in thirteen years in the Navy before he accepted an honourable discharge and joined the Cast.”

“Military man.” Cody studied the photo. “He had access, but I felt genuine grief from him about Gregory. Did you verify his alibi?”

“There wasn’t much of one,” Byron alleged. “Mike went off shift just after nine last night. I have the security disk showing him driving out. Said he went straight home.”

“Can we verify? Anyone see him?”

“Went home alone, lives in a house about two miles from the Cast, said he didn’t see anyone and doesn’t know if anyone saw him,” Byron replied. “According to his statement, he arrived back at the Cast house at four a.m.”

“That’s early,” Chloe expressed.

“Had a meeting with Gregory,” Cody said. “I said the same thing. Mike states that Gregory wanted to go over security procedures for an upcoming dinner this weekend.”

“Added security?” Ryder questioned.

“Yes,” Cody confirmed.

“Hmm,” Byron hummed. “I’ll continue to dig into him and try to get more about the meeting. If they wanted some more security there has to be a reason.”

“Mike said he wasn’t sure, just that Gregory was adamant. When I questioned Adrian about it, he claimed not to know either. I have my doubts on that, though.”

“I’ll check flights scheduled. And look through the other interviews to see if anyone else mentioned the meeting,” Byron offered.

“What about his financials?”

“He lives within his means. Still gets benefits from the military and makes one hundred eighty thousand a year,” Chloe supplied.

Cody whistled. “Nice pay.”

“He oversees all security for the Cast and Gregory’s law firm. He also supervises guests who visit,” Byron added.

“Let’s find out who was scheduled to arrive. Why Gregory wanted more security,” Code ordered.

“Got it,” Byron told him.

“Aubrey Reynolds,” he said.

“Thirty-five,” Chloe started. Her picture popped up next to Mike’s. “Criminal justice degree, second-in-command under Mike, her mom, dad, two sisters and brother are all members of the Cast. She was also Gregory’s niece.”

Cody inclined his head for Chloe to continue.

“She owns her house and car. No debts that I could find. Annual income one hundred forty.”

Cody glanced at Byron.

“She left the Cast house at seven last night. She wasn’t there when the explosive went off. Mike called her in,” Byron informed him.

“Her relationship with Adrian?”

Byron stood and walked towards the monitors. “Funny thing, only a few of the guards and other interviewees mentioned him. Anyone close to her didn’t bring him up. When asked about Adrian, they all spoke highly of him yet never mentioned his connection with Aubrey.”

“There’s something about that,” Cody decided. “I’ll work on it.”

“Those are the three top suspects right now,” Chloe declared.

“Do a standard run on everyone else. Also, go deeper on the guard that was in charge that night. It was his watch. Something might pop up,” Cody ordered, before he took a quick look at his watch. They’d been working this case over sixteen hours without a break. “Get it going then take off. We’ll start fresh in the morning.”

His team went to follow his orders while Cody turned back to the wall. Could all of this be so that Adrian could move up and take over the Cast?

He didn’t see the man pulling it off without a lot of help, even with his security knowledge. He’d have to have help. He wasn’t even there, and someone had to set the bomb.

They’d dig deeper into the rest of the Cast. It was standard procedure.

But he knew that Aubrey wouldn’t be cleared easily.

Cody waited until his team had all gone home for the night before he picked up Aubrey’s file that they’d put together. He re-read her interview, the intel they’d been able to dig out, and tried to put it together in his head.

She’d moved to Tucson right after she’d graduated from college. Almost exactly a year later, she had come home.

There had to be a reason. She’d just started to use the skills she’d picked up working for a high profile security agency.

So why would she leave?

Was it because of Adrian?

Aubrey had never actually answered his questions about her relationship with Adrian. He could put a couple of the newer agents on tailing them both. If they weren’t going to help, then he would get his answers one way or another. He might as well get the tag started.

He made the call, organizing two shifts to watch his three main suspects before grabbing his stuff and heading home.

He was almost dead on his feet. He needed a shower, food, and his bed.

* * * *

At first Cody thought he was dreaming about his phone ringing. When he fought his way awake, he realised he indeed had a call coming in.

“Hello?”

“Got another one,” Commander Green told him.

Cody groaned. He couldn’t hold it in. Squinting at his nightstand clock, he saw that it was three in the morning.

“I know,” Commander Green said sympathetically.

“Where?” Cody asked as he dragged his tired body from his bed. He stood and rolled his neck, and it popped.

“Your Flock’s headquarters,” Commander Green said gently.

Cody froze. “Who?” God, it couldn’t be his leader. Damn it, he should have got a hold of Anton.

“Kevin Knox.”

“Shit!” Cody cursed and rushed to his dresser with his cell still in his hand. Kevin was third-in-command and a good friend of his. “I’m on my way.”

“I’ll see you there,” Commander Green told him, before disconnecting the call.

Cody threw his phone on the bed and dressed quickly. He sent a fast text to his team and dashed for the door.

He didn’t even stop for coffee.

He ran through everything they had gathered on Gregory Stevens. What could they have missed?

Had there been a connection to his Flock?

He slammed the door to his vehicle then took off speeding. He played it over and over in his head. They’d had no reason to suspect that anyone else could be in danger.

Especially someone who wasn’t a member of the Cast.

There was the chance that Kevin could be unconnected, but Cody didn’t think so.

Two bird shifters taken out in two days? Two very high-ranking shifters? No, that was a huge coincidence.

Cody knew all the roads to his Flock’s house and took every short cut.

Eleven minutes after he’d got the call, he pulled up to the gate.

A guard waved him through and Cody drove forward.

There, he saw two cop cars and several more vehicles.

He parked off to the side and climbed out of his Jeep. He jogged up to the entrance.

“Agent Johnson.”

Cody glanced over and saw Detective Lawrence, whose long strides brought the man closer.

“What happened?” he demanded.

Detective Lawrence waved him over.

Cody walked over to him instead of going into the house.

“Around this way,” the detective informed him.

They followed the wraparound porch to the scene. That was where he saw the body of his friend.

Kevin Knox sat propped up against the side of the house. A large wound gaped open on the side of his neck.

Cody crouched in front of the body. He accepted the gloves that Detective Lawrence slapped into his hand and pulled them on.

He traced his finger over the gash that had been made.

“Large blade, serrated edge, thrust into his neck and pulled out,” Cody observed. He spoke quietly, not really wanting to say the words but unable to keep them inside. “Fast and dirty. The killer was standing in front of him, right-handed, at least as tall as him from the angle.” He tilted his head as he spoke. He could see the scene in his head. “Then the murderer caught the body and leaned him against the house.” His throat worked as he tried to keep bile down. “Just left him there to bleed out.” He noticed his hand shaking. He clenched his fist as he lowered it. “God damn it!”

He felt a squeeze on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”