They might have been any group of family and friends gathered to enjoy an informal pizza party. But instead of discussing sports or politics or just gossiping, they were gathered to solve murders and defend their own.

Roman let the conversation drift as they consumed pizzas, wings, and salads. Naomi scolded her husband and brother-in-law on their table manners. Zelina and Aleister sat with their heads together, quietly talking. Jericho, Ali, and Ricochet were involved in a puzzling conversation about the perfect meatloaf recipe, each suggestion more outlandish than the previous one. Samoa Joe and Mox traded verbal jabs about Mox's motorcycle restoration project.

Eventually, the conversations began to lag; and Roman cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him, realizing they were about to get down to business.

"I know there hasn't been much time to gather information," Roman began. "But I want to bring everyone up to date. Naomi…Ali, what have you found out about Renee Young?" From the corner of his eye, he saw Mox lean forward.

Naomi glanced at Ali who nodded. "Renee Young was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up there. She graduated the University of Toledo with a degree in journalism. She started at a feature reporter for a local television station. You know, the one who reports on the man-bites-dog type of stories. Got a reputation for being ambitious which brought her into conflict with some of the older, more established reporters." She shrugged. "Depending on who you talk with, she wanted them out of her way because they were just resting on their laurels and keeping younger people down or the older journalists knew she was a lot better than them and didn't want the competition. Bottom line, the station manager sided with the older reporters. He wrote a bunch of glowing recommendations and reached out to a colleague here in Davenport that he'd worked with in Chicago years before. The editor of the Davenport Daily…the one who disappeared."

Ali took up the story. "Once here, she made her mark by doing feature reports on a public access cable station and concentrating on covering the political and crime beats for her newspaper column. I talked with a former colleague of hers on the Davenport Daily who's now in San Francisco. He said she had a list of people and topics that she was working on. One was the Bloodline and your father, Roman."

"Yeah, she tried pumping me for information on Sika," Mox grunted.

"She was also working on a background story of Mayor Heyman and one on Bray Wyatt." Ali half-smiled. "According to her former colleague, she wanted to be the best-known journalist in America and then planned to return in triumph to Toronto."

"Wyatt's DNA was found at the murder site," Roman mused.

"What she apparently was not working on was anything concerning the Authority," Ali concluded.

"That could have come later depending on what she found out about Heyman," Jericho pointed out.

"Anything else?"

Naomi grinned. "Saved the best for last. Apparently, Swagger fed her information for her columns. They had an off-and-on personal relationship."

"The hell you say!" Jimmy exclaimed.

Roman grunted. "Joe, anything on the police investigations?"

Samoa Joe leaned back in his chair. "I'll have copies of the case file tomorrow. What I can tell you from my contact is that the investigation zeroed in on Mox from the very beginning and never looked at anyone else. Apparently, Swagger received a tip from an informant fingering Mox. The informer was a man named Luke Harper." He slowly smiled. "Harper is a known associate of Bray Wyatt."

Jimmy gave a low whistle. "That kind of matches with what we got from some of our contacts on the street. Rumor was Wyatt was an informant for Swagger."

"As far as The Miz' murder, the cops are still gathering information. Insurance policies, phone records and such," Joe reported. "They don't have any suspects at this point. However, the grieving widow, daughter, and parents have tickets back to Montreal next week. It'll be more difficult to get copies of an active case file."

Roman nodded. "Don't take any chances but make sure your contact keeps you informed."

Joe nodded. "Swagger and Colter's murders are being handled by Special District Attorney Cole. Personally. What I found out from my contact in the coroner's office is that they both died from strychnine poisoning. Provided in a night-time cold medicine by the police department pharmacist at the jail by the name of Io Shairi." He dramatically paused. "She was found dead earlier today with cause of death an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head."

"Madre De Dios," Zelina muttered, crossing herself.

"Cole and some local cops went to her house and found her. Rumor is that there was some sort of suicide note." Joe shrugged. "I'll stay on it."

"Sounds like somebody's cleaning house," Jericho mused.

"Any connection between Wyatt and Shairi?" Aleister asked.

Joe shrugged again. "Possible but unknown at this point. I'm working on getting information on Shairi."

"Okay," Roman sighed. "Find out what you can but take no chances." When Joe nodded, Roman looked at Zelina. "What about The Miz?"

"He and his partner, John Morrison, have been in the real estate business for roughly eight years," Zelina began. "From the beginning, they've been very successful. Both have the reputation of being hard workers and willing to spend the time to be successful. Morrison concentrates on high-end residential properties while Mizanin handled commercial accounts. Mizanin was considered flashy, ambitious, and willing to go to any length to be successful." She glanced at Ricochet. "Ricochet and I disagree on whether the Authority or even Vince McMahon's organization was bankrolling him from the beginning or if a relationship was established later."

Roman silently nodded.

"Both rarely lost a client and prided themselves on that fact," Zelina continued. "Other real estate agents basically hated Miz' guts although that could have been jealousy and envy at beating them at their own game. Morrison is quieter and less inclined to make professional enemies. From all accounts, the two got along very well."

