Page 51 of Vanishing Legacy

Alana watched the color drain from Cash. Shock and disbelief rolled like waves over his face. Penny’s mother, the woman Cash married, had been under FBI surveillance?

The weight of Bailey’s revelation hung heavy in the air. Cash’s silence was deafening. Outside the room, sounds of fighters hitting the heavy bags and sparring were distant and muted. The gym seemed less welcoming. Less safe.

The Madrina drug cartel was one of the most dangerous and elusive organizations in the country. Now Cash and Penny were tied to them, and Bailey was wrapped up in the investigation. “Wait. If Sonia was laundering money for the cartel, isn’t your undercover work a conflict of interests?”

“No, they closed that part of the investigation when Sonia was declared dead.” Bailey cast a sympathetic glance at her brother.

“I don’t understand this.” Cash stood and paced the room. “Why would Sonia be involved with the cartel? And why would the FBI think she was laundering money?”

Bailey took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Cash. I never wanted you to?—”

Cash held up a finger. “Don’t. Don’t sugarcoat this.”

She nodded. “Sonia was having an affair with the leader of the cartel.”

“That’s ridiculous. Sonia would never do that.” He stopped pacing. “Okay, maybe she was lonely. I was gone and she was a new parent. But she’d never get involved with someone dangerous like that.”

“I know,” Bailey said. “I didn’t want to believe it either. But the FBI have evidence. I saw the photographs. The bank statements. They were building a strong case.”

“I can’t believe this. I had no idea.” Cash rubbed his forehead. “And now Trejo is trying to kill me and kidnap Penny because of something Sonia may have done?”

Alana’s pulse quickened. That gut feeling she had made a whole lot more sense now. If Sonia had been involved in money laundering, then it was possible she’d had information the cartel couldn’t let leak. Which would have made Sonia a liability. “Bailey, do you think Sonia was murdered?”

Cash’s sister wiggled out of her jacket and left it rumpled on the desk beside her. Red splotches covered her neck, and Alana noticed the room was thick with hot air.

Bailey gathered her hair off her neck and twisted it into a low ponytail that she tucked under her ball cap. “Well, murder is one theory.”

“One?” Cash stilled. “What’s the other?”

“No sugarcoating?”

“Right,” Cash said, sitting on the arm of the couch.

“The agents working that side of the case believe Sonia faked her death.”

Alana hadn’t verbalized it, but the same thought had been rattling around her head. It was one reason she’d wanted to search for the car. “I thought if Cash and I could find Sonia’s car or her remains, it’d bring some closure and settle any doubts that she could be involved in the attempted abductions, but the feds won’t let us near the dive spot,” Alana said. “Somehow we need to find out if Sonia is really alive or if the attempts to kidnap Penny connect to this…this spaghetti mess.”

Bailey nodded. “That’s why I need to keep working with Trejo. He’s my best shot at getting to the cartel leader. Car or no car, once I’m in the top tier, we’ll know more about what is going on here.”

Alana leaned forward. Her mind raced with possibilities. “But how can you believe Trejo? He’s tried to kill Cash and kidnap Penny multiple times. He’s not exactly trustworthy.”

Bailey chewed on her lower lip. “I know. But I’ve built a relationship with him. He trusts me. And I’ve got backup, Alana. I’m not going at this alone.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Cash held up both hands. “What you’re talking about is crazy. What if he finds out we’re related?”

“He won’t. My cover has been tested and it’s solid.”

Cash shook his head. “I still think this is nuts. Sonia wasn’t some money launderer for a cartel. How would she even know how to do that?”

Bailey sighed, then hopped off the desk and crossed the room. She placed both hands on Cash’s shoulders. “I know it’s hard to believe, Cash. But the FBI has reason to suspect it. They found several inconsistencies in her financials and connections to the cartel. One of our suspects lives in a house she decorated.”

Alana thought of the estate where Cash and Penny lived. He could afford it on his salary now, but back then when he was deployed? It wasn’t a big leap to consider the Madrina cartel had been paying Sonia to launder money through her interior design business. “What do you think, Bailey?”

“Honestly?” She stepped back and crossed her arms. “If it’s true Sonia was having an affair with the leader of the cartel—whose identity we still don’t have—then I could see the cartel helping her. They could’ve faked her death to protect her or so she could run off into the sunset with her lover.”

Alana could see the disbelief etched on Cash’s face. It was a lot to take in.

“Why would she leave Penny behind?” Cash leaned forward, hands gripping his knees.

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