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Yep. I figured. “Fill me in.”
“Laurel left when you were seven, right?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“She’s been gone nineteen years. People’s lives change. They move on. Pop out kids. Advance in their career. Shit like that. But they don’t fall off the face of the earth and disappear.”
“What’s that mean, Eagle Eye?”
“This shit happens when they enter WITSEC.”
Witness Protection. “Are you saying the feds got to her?”
Eagle Eye shrugged. “Can’t say for sure until I dig a little more, but I can tell you she’s a ghost. There isn’t shit about Laurel Holmes since she left your pops. Everything is erased. Gone.”
“Or never existed because she was given a new identity.”
“Exactly.”
Goddamn. What the fuck did my mother get involved in?
Why did Rook keep that secret?
“Keep digging.”
“I will, pres. I’ll text when I have anything else.”
“Good.”
I left him to work his magic and headed straight to the bar. My ass landed on a stool, and a whiskey appeared in front of me. I thanked the prospect and picked up the shot, downing it in one swallow. “Leave the bottle, Red.”
“Sure, pres.”
Funny how everything surfaces in your mind when you have a few minutes of silence. The bar was quiet and nearly empty. Most of my guys were working for our various businesses and earned their honest wages that way. Kept the place almost tomb-like during a weekday afternoon.
But Raven and Lucky Lou were always around.
My V.P. took a seat on my right, asking for a beer. He turned my way, lifting his chin. “You got shit on your mind.”
I never could hide anything from him. Never wanted to do it either. “Too much shit,” I admitted. “You’ll never guess what I found in Rook’s desk.”
“A bottle of Macallan.”
“Shit,” I laughed. “If he had that, we’d be drinking it right now, toasting to him.”
“You bet we would.” A deep chuckle rumbled up his chest. “What did you find?”
“A hidden compartment full of memories about Gail. Awards. Photos. Newspaper articles. I even found an old shot of you and Rook. You’ve gotten old, Raven.”
“Asshole.” He smirked. “Damn. Now that we know about Gail, it doesn’t surprise me. Kind of makes my heart ache for him a little, ya know?”
I did. “Yeah.”
“That was a hell of a burden to carry alone.”
“He chose it that way,” I replied, unable to hide a slight bitterness from my tone. “He should have trusted us, Raven. Me and you and Lucky Lou. We always had his back.”
“I know, Crow. I’m sorry.” He gripped my shoulder. “It’s not easy to learn all this shit. It’s a lot to deal with on top of his death.”
