Page 62 of Deadly Scandals

Ashley

April. What in the world had that woman been up to? Sleeping with Paul. Bringing weird men around her children. Doing drugs. Was she evil? Or was she framed?

I had to find out.

I knew I had been called off Paul Thompson’s case. But I also knew that I didn’t always follow orders. Okay, make that I often didn’t follow orders. What could I say? I was a rule breaker.

“Say goodbye to the sunshine, asshole. You are about to spend the rest of your life locked up in prison.”

The guy whimpered, and I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. One bad decision could ruin your entire life.

Grant stood guard over the guy and I texted Mitch. A text I didn’t want to send.

Me:We found the guy who took your daughter. But we don’t have Sienna. We’ll bring him over to the gate for the FBI to deal with him.

Instead of a reply text, my phone rang.

“What? How do you know?”

“Sam recognized him. Grant ran him down, and the guy admitted he gave Sienna to some old guy who said he was her grandpa. Even Sam said he had seen this ‘grandpa’ at Disney. Do you have any idea who he is?”

“Grandpa? No, what the fuck? So, she was targeted? It wasn’t some random kidnapping?”

“Doesn’t look like it, Mitch. Tell the cops to meet us at the gate.”

“I’ll go with them. I’m not letting this motherfucker out of my sight.”

The call ended, and my heart wrenched. This entire nightmare reeked of conspiracy. A target. A plot.

And I still couldn’t help but suspect the Se7en Deadly SEALs.

This wasn’t about Tiffany the stripper. Or Julián. Or Sienna. Or Mia. Or Paul. Or fuck, even Joaquín.

What was I missing?

“Mitch will meet us by the front gate.”

Grant grabbed the guy. “Let’s go.”

The guy’s shifty eyes scanned the crowd, probably searching for a way to escape. What he didn’t realize was that he didn’t have a chance of running away from the three of us.

I turned to Mia. “Grandpa. That’s odd.”

“Agreed. How creepy. I’m sure there is video surveillance, and we can get a picture of this guy. And then Sam can help us identify him.”

I nodded and inhaled a deep breath. I couldn’t hold back my suspicions. I had to go there. “What about Julián? Did he ever mention a grandpa?”

Mia shot me a vicious look. “Just stop. I don’t know what you are implying. This is about Sienna, not Julián. Leave my son out of it.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t want to start something with her. Not now. There was too much at stake.

We approached the gate, and the cops immediately took the guy into custody, but all I could focus on was Mitch, standing there with a corded neck and his nostrils flaring. He looked like a lion about to attack, but unfortunately, all that rage would do nothing to bring Sienna back.

Mitch got as close as he could to the guy before officers restrained him. “Where’s my fucking daughter? Who did you give her to?”

The guy remained silent. I opened my arms and approached Mitch, who readily accepted my hug.

“Mitch, this is at least a good lead. But we don’t have much time. I assume April is still nonresponsive?”