“Subtlety was never Brady’s strong suit.” Archer grinned at Morgan. “And you’re the one who chose to get engaged to the guy. We inherited him.”
“Thanks a lot.” Brady fake slugged Archer’s arm.
Archer laughed. “No problem, man. What are friends for?”
“Focus, people,” Jake interrupted, to keep the team on task. “Darcie, can you think of anyone who might want to retaliate—not because you did anything wrong in their care, but because they just weren’t happy with the results? Someone who was left permanently disabled, maybe?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about it since Noah mentioned it, and I’m coming up blank.”
“I’ve already got my team pulling the callout records from dispatch,” Noah offered. “But I’m also wondering if this is gang-related.”
“Gang.” Jake sat forward, slamming down his leg rest and fixing his gaze on Noah. “How so?”
“This is just a hunch, mind you. I didn’t get a close look at the shooter, but he wore Nuevo gang colors. And we all know about the gang problems in that neighborhood.”
“Never heard of the Nuevo gang,” Cash said.
“They’re a recently formed offshoot of another faction. Nuevo means new. Hence the name.”
Darcie frowned. “But I’m not involved with or connected to a gang.”
“Regardless,” Noah replied, “I’ll talk to our detective on the metro gang task force to see if he has any thoughts on the attack.”
“I don’t like this uncertainty.” Morgan twisted her hands. “There’s got to be a connection to narrow this down. Or how else will we know whether or not everyone here is in danger?”
“This isn’t related to the team, is it?” Krista shot a questioning look at Noah.
“Maybe,” he said. “But I think it’s less likely than some of the other options.”
Jake narrowed his gaze. “Could be related to the Vargas family.”
“The Vargas family?” Krista asked.
“He’s talking about Isabel, Mayte and Pilar.” Skyler came back into the room carrying a mug of steaming tea. She handed it to Darcie and grinned. “Is this where I should give you a hug or something?”
Darcie returned the smile, and Noah liked seeing the change in her attitude even if it was just for the moment. “I’m good for now.”
“Morgan’s right, you know,” Brady said. “If this is related to the squad we need to know.”
Noah opened his mouth to speak, but the team started tossing out thoughts on possible suspects. No point in fighting to be heard. He leaned back and listened, but he kept his eye on Darcie, who sipped her tea and said very little.
“Back to the Vargas family,” Jake said. “Could this have something to do with Mayte’s drug habit?”
“I wondered the same thing,” Noah admitted. “I’ll start looking in to that, too.”
“You’re heading up this investigation, then?” Archer asked.
Noah nodded and waited for one of them to ask about his credentials and if PPB had a more qualified detective.
“So there’s no clear reason for the attack.” Logan weighed in for the first time. “Did you ever consider it’s just a random attack? Maybe a robbery?”
“I thought of that,” Darcie said. “But if all he wanted was my money, why didn’t he pull his gun and demand my purse instead of trying to choke me to death?”
“Good point. It does sound more like someone wanted you dead.” Logan frowned. “Odd that he’d attempt it out in broad daylight like that with witnesses around.”
“If he is a gangster,” Noah said, “the locals are so afraid of the gangs, they’d never testify against them, so the gangsters don’t bother trying to hide. And, honestly, the attack in broad daylight is right in line with a gangster’s behavior.”
Archer nodded. “They aren’t known for their subtlety.”
Jake was still frowning. “Until we can prove a connection to a gang, we’ll need to explore all other possibilities.”
Brady leveled his gaze at Darcie. “You’ve never really talked about your ex. Could he be behind this?”
Darcie’s mouth fell open for a second, before she snapped it closed and took a deep breath. “Tom doesn’t have any gang ties.”
Brady leaned forward. “He could have hired someone.”
“He’s right, Darcie,” Skyler said. “I know Tom came to see you a few weeks ago. He seemed pretty angry when he left. Could it be related to that?”
Darcie opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked down at her hands. “We own a house together from when we were married. He wants to sell it. Says he needs the money. I’m not ready to let it go.”
“I know you don’t want to think he could harm you, but money or the lack thereof, is a powerful motivator,” Archer said.
“I should probably look in to him.” Noah tried to sound like it would be an unpleasant thing to do, when truth was, he hoped to learn more about Darcie in the process since she shared little about her personal life.
“Do what you have to do,” she said, but didn’t look up.
Archer shifted in his chair. “Has anyone thought about Winnie Kerr’s sons?”
“The woman who donated this place?” Morgan asked.
Archer nodded. “She recently changed her will, cutting out her sons and leaving Darcie a sizable inheritance. Her sons didn’t like it and they’re trying to prove Winnie’s not of sound mind.”
Darcie lifted her head, sorrow lingering in her expression. “I’m scheduled to testify on Winnie’s behalf.”
“Sounds like a good motive for murder.” Archer swung his gaze to Noah. “Since this is a financial lead and I have an MBA, mind if I do a bit of checking on it for you? Would help relieve some of your workload.”
“I’m glad for the help.” Noah handed a business card to Archer. “Keep me updated on your progress.”
“And you’ll do the same thing,” Jake demanded, his focus fixed squarely on Noah’s face.
Noah didn’t like sharing confidential information outside of his department, but there was no point in arguing with Jake. He’d get the information somehow, so Noah might as well provide it. He nodded his agreement.
Darcie set down her teacup and stood. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired of talking about this. It’s my night to cook dinner, and it’s time for me to get started.”
“Oh, honey.” Morgan jumped up. “You don’t need to cook. We can do it.”
Darcie gave a firm shake of her head, then winced. Noah suspected it was from the bruises he’d seen before she hid them under her sweater. “Making dinner will keep my mind busy.”
With her shoulders back, she turned and marched to the kitchen, looking like the resolute, amazing woman Noah knew her to be. After losing her daughter and then her marriage, she’d clawed her way back to normalcy in her life, but Noah knew it had been a long, hard struggle. He also knew if such a tragedy didn’t keep her down, nothing would.
The problem was, in an effort to keep up a strong act or to fight through her fears, she