Page 16 of Desert Wind

“There’s no big reason, Jenna.”

“There must be a reason, Nash. I’m not a stupid woman. We’ve known one another a long time, and you’ve never been interested in my family history before. Why now?”

“Jenna, the boys back home were trying to see if they could find any living family for you. Perhaps an aunt or maybe the spouses of your sisters, maybe even children they had.”

“That was nice of them,” she smiled, “but I could have saved them the trouble. There’s no one. I’m not really sure what happened to their husbands, and they never had any children.”

“Maybe there’s no one,” he said. “Honey, they can’t find any death record, marriage record, nothing for John or Mary Brooks.”

“Well, that’s just silly. I know they were married.”

“I’m sure they were,” he said calmly. “It’s just that there’s nothing on their deaths.”

“Nash, I went to their funerals. They died after my sisters. I was there!” she said with a raised voice. He nodded,holding up his hands and waving for her to lower her voice as people stared at them. “Sorry. I was there for the funeral.”

“Listen to me. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want you to get upset. Your sisters? They died suspiciously, honey. Jeannie Brooks, no married names for any of your sisters, by the way, was found dead in the desert, stripped with two bullets placed in her forehead. Jillian was killed in a head-on collision with a tow truck, and the driver was never found or tried. Jari didn’t die of a stroke, honey. She had a massive heart attack due to a chemical ingestion.”

Jenna’s face turned an ashy gray color, and she shook her head, pushing her plate aside. She stared down at her hands in her lap.

“Jenna? Jenna, look at me,” prompted Nash. “Jenna?”

“I hear you,” she whispered. “Secrets. There were always secrets in our house. Ridiculous, stupid secrets. Daddy has a job to go to, Jenna, watch the children. Daddy has another job, Jenna. We’ll be gone a few days. Jenna, Jeannie died. We’ll have the funeral in three days. Always secrets about the what, why, when, and how. And I was the obedient little daughter, the nun, who never pushed.”

“Honey, we don’t know anything yet. We’re just trying to help you find some closure. We can stop if you want. We can stop right now and return to Belle Fleur.”

“No. No, we’re going to continue. We’re going to continue, and we’re going to find out the truth about my family even if I have to dig up every damn corpse.”

CHAPTER TEN

“What’s happening, Code?” asked Ghost.

“I’m not sure. We’re not sure,” he said, nodding at Sly and Ace. “This is the weirdest shit ever. We thought we’d be helping Nash and Jenna by trying to find some family that might still be living, aunts or uncles, something. As it turns out, we’ve turned over fucking family secrets.”

“No family?” frowned Ian.

“Not only no family, but the Brooks family seems to be non-existent. John and Mary Brooks do not exist. I can’t find a death notice, death certificate, hospitalizations, nothing.”

“If you’re finding nothing, that makes me worried,” said Ghost.

“It’s not just that,” said Ace. “It’s the sisters all dying under mysterious circumstances. Jeannie stripped and two bullets in the forehead. What does that sound like?”

“A gang or mob hit,” frowned Ian. Ace nodded.

“Jillian hit head-on by a tow truck. No witnesses on a busy road at 1900 on a Tuesday evening.”

“How is that possible? There must have been dozens of cars around the area.”

“No one saw a thing,” frowned Code. “Then we have Jari. Chemically induced heart attack.”

“What does that mean?” asked Ghost.

“That means she was given enough amphetamines to kill four bull elephants. It was estimated at the time of her death that her heart rate was almost three hundred beats a minute.”

“Jesus,” muttered Ian. “These women were murdered, and if they were murdered, chances are the parents were as well.”

“And if that’s true,” said Ace, “Jenna is in danger. Think about it. What if the attack by the Flaming Skulls wasn’t random at all.”

“But I thought they were pissed because she was helping those young women escaping from their club,” said Ghost. “How could that be random?”

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