Page 59 of Blake

He kept the briefing concise, covering bullet points of information regarding the break-in at Devon’s apartment. Minimal signs of forced entry. The intruder had moved quietly, bypassed the locks, and entered, expecting to find Devon alone.

Blake walked them through the fight, including the man’s speed, obvious training, and decision to disengage when Blake got the upper hand.

Gwen looked to Devon. “Any chance he was there to steal your computers?”

“It’s possible, I suppose.” Devon shrugged.

Blake disagreed. “She lives alone, works from home, and barely leaves her apartment. Who would have knowledge of what equipment she does or doesn’t have?”

“Fair enough.” The blonde demolitions expert nodded.

Emmett looked at Devon. “Tell us about the man at the gym.”

She explained what she’d seen. Blake listened carefully for any details she may have left out before. Nothing new was shared, but it still didn’t hurt hearing the story again.

“Did he approach you?” Gwen asked.

“No.” Devon looked the other woman’s way. “He never spoke to me at all.”

“What about the drive home?” Gwen switched gears. “You notice anyone following you after you left?”

“No, and I kept an eye on my mirrors the entire way. I never saw the man or the SUV again.”

Blake pushed a button and a frozen image of Devon’s gym filled the large screen.

“I spent most of the night reviewing the gym’s security footage,” he explained. “There are a few possible matches for the man Devon described but nothing definitive yet. I also found a dark SUV in the parking lot footage. Couldn’t get a clear plate, but I’m working on identifying the vehicle.”

Emmett nodded. “What about Carol Jenkins?”

The room grew quiet. Blake glanced at Devon before bringing up the information Draven had gathered.

“Carol worked for one of the companies Devon supports. She contacted Devon after noticing small discrepancies in a reconciliation report. Yesterday afternoon, she was killed in a hit-and-run inside a parking garage.”

From the seat at Devon’s other side, Janie reached beneath the table and grabbed her friend’s hand.

Blake continued, wishing he was the one giving Devon comfort.

“Police haven’t publicly connected her death to anything else, and we have no evidence it was deliberate.”

“But you think it was.” Emmett’s dark eyes met Blake’s.

Blake nodded. “Given the timing, I’d say it would be one hell of a coincidence if it wasn’t intentional.”

He displayed a simple timeline of the events leading up to last night.

Carol noticed the transactions. Devon investigated. Carol died. Break-in at Devon’s.

Four events that were potentially connected. Or possibly not.

You know they are.

Of course, he did. So did Devon, and from the looks around the table, the others did, too.

“The running theory is the person who came after Devon was acting on information connected to her investigation,” Blake explained. “If that’s true, the people behind the transactions knew someone was looking. Almost immediately.”

Draven studied the screen. “When Carol first sent me the report, I noticed the same pattern of adjustments across accounts that have nothing to do with each other. So I wrote a program to compare the transaction histories.”

That’s my girl.