Sitting alone in a cheap motel room in the middle of a storm definitely counted as an emergency. He was on his second glass.

He thought about what he had discovered so far and what it all meant.

Ten years ago, Birch Fairmont committed some unspeakable act that Diane and the people around her had kept a closely guarded secret to this day. Only two weeks later, an unidentified assassin shot three people at the Bok Sanctuary, including Birch. Back then, no one made a connection between the two events. Instead, the Liberty Empire Alliance got the blame for painting a target on Birch’s chest. Hamilton Brock went to prison but claimed he was set up by a mole inside the Alliance. Chuck Warren lost the election but saw a conspiracy orchestrated by the Democrats and the media.

Conspiracy or not, the crime went unsolved.

Fast forward to now.

Rufus Twill, who had led the media wolf pack going after the Liberty Empire Alliance ten years ago, was singing a different song. So was his niece, a former employee at the Fairmont household. They were both spreading rumors that Diane’s son Drew hated Birch and wanted him dead. Drew also had a relationship with a hip, violent young drug dealer named Frank Macy. If Cab connected the dots, then maybe Birch’s death wasn’t what everyone originally believed. Or maybe he was being played, and this was just a new political conspiracy aimed at Diane.

Rufus Twill had an agenda in pointing a finger at Drew after all these years. That was obvious. He wasn’t the kingpin; someone else was orchestrating the rumors. Money had changed hands. It felt like the usual election-year games – but Justin Kiel’s death wasn’t a game. He’d been executed.

Justin had found something that made him a mortal threat. He’d been asking questions about Birch’s murder. He’d searched the office of Dr Reuben Smeltz. He’d followed the trail of Drew’s drug dealer, Frank Macy. And he wound up with a bullet in his brain.

Definitely not a game.

Cab knew the least about Frank Macy of any of the players in this drama, but what he did know troubled him. Macy had a criminal record and access to guns. He also had connections to a woman who would very much like to see Diane’s downfall. The Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate, Ramona Cortes.

Cab didn’t know what to believe anymore. He was in a shadow play, where he couldn’t trust what his eyes told him. The wine swam in his head. His clothes were still wet; he was cold. The rain fired at the motel window like a machine gun. He picked up his cell phone and did what he always did when he couldn’t sort out what was real and what was not.

He called Lala.