Temptation - Brenda Jackson [56]
Eleven
Zeke was grateful for the friendships he’d made while at UT on the football team. The man he needed to talk to who headed Denver’s Drug Enforcement Unit, Harold Mathis, just so happened to be the brother of one of Zeke’s former teammates.
Mathis wasted no time in telling Zeke about Miguel Rivera. Although the notorious drug lord had been keeping a low profile lately, in no way did the authorities believe he had turned over a new leaf. And when they were shown photographs of Diane Worth, they identified her as a woman who’d been seen with Rivera once or twice.
Zeke knew he had his work cut out in trying to make a connection between Diane Worth and Michael Price. Michael’s last place of residence was in New Orleans. At least that’s where Brad had gone to claim his brother’s body.
His belongings hadn’t given a clue as to who he might have associated with, especially a woman by the name of Diane Worth. But Zeke was determined to find out if Diane Worth was Sunnie’s mother.
The Denver Drug Enforcement Unit was ready to lend their services to do anything they could to get the likes of Miguel Rivera off the streets. So far he had been wily where the authorities were concerned and had been able to elude all undercover operations to nab him.
Since Zeke knew he would probably be in Denver awhile, he had decided to take residence in one of those short-term executive apartments. It wasn’t home, but it had all the amenities. He had stopped by a grocery store to buy a few things and was reminded of the time when he had gone grocery shopping with Sheila and the baby when they’d stayed over at his place. He had been comfortable walking beside her and hadn’t minded when a few people saw them and probably thought they were an item. As far as he was concerned, they were.
He glanced out a window that had a beautiful view of downtown Denver. He was missing his ladies already. Sunnie had started to grow on him as well, which was easy for her because she was such a sweet baby. She no longer screamed around strangers, although you could tell she was most comfortable when he or Sheila was around.
Sheila.
God, he loved her something awful and was determined that distance didn’t put any foolishness in her mind, like her thinking he was falling out of love with her just because he didn’t see her every day. Already he’d patronized the florist shop next door. They would make sure a bouquet of flowers was delivered to Sheila every few days. And he intended to ply her with “thinking of you” gifts often.
He chuckled. Hell, that could get expensive because he thought of her all the time. The only time he would force thoughts of her from his mind was when he was trying to concentrate on the case. And even then it was hard.
He picked up the documents he had tossed on the table that included photographs of both Rivera and Worth. A contact was working with hospitals in both New Orleans and Denver to determine if a child was born to Diane Worth five months ago. And if so, where was the baby now?
He was about to go take a shower, when his phone rang. “Hello.”
“I got another blackmail letter today, Zeke.”
He nodded. Zeke figured another one would be coming sooner or later. The extortionist had made good his threat. But that didn’t mean he was letting Brad off the hook. It was done mainly to let him know he meant business. “He still wants money, right?”
“Yes, and unless I pay up, Sunnie’s birth records will be made public to show I had a relationship with a prostitute.”
Of course, that was a lie, but the blackmailer’s aim was to get money out of Brad to keep a scandal from erupting. It would have a far-reaching effect not only for Brad’s reputation but that of his family.
“I know it’s going to be hard for you to do, but just ignore it for now. Whoever is behind the extortion attempt evidently thinks he has you where he wants you to be, and we’re going to prove him wrong.”
By the time Zeke ended his call with Brad, he was more determined than ever to find a link between Rivera and Worth.