Identity Crisis by Eliza Daly Read Free Book Online

tensed around the coffee mug. It obviously wasn’t a stop he cared to make.
    She locked the door behind Ethan and apprehension knotted her stomach as her mind scrolled through scenarios of what she might find in Wisconsin. What if her other relatives hadn’t forgiven her dad like her grandma apparently had and they didn’t accept her? What if she didn’t fit in with them? And was finding her family and dredging up her past worth possibly destroying a career she’d worked her entire life to establish, along with her future? She wouldn’t stop vacillating about going until she boarded that plane.
    But first, she had to run by her dad’s to try to figure out what the intruder was after. If it was still there, she needed bargaining power, and she also needed proof of her dad’s innocence — or rather lack of evidence tying him to a forgery ring. It wasn’t just about keeping her dad’s memory from being tarnished, but about her career. If she told Ethan she was going there, he’d insist this Mike guy go with her. And what if by some chance, instead of finding proof of her dad’s innocence, he found some clue he could twist to make her dad look guilty?
    She wasn’t worried about the intruder following her. She knew exactly how she’d lose him, and Mike. Besides, if he was breaking into her place, he obviously hadn’t found what he was looking for at her dad’s, so he had no reason to return there. Hopefully.
    • • •
    Ethan headed across town toward the SFPD. A buddy had tipped him off that the department just hauled Eduardo Torres into jail for a drive-by shooting. Ethan had questioned the punk in reference to Roy and their witness’s deaths four months ago. Javier Diaz, leader of the Bay Warriors, was a prime suspect in the bombing and Eduardo was his right hand man. Javier’s ex-girlfriend had been the witness under protection when the safe house was blown up. She’d been set to testify against the Bay Warriors, providing drug connections and tying Javier to a shooting last year.
    A wide grin spread across Ethan’s face. He’d known it was only a matter of time before Eduardo landed in jail and had to give up Javier’s ass to save his own.
    Ethan’s phone rang. It was Gwen Sutter, who’d also called last night freaking out that her seventeen-year-old son Josh was once again threatening to run away to Philly and disclose his dad’s location to the drug dealers her husband was set to testify against. Their constant family drama over the past six months was draining at times. However, Gwen had come to rely on him as a mediator and counselor for her dysfunctional family. He couldn’t put her on ignore status.
    Five minutes later he had Gwen calmed down and apologized for not having had time to get the title transferred on the ’67 red Mustang convertible he was selling Josh for practically nothing. Ethan promised to have Mike run the car over that afternoon, and he’d deal with the paperwork later. Hopefully fixing up the car would keep Josh out of trouble and make his new life a bit more bearable.
    Ethan didn’t blame Josh for being pissed about leaving his life behind. Missing friends and family caused many witnesses to leave the program and sometimes get killed. Olivia was lucky she’d been too young to know what she was giving up. It was the innocent victims like Olivia, Josh, and Gwen he felt bad for. Ethan could offer to help Josh fix the car, but he’d be stepping over that fine line between being a protector and a friend. Letting the job get personal made doing the job more difficult. They would suck the life out of him if he let them.
    • • •
    A master at
I Spy
, Olivia was confident nobody had followed her to her dad’s house. She’d guiltily ditched Mike, claiming she saw someone out front skulking around. While he’d investigated, she’d gone out the back and around the block to her car. She parked her car in front of the gallery, then slipped out the back to borrow Rachel’s