Hannah plunged in. “Jose, would you mind telling us about your sister? Maybe we can go at this from that end.”
“My sister,” Jose said quietly. He looked at her earnestly. “My little sister—by about two minutes. We’re twins. But while I always knew I wanted to go into law enforcement, Alicia never figured out what she wanted to do with her life. She was a wild child, sweet as could be, but rebellious. She made my parents crazy. Then she fell in love with a great guy, a GI, and everything seemed good. She was living in the Miami area when her husband was killed overseas.
“I worried about her, tried to figure out how to help her. Our parents were gone by then, so it was just the two of us. I was there for Alicia as much as I could be, given the job, and she told me she was doing okay. She said she’d decided to become a social worker, because she wanted to make life better for people. Then I had to go out of town on a case, and while I was away a friend texted me that he was afraid she’d gotten into drugs. I got myself assigned to the Keys and made plans to come see her, but by the time I got down here, Alicia was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t paid her rent, had abandoned all her belongings.”
“And you had no idea where she was, what she was doing?” Dallas asked.
“She called me once, just before I made the move down here. I didn’t mention that I was worried about her, just said I was coming to the Keys to work an important case. I told her I’d see her soon. She said that she’d come down to see me as soon as I got here. But I never saw her, never heard from her again. Naturally I reported her disappearance, but no one’s ever found anything. The case is still open up in Miami–Dade.”
“What makes you think she disappeared from Key West? We’re at least three hours away,” Logan pointed out.
“When I came down for her husband’s funeral, she was wearing an odd pendant. It looked like an ancient medallion. When I mentioned it, she laughed and said it was just a piece of costume jewelry. Said she’d tried to help an old friend of her husband’s get back into civilian life. When she disappeared and Los Lobos started really gaining prominence, I kept thinking about that pendant. It wasn’t cheap costume jewelry, even if she believed it was. I’m convinced that friend was—is—part of Los Lobos. And he was using my sister—possibly making her dependent on drugs again, but also making her think he cared by giving her such an expensive gift, an antique pendant that was part of his cut from the Wolf. That’s speculation on my part, but it makes sense. All I know for sure is that somewhere along the way I lost my sister.”
Hannah reached for him, but of course she couldn’t touch him. She lowered her hand. “I don’t believe she would have betrayed you,” she said. “No matter who she was involved with.”
“There’s something I didn’t tell you,” he said, meeting her eyes.
“What?” she asked.
“The night I was killed...the group I was with...at least three of them were in Los Lobos, and they particularly wanted to come down your street,” Jose said.
“So, they were setting you up,” Hannah said.
“That’s certainly one of the possibilities I considered at first. I knew a couple of the guys weren’t ‘in’ yet. They might not even have known they were being scoped out for possible membership.”
“So you weren’t being set up?” Dallas asked.
“I don’t think so—not anymore. I think they specifically wanted to be on this street to see something.”
“You mean...this house?” Hannah asked, a chill ripping through her.
Jose nodded. “I think so. Do you have any idea why?”
“There’s nothing here—nothing Los Lobos would be after,” Hannah said. “And if they were looking for something here, why were you killed here? That pretty much guaranteed a big police presence.”
“I don’t know,” Jose said. “But you have something here. Something you don’t realize. Something they want.”
“The chest,” Dallas said. “Do you think there’s any possibility that they could be after the treasure—that they think it might be here?”
“But it isn’t here! There was never even a story that it was kept in this house. And if it were here, I’d know it. Trust me.”
“Maybe someone in Los Lobos doesn’t believe that,” Logan suggested.
“It doesn’t matter what they believe. I know all these rooms—it’s a bed-and-breakfast, for God’s sake!” Hannah said. “The attic is as neat as a pin. The stairs to the widow’s walk are right there, and people go up them all the time, especially at sunset. They want to catch a glimpse of Melody. Sometimes, when she’s in the right mood, she obliges them.”
“The truth doesn’t matter,” Dallas said. “People act based on what they believe to be true—whether they’re right or wrong.” He suddenly turned his attention to the ghost. “Jose, what were you writing in your blood?” he asked tensely.