“I’m so glad to hear that. I’ll stop and see her when I can.”

She pushed open the door to one of the hospital’s family rooms and waited for me to enter. The rectangular room had soft gray carpeting and ivy-green accent walls. Four leather chairs faced inward around a small glass table.

A man and a woman, both in black suits, stood when I entered. The woman had sharp, angled features and thin lips; the man was tall, with a military-style buzz cut, his suit beautifully tailored.

“This is Special Agent Lisa Hamilton and Special Agent Phil Greene,” Kia said. She smoothed a hand over her unruly dark hair. Her fingernails were bitten-down, her eyes red from too many sleepless nights. “They’re with the Seattle division of the DEA.”

I shook their hands, my heart doing acrobatics inside my chest.

“Here, sit.” Agent Hamilton gestured at the chair across from her.

“We want to extend our deepest condolences,” she began. “I assure you, we will investigate your husband’s death to the full extent of the law.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not sure if you were aware, but Nate was working on a case with us.”

“No, I didn’t know.”

“Nate was looking for Ben Hardman. Your brother. We had reason to believe he was involved in an opioid drug ring, and Nate was looking into it.”

I kept my face cool and expressionless, but I hadn’t expected that.

“Have you heard from Ben?” she asked.

“Not since the night I brought him to the hospital when he’d overdosed.”

“And you didn’t see him at the warehouse before Gabriel Wilson shot your husband?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Agent Hamilton looked at some notes she had on her lap. “Can you refresh my memory? Why did you go to the warehouse again?”

I sat back in my chair. The male agent had his arms crossed and was looking at me beneath half-lowered lids.

I glanced at the door. “I need to get back to my son.”

“Sure. Let’s make this quick then.” Hamilton smiled. Her teeth were very small.

“Nate called me and said Ben had disappeared from the hospital. He thought Ben was going to the warehouse, so I headed there too.”

“Did Nate say he needed you there?” she asked.

“No, but Ben’s my brother. I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“And was he at the warehouse when you arrived?”

“No.”

“I appreciate this is very painful, but can you tell me again what you saw when you arrived?”

Tears welled in my eyes. Kia handed me a tissue.

I took a deep breath. “I heard a gunshot when I was parking.”

“One gunshot?”

“It was two. Bam. Bam. I ran in and found Nate standing over a body. Carlos Martinez, I learned. I thought Nate had shot him. But then I saw Gabe. He had a gun too.”