I sit up, letting the sheet fall to my lap. “No. Let me. My turn to cook.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Moses says, following my lead and sitting up. “I can cook, or Jules can, or we can order out. Trust me, you don’t want Trey anywhere near the kitchen, though. He’s a take-out-only kind of guy. He’d burn rice too.”
“I know I don’t need to. Obviously, you’ve made it this long without me keeping you fed, but I’m in the mood for it. Don’t worry, I won’t poison you.” I shoot him back a wink as I rise from the bed, and Moses’s hand darts out, snagging my forearm.
I glance down at him expectantly.
“You’re incredible, Mags. And if there’s one thing I could do differently, it would be coming back a hell of a lot sooner. That’s my biggest regret.”
Sometimes I’m unsure of how to react when he says things like that. I’ve never had this before, but I swallow my emotions and tip my head to the side. “No point in wishing for what’s already been and gone. Let’s make the most of what we have now.”
He squeezes my hand and releases it. “Beauty and brains. A deadly combination. There will never be another woman like you, Magnolia. Never.”
I straighten my back and right my posture under his praise. “I know.”
Six
Moses
While Magnolia digs in the fridge, deciding what she’ll make, I sit across the table from Trey.
I keep my voice low as I talk to him. “You gotta give me something, brother. We gotta put this bastard in the ground. I’m not letting him get a shot at Mags. We need information.”
Trey bobs his head. “Dude, I know. I’m digging everywhere. I can’t find any record of family. Anything that would connect him to another person is missing. If he ever had family, it appears they’ve been wiped too.”
My frustration escalates, because this isn’t a problem we’ve ever run into before. In this day and age, where everyone records their every thought online through social media, plus pictures and family affiliations, it’s easy to track down damn near anyone. Frankly, it’s a criminal’s dream. Your average person doesn’t think twice about what they share and how it could be used against them.
Want to find a house to rob? Watch for people posting all their vacation pics. Then stop by during the day, in broad daylight, in a work van, wearing a collared shirt and a name tag, and no one looks at you twice.
But this bastard isn’t some petty criminal, and we need to examine every angle.
“Spend some time digging on Alberto Brandon. Mount told us this morning his wife was murdered the same night of the break-in at Mags’s condo. He’s the reason the Feds were watching the house. There’s a connection.”
Trey’s brows shoot up to his hairline. “How was she killed?”
“Throat slit.”
“Damn. That’s ice cold,” he whispers, his fingers still tapping on the keyboard. “We have any idea who or why?”
I crack my neck, annoyed at how the whole situation makes my body tighten. “Feds were watching the house because of him, and now his wife is dead. There’s something there, I just don’t know what. We need more info. Anything you can find.”
Trey nods, lifting his hands from the keyboard to crack his knuckles. “I’ll hack the NOPD. Find out what they know about the woman’s murder. It has to be connected. I’ll check in and see what they’ve got on the break-in too. Maybe they’ve determined if the blood is animal or human yet. That might give us something.”
I rise and tap the top of his laptop screen. “Thanks, brother. Work your magic. We need to get some answers quick so we can take care of this shit once and for all.”
“How does jambalaya sound?” Magnolia calls from the kitchen with her head buried in the fridge.
“Perfect, mama.” I look at Trey. “You hungry?”
“Damn right. I’m always hungry.”
“Me too,” Jules says, chiming in. “Especially if I’m not cooking.”
Magnolia smiles from where she stands behind the island. “All right. One big ol’ batch coming up.”
* * *
By the time Magnolia has the whole house smelling amazing, Trey is in the NOPD system.