Page 69 of Savage Peril

“The way things are going, Matt will take the fall. He was arrested for drug dealing. It won’t be much of a leap to believe that he was responsible for the murder.”

“But no one can prove Matt killed my father.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Sheldon said. “Poison is the perfect murder weapon. By the time the victim dies, his murderer is nowhere around. I killed your father, but I won’t be suspected.”

“But I know,” Lori said.

“Very soon, that won’t matter.”

“How do you plan to kill me?” Lori said.

“I don’t,” Sheldon said. “That would be too risky. But your friends in the Mustang will do it for me.”

“They are working with you?”

“Yes, and if you’d been smart, it wouldn’t have come to this,” Sheldon said. “The chase was supposed to scare you. Then you would have jumped at my offer to take over the clinic. And you might have, if your boyfriend hadn’t been around to protect you.”

If only Gunner was there, he would know what to do. “Even if you have me killed, what’s to say the murder won’t be linked to you?”

“You forget that your clinic was involved in drug dealing,” Sheldon said. “Matt was arrested, but you own the business. The story will be that you were working with Matt, dealing drugs through the mob.”

“You’re going to make it look like a mob hit?”

“Brilliant, wouldn’t you agree?” Sheldon said. “The media will latch on to the idea that you were going to roll over for the feds. The mob couldn’t allow that.”

Lori was stunned. Sheldon had thought of everything.

*****

Gunner was frustrated. There had to be a clue. A murderer didn’t kill without a trace. There had to be something that gave him away.

While Lori was at the clinic, Gunner called Rip to see if there was anything new from law enforcement. The police weren’t doing any better than Gunner. So far, the LAPD had no suspects.

After the call, Gunner dug his hands through his hair and groaned. Then an email arrived. Besides being hired for Lori’s defense, her attorney was working with Gunner on any legal angles. The attorney had sent information that he thought would be of interest.

Lori inherited the clinic from her father, but her brother had no ownership. Nick’s history of addiction made him untrustworthy. And in the event that anything happened to Lori, the clinic would go to the nearest living relative. Sheldon Marino was Lori’s uncle, and her only living relative besides her brother.

Gunner swore. He should have known. Sheldon stood to gain much from the death of Robert Waters, and now from the death of Lori. He would take sole possession of the clinic. That meant access to drugs, and a continual flow of money.

Matt had been a middleman. Sheldon was the mastermind.

It had been there all along. Marino was a Sicilian family name, and the mob did business with family. They didn’t trust anyone else. The deal was between Sheldon and Lorenzo, who was probably a dammed cousin.

Gunner grabbed his keys and sprinted for his car. Lori was alone with Sheldon. Brentwood was too far away. But he would get there in time—he had to.

Traffic was a bitch, but Gunner took detours. He knew the routes and got to the neighborhood in record time. He prayed that he wasn’t too late. When he arrived, he parked away from the property, planning for a quick getaway.

Gunner would grab Lori and get her out of harm’s way. He didn’t dare text or call, because he didn’t want to tip off Sheldon. For the moment, surprise was on his side.

He carefully approached the side of the mansion, scanning the property. There were no bodyguards and the electronic security was off. The asshole was arrogant. Creeping along the stone terrace, Gunner listened.

The home was massive, so it was difficult to tell where Lori was. If Sheldon was still behaving, they would be in the dining room eating lunch. That would be the best-case scenario. Then Gunner could feign ignorance and sweep Lori away before her uncle was the wiser.

There was no outside noise, so Gunner crouched below the windows and worked his way to the back door. A quick peek assured him that he wouldn’t be spotted, so he swiftly broke in. The lock was easy, and Gunner was inside in the blink of an eye.

Voices came from down the hall, so Gunner went that direction.

“Your goons in the muscle car are just waiting for me to leave?” Lori said.

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