Carmen bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Marco has been in trouble, and Willie helped him out a few times with money and lawyers. After the most recent situation, he said he was done helping him.”

“What recent situation?”

“I don’t see what this has to do with anything,” Eduardo said.

Sam glanced at Hill, who was already showing the other man to the door.

“You can’t just kick me out! This is my sister’s home. You can’t come in here and push us around. That’s harassment.”

“Unless you’d like to be arrested for interfering with a police investigation,” Sam said, “I’d suggest you shut up and get out before I get pissed off.”

“You don’t want that to happen,” Hill said. “She has a vindictive side.” He opened the door and “helped” Eduardo into the hallway. “Give us a few minutes with your sister, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Eduardo started to say something else, but Hill closed the door in his face.

Sam returned her attention to Carmen. “The incident you referred to... What happened?”

“Marco got involved with some bad people, and he owed them a lot of money. I don’t know all the details, except that Willie refused to give him any more money. Marco said they’d kill him if he didn’t get the money, but Willie refused to give in.”

“Did you agree with his decision?”

“I, um, well... No. I didn’t agree. We argued about it. I didn’t understand why Willie wouldn’t help my brother. He had plenty of money.”

Sam thought it interesting that she said Willie had plenty of money, not they had plenty of money. “What did he say when you tried to convince him to give Marco the money?”

“He got mad. He said it had to end at some point. He wasn’t made of money, and just because he had a lot now, didn’t mean he always would. He said he’d be lucky to play for ten more years, and if we spent all the money now, what would happen to us later?”

Sam had to agree with Willie’s smart thinking. “Do you know how much he’d given Marco in the past?”

“Close to a million.”

Sam had to hide her shock at the high number. Who could blame the guy for cutting off the leech? “What did Marco need with that kind of money?”

“He made some bad investments.” Carmen seemed almost ashamed as she spoke of her brother’s poor judgment.

“Was he in trouble with the police?”

She nodded. “He had problems with drugs. That was one reason why Willie said no more. He was afraid Marco was spending it on drugs.”

“Was he?”

“I don’t know. Willie hasn’t let me see him in years.”

“What happened when Willie refused to give him more money?”