“When he discovered she was missing,” Grant said bitterly. “I was so busy with my own life then that I didn’t even realize something was wrong. My wife was pregnant with twins and had just been put on bed rest when I got the e-mail from Laurel saying she was spending the holidays with her new boyfriend. I didn’t think anything about it. I e-mailed her back and told her to have a good time. When Wesley came out from undercover and realized she was really missing, he was so . . . angry with me. And he had a right to be. If I’d bugged them to investigate sooner . . .” He sighed wearily. “But I didn’t, and I have to live with that.” He rubbed his temples. “What about the other companies? When were they established?”

“All but Raguel, Rosemary & Poppies, Seaheaven 42N x 82W, and Brothers Grim were established eleven months ago,” Diesel said, watching Grant for a sign that the date meant something to him.

Grant shook his head, frowning. “Eleven months ago? I don’t know . . .” He cut himself off, shoulders sagging. “That’s when Wes took time off for rehab. He’d had a problem for years, but when we found out that Laurel was missing, he went off the deep end. He showed up at my office last April completely wasted. Crying.” He briefly clenched his eyes shut, looking like he was in pain. “I yelled at him. Told him to pull himself together. It was the fourth or fifth time he’d shown up at my office drunk, but this time was two weeks before April fifteenth and I’d been up all night with one of the twins because my wife was sick. I was so tired . . .” He shuddered. “I lost my temper. I wish I’d listened to him.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for that,” Dani said softly. “I know you will, but you shouldn’t. Your brother could have come back when he’d sobered up to tell you what had happened.”

“Instead, he went off and . . .” He shook his head. “And the others? The poppies and Seaheaven companies?”

“They were established two months later, in June,” Dani said. “We think that’s when Wesley knew she was dead.”

New tears streamed down his cheeks. “Oh my God. All this time. He knew and he didn’t tell me. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Maybe because he was going for vengeance,” Dani said gently. “He was protecting you. You have a family. Your wife sounds nice. You have babies. Maybe he didn’t want to drag you into it. And he did tell you, just not up front.”

Grant met her gaze through his tears. “The companies. I would have found out when I did his taxes.”