She stepped back as he answered the call.
When he saw it was Swede, he put him on speaker. “Swede, you have me and Sachie on speaker.”
“Good. I did some digging into the DEA’s work following the Sinaloa cartel’s infiltration into Hawaii. The cartel has connections with the All-Seeing gang. There’ve been several murders linked to the gang recently. They like to hang out at biker bars on the outskirts of Honolulu, one in particular.”
Teller’s gut clenched. “Leather & Chains?”
“That’s the one.”
“We ran into one of their members outside the Boys’ Club where Sachie’s suicide victim worked. He had the pyramid with the eye tattoo.”
“Whatever you do, be careful. Hawk said you have some of the team as backup.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I hope it’s enough,” Swede said. “Oh, and another interesting thing I found… I was looking into Sachie’s Luke Stevenson. His father murdered his mother and is serving time in prison.”
“We know,” Sachie said. “He was worried he would have his father’s genetic predisposition for violence. It was one of the reasons he killed himself.”
“Wow,” Swede said softly. “Then he didn’t know.”
Sachie glanced up at Teller, her brow furrowing. “Know what?”
“The man in jail wasn’t his biological father,” Swede paused. “He was adopted as an infant.”
Sachie covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. “He didn’t know.”
“I found his birth record,” Swede continued. “He was one of two live births. Luke was a twin.”
Sachie leaned into Teller.
He circled her waist with his free hand and pulled her close. “Do you have any information about the other twin?”
“Not yet,” Swede said. “It was a closed adoption. I’m working on it.”
“Were they born in Hawaii?” Teller asked.
“Yes. And Luke’s adoption was there in Hawaii.”
“Anything else?” Teller asked.
“No, sir,” Swede said. “I’ll let you know if I learn anything else.”
“Thanks,” Teller said.
“If you’re still bent on checking out the bar where the All-Seeing Gang hangs out, be careful. They play for keeps.”
Teller understood the danger. “Roger.” After he ended the call, he laid his cell phone on the dresser behind him and hugged Sachie closer.
“He was so afraid he’d be like his father,” Sachie said. “He blamed himself for hurting Kylie and attributed it to his father’s genes.”
“And the father he knew wasn’t his father at all,” Teller concluded.
“Between the threat to his best friend and his own perceived threat to his girlfriend, Luke didn’t see any other way out.” Sachie pressed her forehead to his chest. “It didn’t have to be that way.”
Teller tipped her chin up and stared down into her eyes. “I’m so sorry for what happened to Luke.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry you had to witness it.” He cupped the back of her neck and pressed his lips against her right temple. “If I could undo it all, I would.”
She stared up into his eyes. “You can’t.”