A quick knock on the door made Dani turn around. Mitchell was standing there with a digital tablet in his hands.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Mitchell said. “But you wanted me to come get you as soon as I had ballistics back from the scene.”
“What have you got?” Dani asked.
“It’s unusual for sure. Bullets collected at the scene were Black Talon.”
Simon cursed. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, sir. Confirmed.”
Dani felt a surge of relief push through her. She looked over to Simon with her palms held open in front of her, as if to say, “See? I told you so.” Black Talon ammunition was known as arguably the most aggressive and lethal hollow-point round ever designed. A round that mushrooms at impact and causes incredible damage. Because of this, the ammunition had been discontinued more than twenty years ago.
Dani crossed her arms. “Something else is going on here, Simon. You know I’m right. You’re telling me some football coach fired off a collection of rare bullets we can hardly find anywhere anymore?”
He glared at her. “I’m telling you to use all necessary means to bring in your ex-boyfriend, regardless of this report. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Jake drove straight to a storage facility in West Austin he’d rented to keep a lot of his old furniture, household goods, and other important personal possessions after he’d moved into his father’s house four months ago. He punched in codes at a secured gate and tried to keep his face as hidden as possible from security cameras around the front entrance. His head had been spinning ever since he’d left Jill a few minutes ago.
His relationship with Sarah had started slowly fifteen years ago. Jake had still been reeling from the blow of losing Dani. Sarah had also been coming off her own bad breakup. That common ground between them had made for easy conversation. They found themselves out with friends at parties and bars but only huddled together. The attraction had always been strong. When they finally dipped their toes into a dating relationship, it didn’t take long for things to begin to heat up. The fact that they came from different worlds didn’t bother them at that point. They both felt it made their relationship more interesting than others. It would be a long time before cracks appeared there. Still, he loved her. He believed Sarah loved him. So how could he be sitting here pondering whether she was having an affair?
His mind had already been racing through possible candidates. There had been a few guys over the years who had always made him uncomfortable. Sarah used to date a couple of them, and—because their families were part of the Kingston inner circle—she still socialized with them quite often. The guys would sometimes make jokes around him about the one that got away. They said it with wry smiles, but he’d always sensed there was some truth in their words.
Jake parked the truck in the back corner of the storage complex. Getting out, he walked over to the two-story storage building, punched in more security codes at a back door, and entered the facility. Thankfully, there was no one else in the hallway with him. He walked down the corridor and found his specific unit. Kneeling, he entered the correct numbers on a combination lock and pulled it apart. Then he grabbed a handle on the garage-style door and lifted it all the way up. The unit was ten feet by twenty feet and stuffed full. He’d sold off most of their furniture when they were moving but kept a few items. There was his dad’s old desk, an armoire he’d picked out with Sarah when they’d first married, among other assorted furniture. And then there were boxes and plastic tubs for days. Jake hadn’t wanted to deal with sorting out everything a family collects over the years, so he’d just shoved it all in boxes and tubs and put it inside the unit. That was a crappy day. Mainly because Piper had been so angry with him.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Piper said. “It’s so unfair!”
They were standing in the driveway outside their West Austin house. A house where Piper had spent most of her life, and Jake had never expected to sell. A U-Haul truck was parked at the curb. Jake had been loading furniture and boxes for hours. Drew Beamer and a couple of young guys from his football team were helping him. The plan was to drive out tonight and head to Simonton, where they would live in his father’s house. Piper mostly had been sulking around and giving him death stares all day. They were getting close to finishing up, and she seemed to have reached her boiling point.
“Piper, we’ve been over this repeatedly,” he calmly said, wiping sweat from his brow.