“No.” Deacon motioned them to keep their voices down. “Stone’s the same.”

“Did you catch King?” Diesel whispered warily.

“No,” Deacon murmured again. “They’re still doing door-to-door searches and checking every vehicle that leaves the neighborhood. It’s Stella Brewer. She’s dead.”

Dani’s heart missed a beat. “What? When?”

“Sometime last night,” Adam said.

She huffed out a harsh breath, finding it hard to draw another. Diesel’s big hand was on her back, rubbing circles and helping her get the words out. “Am I . . . Are we—Diesel and I—are we suspects?”

“No,” Deacon said. “You were with cops and federal agents all evening. Diesel, you were likely with Stone. We’ll get him to confirm that later. Someone came into her house, we think with a key, or she let them in. No sign of forced entry. She was found with a bag of heroin, two bullet holes in her head, and another in her heart.”

“We’re trying to trace the heroin now,” Adam offered. “It’s a very pure grade.”

Diesel rubbed his face with his free hand. “Scott King.” He looked at the two detectives. “Michael said the guy returned Brewer’s car to their garage the night Brewer was killed. He must have kept Brewer’s keys.”

Deacon nodded. “Makes sense. The two cops who were watching her house found her an hour ago when they tried to get in to use the bathroom. They were supposed to have eyes on the front and the back, but they were sitting in their squad car and doing perimeter checks every half hour.”

Dani suddenly remembered Quincy Taylor’s visit. “One of the CSU techs is also dead. Quincy believed that the tech was responsible for identifying the fisherman that King thought was an eyewitness. Quincy saw King at the crime scene.”

Diesel drew in a sharp breath. “King was desperate enough to go to the crime scene to get information? No wonder he’s after Michael. He’s snipping his loose ends. Did you get anything from the riverboat?”

Both Adam and Deacon shook their heads. “We’re getting warrants for their employee records,” Adam said, “but their attorney is fighting it. I did hear from Scarlett, though, that you two have a suggestion for where we should start looking. Something about a med student?”

Diesel stiffened beside her and Dani squeezed his hand. “Jeremy found her,” she said. “Her name is Laurel Jo Masterson.”

“LJM Industries,” Diesel murmured. “You should check Brewer’s financials. Specifically the transfer of the title to his house. It was bought by LJM Industries two weeks ago.”

“Laurel’s got two brothers,” Dani told him. “One is an accountant and one is a Cleveland cop.” She told them about how Laurel went missing and her brother insisted that she hadn’t run away, but that Laurel’s roommate claimed she’d gone off with her older boyfriend.