Read Online Stop at Nothing by Kate Serine - Free Book Online Page B

though she only had a view of his profile. She knew that look well. His mind was already processing the few facts she’d provided, connecting the dots. “But if this guy Hamilton is such a big deal, why didn’t he just hire someone there in Detroit?”
    â€œI asked that same question,” she admitted. “Hamilton said he preferred to keep the investigation out of the hands of anyone local for fear that the information would get back to his employee.”
    â€œOkay, I get that,” Kyle admitted. “But why you ? No offense. I just know that there are entire firms that specialize in the type of investigation Hamilton wanted. Why—or maybe more importantly, how —did he hear of you and the work you do for Fairfield County?”
    â€œAsked that as well,” she assured him. “I certainly know I’m not the only one who could’ve taken on this project. He said he heard about me after the Brannigan case hit the papers.”
    Kyle shook his head. “Not familiar with that one.”
    â€œTed Brannigan was an executive at one of the big drug companies that I busted for child porn,” she said. “Most of the news stories didn’t mention my name—which is fine by me—but a few in the Midwest found out I was the investigator and put my name in the paper. Hamilton claimed that’s where he first heard about me, and that then he had me investigated to determine if I was the real deal and equal to the task.”
    â€œAnd you were okay with all this?” Kyle pressed. “You didn’t think Hamilton seemed a bit paranoid just to find out if one of his employees was taking long lunches and knocking boots with his admin?”
    â€œTurns out he had reason to be paranoid.”
    He glanced her way, brows raised. “Yeah?”
    She nodded. “There were several people who’d aroused his suspicion, all high-level employees. Every one of them had something to hide, some skeleton in the closet that probably wouldn’t have surprised anyone. But none of it was what Hamilton was hoping I’d find on them.”
    â€œAnd…?” Kyle prompted.
    â€œAnd so I expanded my search,” she continued, “and followed some email trails down a rabbit hole.”
    Kyle connected a few dots of his own. “And you found what you were looking for.”
    â€œAnd then some.” When he sent an expectant look her way, she said, “The guy he should’ve been worried about was Preston Whitmore—the son of Hamilton Whitmore’s founding partner and Patrick Hamilton’s godson.”
    â€œYou think Hamilton knew his godson was dirty?”
    She shrugged. “Hard to say. He honestly might’ve had no idea.”
    â€œOkay, playing devil’s advocate here,” Kyle told her. “If Hamilton knew about Whitmore, it could explain why he wanted to keep things quiet. Could be that the list of people he fingered were folks he had it in for anyway and wanted to sacrifice as the proverbial fall guys.”
    â€œMaybe,” Abby agreed. “Or maybe he was just hoping someone else was really behind it and Preston was a pawn.”
    â€œSo what all was this guy Whitmore into?”
    Abby grunted. “What wasn’t he into? He was making dirty deals all over the city to line his own pockets. And he was on the take with at least one drug cartel, helping them launder money.”
    â€œNo shit?”
    â€œOh, but that’s not even the best part,” she said, a bitter little chuckle bubbling up before she could stop it. “He was also doing business with Tartarus Security Services International.”
    â€œWait,” Kyle interjected. “Isn’t that your brother-in-law’s company?”
    Abby tried to suppress a shudder, remembering the photo of “Curtis” she had received. She was certain the image would haunt her for years. “Yes.”
    Kyle cursed softly.
    â€œAs