“You knew I made it out of the building alive the same time I did, or we wouldn’t be talking. Someone is skimming product and selling it on the side. Mendez slid me inside by naming me as his head of security.”

“What happened to the prior head of security?”

“He failed to solve this problem.”

“He’s dead.”

“I’m sure.”

“Good opening for you, but I’m scratching my head. I thought for sure when we saw your Denver playmate waiting on you, you were about to be ten feet under.”

“According to Kara, the head of the Denver division was testing me to see if I could stumble and recover before recommending me to Mendez.”

“That doesn’t seem like a test. It sounds like a setup for blackmail, a way to control someone he gets inside Mendez’s operation.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Blake agreed dryly, pausing at a stoplight behind Kara.

“And Mendez’s secretary is helping to undermine him. It pulls this together for me. It makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Blake let out a breath, not sure why that logical answer to why Kara had been in Denver didn’t feel right to him.

“You don’t think so,” Kyle observed, having spent enough years working with Blake to know him better than even his brothers did.

“Something doesn’t add up,” Blake admitted. “What do you know about her?”

“On paper, she looks like a perfect candidate to be motivated by money. She’s caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s disease who has no insurance.”

“But?”

“But she’s too squeaky clean. No other family, no ties. Her identity reads like something I’d create to go undercover.”

The light turned green and Kara started moving again, and Blake followed her. “Find out when she went to Denver, if she was alone, and who paid her expenses.”

“I’m on it, but I’m guessing it was all cash no matter who is involved.”

So was Blake. Kara turned right and he followed, bringing the pier and the hotel sign into view.

“We have to consider the possibility she could be working for an agency. Royce could call in a favor and run her through the FBI database—”

“Forget it. I’m not having my brother, who has a pregnant wife at home, involved in this.”

“He doesn’t have to know it’s for you.”

Blake grimaced. “This is Royce we’re talking about. He’ll figure it out.” And he’d lecture Blake about having a death wish and try to intervene. “Start with finding out about her Denver travel. And see if you can track any calls between her and the head of the Denver division.” Kara pulled into a parking garage. “I need to go. I’ll call you when I can talk.” He ended the connection, pulled into a spot beside Kara, and watched her kill her lights as he did the same.