"Morrison and Mizanin had a partnership life policy on each other," Ricochet spoke up. "Most likely, he also had a personal life insurance policy. Miz' wife probably inherits his share of the business although it's possible it could have been left to Morrison. We're trying to get more solid information on that."

"What about Axel and Dallas?" Roman asked.

"The official story is that Miz was mentoring them," Zelina answered. "Apparently, his mentoring consisted of using them as bodyguards and enforcers."

Joe snickered and Mox grunted. "They weren't very good at their job," Joe commented.

Zelina's dark eyes twinkled. "They've left town. Dallas is now employed in a real estate firm in Tampa, and Axel is working for a real estate firm in Hartford, Connecticut. Both have ties to The Authority."

"I'm surprised they weren't eliminated," Aleister remarked.

"Both have family ties within McMahon's old organization," Ricochet explained. "Helmsley might have been afraid of triggering an internal war if he took them out."

"Any reason Miz was so interested in Rollins' bookstore?" Roman asked.

Both Zelina and Ricochet shook their heads. "The buildings on either side of the bookstore were empty for nearly a year before John Rollins bought them," Ricochet explained. "He didn't begin renovations on them until just recently." He glanced at Zelina. "We'll continue to dig on that."

Roman looked at the twins. "Anything else besides Wyatt possibly being an informant for Swagger?"

Jey half shrugged. "Members of Wyatt's family are beginning to be seen more frequently. They went to ground about the time the new Chief of Police came in. But nobody's approached them, and they don't want to approach them. They're scary-looking people and Wyatt's got them spooked."

"The only other rumor is that The Authority has a heavy-hitter in town," Jimmy added.

"Really?" Joe's dark eyes twinkled. "How interesting."

"Jericho, anything on Wyatt himself?" Roman asked.

Jericho settled back in his chair. "Lots of stories, mostly spread by Wyatt. He speaks in riddles and parables, weaving a sort of mythology about himself. Alternately claimed to be a god and a scourge of this sinful world."

"A religious fanatic?" Ricochet frowned.

Jericho shook his head. "Wyatt doesn't preach any religion. He preaches himself. Or rather he did before he went to ground. He prefers to work in the background. If Renee Young was doing a story on him, he would've reacted immediately to stop her." He tapped his fingers on the table. "What I can confirm is that he's from Louisiana. Grew up in one of the bayous. Probably self-educated. Speaks eloquently and appears knowledgeable on several subjects in order to appeal to a lot of different people." He glanced at Samoa Joe. "The Luke Harper you mentioned? A former high school mathematics teacher. Got burned out trying to educate uninterested teenagers in geometry and trigonometry. Crossed paths with Wyatt and is now considered his right-hand man. Totally devoted to Wyatt." He looked at Roman. "I'm still getting information on past run-ins with the law."

Roman nodded. "So, what we know is that Renee Young was investigating Wyatt. His DNA was found at her crime scene. Wyatt was an informer for Swagger who targeted Mox from the very beginning of the investigation. Young and Swagger had both a personal and professional relationship." He paused, the slowly continued. "Wyatt eliminated Young because she was asking questions about him and his family then goaded Swagger into framing Mox for her murder."

"Why would Swagger go along with it?" Jey asked.

"Jealousy," Zelina quickly answered. "And taking down Mox for murder would affect us."

"Then the truth comes out." Jericho stared at Roman. "Proof that Mox was framed by Swagger and Colter. Wyatt figures the two of them…or at least Swagger…will make a deal and implicate him. So, they have to be eliminated." His eyes widened. "That means there's a connection between Wyatt and Shairi."

Roman slowly nodded. "Makes sense. Now all we have to do is prove it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Aleister quietly knocked on the door of Roman's office. When Roman looked up, Aleister asked, "Where's Mox?"

"Working on his cycle," Roman answered. He saw the file in Aleister's hand. "What I asked for?"

Aleister nodded and put the file on Roman's desk. "If you wish vengeance, it can be arranged." Then he turned and left the office.

Roman slowly opened the file and began to read.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was nearly midnight when Mox quietly walked through the house, munching on a left-over slice of pizza. He was still getting used to being able to eat whenever he wanted and not just at certain times. He saw a light in Roman's office and curiously walked down the corridor. Roman rarely worked this late. He paused in the doorway, seeing Roman sitting behind his desk and staring out the window into the darkness.

"Roman? Everything okay?"

Roman glanced to where Mox stood in the doorway and slowly smiled. "Yeah. Just thinking."

"Umm…you know I'm gonna close on that building tomorrow," Mox said. "I thought maybe if…well, you could come with me and then I could show you the building. I'll have the keys then."

Roman smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that. What time do you need to be at Regal's?"

"Eleven," Mox smiled. "Thanks, Roman. You know, I probably wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't…" He took a deep breath then continued. "I owe you."

Roman grinned. "Remember what I said? Brothers don't keep score."

Mox nodded then turned around. "Good night."

"Night." Roman took a deep breath, hearing Mox walk down the hallway towards the stairs. 'Brothers don't keep score with each other. But they do settle scores for each other.' He leaned forward and turned off the desk lamp. In silence and darkness, he made his decision.