Framed Shadows: Shadows Landing #6, Kathleen Brooks [great novels of all time TXT] 📗

enough that anyone nearby would hear him. I was put in a body bag and loaded into an ambulance in case Engle was watching. The doctors managed to save me. A week later, my boss retired and moved to a beach house in Central America. He told me in the hospital right before he caught the plane out of town that he and his wife had been saving for decades. Then he handed me my transfer papers as his last act as my boss.” Paxton still felt the punch in the gut at being handed the transfer. He was the number two man in the office, and instead of his team being there to support him, they’d abandoned him.

Peter crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes in thought. “You said once you thought something was off. I shoved it aside, but you’re right. I’ve led my fair share of raids and that’s not how it was done. The timing of your boss retiring is also interesting. I was going to see if someone from your team could look into Maurice and Murray, but I don’t think so. I want to keep this away from them.”

“Someone has their hand in the money pot,” Miss Tibbie said with a nod as if it were a done thing.

Paxton had to smile at seeing this elegant old lady talking about drugs and gangs. “I think you’re right, Miss Tibbie.”

“I don’t know anything about this, but I have a confession,” Tinsley said as she played nervously with her fingers. “My cousin looked into you. He said your report was filled with citations for insubordination. You weren’t listening to your superior. Do you think that’s the reason for the transfer when in reality it had nothing to do with the night you were shot?”

Paxton felt so surprised he almost fell from the chair. “You looked into me?”

“My cousin did. I told him not to, but you can’t tell Ryker anything.”

“We know about that. The new head of the department, Mark Trevino, had it changed,” Peter told them. “There’re no disciplinary actions in his original record. Instead, there are plenty of commendations. Luckily, I had printed it off when Paxton transferred to my office. We thought Mark was the issue, but was your old boss in on it, too?”

“Of course he was,” Tibbie said with a roll of her eyes. “The man left the country a week after Paxton was shot. And you call yourselves agents. David Thrumble was a donor to the Historical Society with us. He just took off for Ecuador one day after he sold his company, a company the buyer didn’t know the IRS was investigating for tens of millions in unpaid taxes. He even left his wife, Mary Lewis, at their home wondering what was going on when it was seized by the IRS. She had no idea he’d emptied their bank accounts, not paid taxes, and skipped town. Bless her heart. You,” Miss Tibbie said, pointing to Paxton, “are Mary Lewis.”

Damn. He was.

“It was all a setup. But why?” Peter asked.

“I swear you two wouldn’t last one second in Charleston society,” Miss Tibbie said as she rolled her eyes. Again. “You’re the sacrificial lamb. The question is who hung you out to dry so they could advance?”

“Mark Trevino,” Peter and Paxton said at the same time.

It was weird feeling relieved, but that’s what Paxton felt. Relief. It all made sense now.

“You know, Mark didn’t realize you were still an agent,” Peter told him.

“He didn’t?” Paxton asked.

Peter shook his head. “He thought you were on medical leave.”

“Wait, I don’t understand. Why would this Mark guy offer you up to Engle?” Tinsley asked, stopping Paxton from asking more questions.

“Mark never plays by the rules. I always thought Engle had to have an inside man on the team. There were too many times I got so close to busting Engle but when I tried to nail down the evidence, all of a sudden, it was gone. Now it makes sense. Engle was meeting someone big that night. I had just cut Mark out of the case. Instead, I was reporting to my boss, and my boss only. I have no doubt my boss had been saving for that retirement house, but he was only fifty-three. There’s no way he’d saved enough while putting two kids through college. Mark had to have paid him off. Keep Mark in the loop and he’d make sure my boss could retire early. My coms were cut on purpose. I bet Mark did it and then tipped Engle off that I was there as proof of his loyalty. Engle would kill me and Mark would be in.”

Tibbie nodded and Paxton sat back in his chair and let out a long, slow breath.

“But what does this all have to do with stolen art? And why are they in Shadows Landing?” Tinsley asked.

“That’s what we need to find out.” Paxton didn’t like where his mind was going. Pieces were clicking into place and they all pointed back to Mark Trevino.

14

“There’s our screamer,” Ridge called out as Tinsley and Paxton walked into the bar for dinner.

Tinsley stumbled over her own feet as she shot a horrified look at Paxton. “You told my brother?” she hissed as Paxton reached out to steady her. The proud smile on his face made her want to roll her eyes.

“As much as I’d love for you to praise my sexual prowess publicly, I believe Ridge is talking about the alligator and me.”

Tinsley snorted and slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Who’s screaming?” Peter asked, and Tinsley smothered another laugh.

“You will be later,” Paxton whispered as he held out a chair for her.

Peter joined them at the table. “Sorry to interrupt dinner and the rightful merciless teasing Paxton is about to receive, but I need to talk to him.”

“Do you have an address?” Paxton asked as he turned away from the table.

Tinsley leaned back in her chair to eavesdrop,