damage would have been done.
His father’s career had ended the minute he’d been called a pedophile in public.
“Maybe they didn’t need to talk to Amber Taylor. Those two aides of your father’s
gave very in-depth interviews,” Holland explained. “They were good witnesses from
everything I understand. I know Jim felt like they were solid and so did JAG.”
The Navy’s legal arm had been all for prosecuting his father. They would have a much
harder time if they tried to prosecute him today since all their evidence was rapidly
vanishing. “Did you know that one of those two aides was recently murdered?”
“What?” Holland reared back. “No.”
He’d been fairly certain she was out of the loop. “He was transferred out of NOLA
about a week after my father died. He was killed in Puerto Rico during a mugging.”
“I will admit it’s odd, but it doesn’t prove anything.” Even as she spoke, her brow
furrowed, a sure sign that her thinking cap was on.
Making her think was exactly what he’d hoped for. “I don’t have to prove anything.
I simply have to prod your curiosity enough to look.”
“You think you know me?”
“I do know you, Holland. You’re smart and quick and you like to see justice done.
You also liked my father.” In fact, Dax was counting on it.
That’s why he’d come back to New Orleans in the first place. He’d asked for the training
assignment. Hell, he’d practically begged for it because he needed to be here if he
was going to convince Holland to reopen his father’s case. He didn’t trust anyone
else to look at it with a fresh, fair approach.
“I can’t deny that,” she murmured.
“In fact, you like my whole family and you hate what happened to us. If you could
give us any respite at all, you would work day and night for it.”
“Now you’re playing to my ego.” A hint of an amused smile crossed her lips.
“Is it working?”
“You know it is,” she replied. “I’ll look over what you have tonight, but I can’t
promise you anything.”
“All I want is a shot at convincing you.”
“Like I said, I’ll read your file. I really was sorry about your dad. I’m also sorry
I didn’t reach out to you. I should have. We were friends once.”
“Why didn’t you? You’ve stayed in touch with Gus and Mom.”
She sighed. “I got buried in work. They were here and you weren’t.It seemed easier to let it go. And you were so angry. I’ll be honest, I was afraid
you would tear me up. Sometimes people lash out when they’re in as much pain as you
were. Your world had crumbled under your feet. I didn’t want to be collateral damage.”
“You were right to stay away. I was so angry I couldn’t think straight. When the allegations
came to light, I learned some things about my father I didn’t want to know.”
“But you don’t believe he raped a fifteen-year-old girl.” It sounded like a statement
of fact rather than a question.
Dax nodded. “I think my father was set up. There are too many coincidences, and I
question how so many people with critical information about the case suddenly disappeared
when they were no longer needed.”
“Be careful, Captain. You’re starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist. Why would
anyone want to ruin your father? No one came after his money from what I can tell.”
No, they’d come after his reputation. “I don’t know why someone would do this.” Dax
sucked in a deep breath. Now he had to drop the hammer. Holland wasn’t going to like
this part, but he couldn’t hold off any longer. Either she would help him . . . or
kick him out. “I also don’t understand why, after all of that, they felt the need
to murder him.”
She closed her eyes briefly but seemed calm when she opened them again. “I was wondering
if we would get there. Your father was found with a single gunshot wound to the head
from a pistol registered to him. His fingerprints