“I’m trying to remember. We broke up, but she showed up from time to time. I didn’t think anything of it. We ran in the same circles.”

“Was she ever alone at your place?”

“No. Not that I know of, anyway.”

“What does that mean?”

“Fuck.”

His tone reeked of defeat. I wasn’t going to like what was coming.

“She had a key. She gave it back to me after we parted ways, but…”

“But…she could have had a copy made.”

“Yeah.”

What were you thinking? I wanted to demand of my brother. But the fact was, he hadn’t been thinking about Dad at all. He all but admitted he tried never to think of the bastard. Most ex-girlfriends weren’t mercenaries, so he didn’t bother changing his locks.

Made perfect sense.

Except we were all fucked now because of his little faux pas.

“She never had the combination to my gun safe, though,” Rock said.

“Okay, that’s good. But think. Did you put the gun back in the safe the last time you went to the shooting range?”

Silence.

He wasn’t sure.

Fuck.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Fuck, man. It’s not a no. But the thing is, I just don’t remember.”

“Shouldn’t you always replace a gun in the safe?”

“Of course, if you have small children around. Or you fear someone living with you might be suicidal. But I lived alone, Reid. I wasn’t going to blow my own head off, so I didn’t worry about shit like that.”

My mind raced. “So she could have taken your gun. But we already know your gun wasn’t used to blow Dad’s head off. It was just the same model.”

“Right, so who cares if she took it?”

“Well, you should.”

“I do. She’s a conniving little shrew. But the fact that my gun is missing doesn’t implicate me any further, because it’s not the murder weapon.”

“No, you’re the only one with a seemingly ironclad alibi.”

“What do you mean seemingly?”

“The cops still think you could have had it done.”

“Why would I do something so stupid as to have it done with a gun that’s a duplicate of mine?”

“Good point. Honestly, I’m not sure why they haven’t ruled you out. Something’s fishy about all of this.”

“It has been from the get-go, bro.”

“I know.”

“Honestly, Nieves could have taken my gun. Or she could have taken something else that I have no clue about.”

“I’ll find out at lunch.” I glanced down at my watch. “In fact, I have to go. I’ll check in with you later.”

“Sounds good.”

I ended the call and shoved my phone in my pocket.

Time to turn on the charm once more to get what I wanted.

11

Zee