“Which gives him motive to strike back in a way that’ll shut her down,” Annabel said. “It’s worth a try, but it goes no farther than our group here. And if it isn’t him, then we need to figure out who it is.”

Annabel’s intercom went off and she answered it. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I know you said no interruptions, but there’s a reporter from the Times-Picayune here with a delivery. He said you’d want to take it.”

All five of them walked to the waiting area and recognized one of the reporters from the crime desk. He had two boxes with him that sat ominously on two chairs. “Can I help you?” Annabel asked.

“Special Agent Hicks, we received these in the newsroom today with instructions to bring them here. No one opened them, and before you process them, I should tell you there’s a few sets of fingerprints from the people in our office who handled them.” The guy took out his notebook and stared at them. “Any chance you’d open them now?”

“Thank you,” Annabel said as Lionel and Joe each took a box. “Wait here.”

They headed for the in-house lab and had the techs x-ray both boxes. Shelby shivered when she saw what was in them. “Who is that?” she asked as they all stared at two heads.

“Open them,” Annabel ordered.

The technician laid both heads on the exam table and held up a note in a plastic bag. Each man had his genitals shoved in his mouth, and a frozen, terrified expression on his face. It didn’t take a federal agent to know they’d died in pain.

“Read it,” Annabel said.

“Found something you lost,” the tech read. “Your runaway has a new face, but his father should look familiar to you. Anthony and Matt Curtis are no longer vying for the top spot with the cartel. These fuckers were known in Mexico as Jerome and Patrick Rhodes.”

“Shit,” Joe said. “I’d have pegged Casey for this until that last line. She’s a mob boss, but she never swears. It seems beneath her.”

“Look for any trace evidence, and bring it directly to me,” Annabel said. They followed her back to the waiting area. “How were these delivered?”

“Two kids with hoodies and big sunglasses. It had a note for me, and it gave me orders to bring them here.”

“Thank you for following directions, and we’ll call you first when we’re ready to report anything,” Annabel said. The conversation with this guy was over. “Keep Dylan busy with surveillance and perhaps looking for the bodies that go with these heads, but we start meeting regularly about what we talked about. Get with Casey as soon as you can.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shelby said. Whatever this was all about, hopefully it wouldn’t take them all down.

“What do you think?” Joe asked her once Annabel left.