“The judge at the fair? She teaches art at Cambria Prep. They’re offering Nate a scholarship.” There, it was out. He kept his gaze on her face, bracing himself for her reaction.
“You mean—” She swallowed, looked down at her hands, then nodded and glanced back up at him. “Luka, that’s wonderful. Nate deserves it. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
“But—”
“But, I can’t help but think of how it will impact Emily, not having him with her at school. She doesn’t have any other friends and is always in trouble—she’ll be miserable.”
He straightened as best he could, lying on the gurney. He couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t mention how Emily’s behavior had often gotten Nate in trouble with their teachers. Of course, she was focused on her daughter and what was best for her, but Nate had no one but Luka to stand up for him. “I need to put Nate’s needs first. I hope you understand that.”
She took a long time before finally nodding, her expression still troubled. Before he could say anything more, her phone rang. It was a quick conversation and when she hung up, the look on her face was not a happy one.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Dean died. The surgeons did everything—”
“Damnit.” He grabbed his phone. “I need to call the FBI, tell them not to bother.”
“Hold off. Let them come.”
He glanced at her in surprise. “Why?”
“I stopped to check on Beth and the baby. I told her about Dean. And I told her that if she had something to offer the FBI, we might be able to get her witness protection.”
“Leah, you had no authority—you can’t make promises like that!”
“Dean tortured two people—and who knows how many more—for the Zapata family, and it’s okay to get him a deal, but not an innocent victim in fear for her and her baby’s lives? How’s that justice?” Her face was flushed with indignation.
“It’s not. It’s not justice, it’s the system. It’s how we get bad guys to roll on even bigger, badder guys so we can get them off the street.” He sighed and pushed himself upright so he could meet her gaze. “It’s not a perfect system, not even a very good one, but it’s the best we have.”
“Your FBI friend, she’s after the Zapata family? Why not DEA? Aren’t they drug dealers?”
“They’re into everything. Drugs, weapons, human trafficking, money laundering, you name it. The FBI was actually hoping Dean could tell them who the money guy in Denver was, the one who made the mistake of investing in Spencer’s Ponzi scheme. They figure if that guy is still alive, he could tell them about the family’s finances.”
“What makes you think the Zapatas haven’t killed him? They don’t seem like the forgive-and-forget types.”
“Except that the only people they allow to handle the money are members of their own family. So there’s a chance, a slim one, that the guy isn’t dead.” He sank back against the pillow. “Not that we’ll ever know.”
A strange expression crossed her face. Part smirk and part consideration. “Tell your FBI friend to come. She’ll have someone to talk to when she gets here.”
“Wait, what? Who?” Then it hit him. “No. You can’t be serious.” He lowered his voice to a near whisper. “It’s Beth?”
“They met at a charity gala. Beth invested her own money with Spencer—she wanted a way to leave the family, but that meant cash for a new identity, a new life. She had no idea Spencer was running a con, not at first. But then, they fell in love. Spencer knew he couldn’t just leave Tassi—not without protection, which also cost money. So he made a deal with Beth. She’d funnel her family’s money through him, he’d squirrel away enough for all three of them, Beth, Tassi, and Spencer, to start a new life, and he’d divorce Tassi and then run away with Beth.”
“Didn’t exactly go to plan, then,” Luka said.
“No. Her family got wind of the Ponzi scheme and went after Spencer, so he had to fake his death. The plan was for Beth to wait until things cooled down and they’d reunite, but then Tassi found Spencer and began to blackmail him, forcing him to run another Ponzi—this time with the money going to her—or she’d tell the Zapatas where he was.”
“Explains Tassi’s reluctance to cooperate with us—she was as much behind the Ponzi operation as Spencer was.” He thought for a second. “Why did he write the confession exonerating Tassi?”
“They were going to fake his death again, but that would leave Tassi behind to face the consequences, even if he did actually plan to run off with Beth. Maybe he was trying to protect Tassi? Maybe he still cared for her at least that much?” Leah shrugged. “Guess he must have loved her.”
“Just not enough to play it straight with her. Conman to the end. Both of them.”
“In a way, Beth was the only innocent victim—well, her and her baby. Don’t they deserve a second chance?”
“With Dean dead, there’s a chance Beth’s family has no clue she’s here.” He nodded as he thought it through. “It could work. She tells the FBI what she knows—”
“And she knows everything,” Leah put in. “But she wants full immunity in addition to witness protection.”
“Yeah, yeah. It could work. It could actually work.” He met her gaze with a smile. “Leah, if you hadn’t gotten her to talk—”
“All I did was my job. But you’d better do yours and make sure that FBI friend is true to her word.”
“No problem.” Then he sobered. “I still need to prep the case against Harper’s mother and brother.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Hard to say. You know Harper, she keeps her personal life private.”
“Fat chance of that once the press gets hold of this.”
“Yeah. But I’ll hand it to her—last thing she told me before she left to check on her father was that she knows who killed Lily Nolan
