When Jalen pushed open the door, Martin Schaefer was startled out of his newspaper.

"You can't just come in here," he protested, standing up indignantly.

Jalen, who was in no mood to take orders from the administrative official, was confident that he would not discuss whether and where he entered with him. With two quick steps, he crossed the office, reached over Schaefer's desk, grabbed his cheap shirt just below the collar, and pushed the clerk into his chair.

Then he slowly raised his index finger to his lips; Schaefer, who was about to protest, thought better of it and remained silent. Unsure, he looked at the private investigator. Jalen, wanting to ensure that the balance of power was evident, opened his jacket briefly and revealed his Glock, safely tucked into his shoulder holster.

Schaefer winced. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his hand.

"You and I need to have a little talk," Jalen growled, sitting on one of the two chairs across from Schaefer. The administrative official nodded uneasily. "I want you to tell me everything about your colleague Nicholas Brandt, From when he started here until he was arrested. And then I want you to tell me everything that has happened in your agency since then that is even remotely connected to Brandt or the files he processed." He looked at the official penetratingly. 'Do we understand each other?'

Schaefer nodded frantically.

"Excellent," Jalen continued, smiling almost maliciously.

Schaefer swallowed hard and began his story when Brandt had, as he said, been given the job he shouldn't have had. He told him how difficult things had been for Brandt initially because he had particular ideas about how they should process their cases and what was essential and what was not. They had initially given him a hard time, but because he was the boss, he insisted on doing things his way. Gradually, he built up a good reputation, and most of his colleagues enjoyed working with him.

Jalen took notes and listened carefully.

"And then, one day, everything changed. Brandt came into the office one Monday and seemed devastated. At first, he didn't really want to talk, but Marina Gonzalez, one of our clerks, managed to get him to tell her the problem. It had to do with Lily. And from that day on, Brandt was completely changed." Schaefer paused and took a sip of water before continuing. "For the next few months, he didn't show any pictures of his family and spent most of the day behind closed doors. This went on for about a year, and then Brandt was a changed man again from one day to the next. He was like a new man as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him."

"And how did that manifest itself?"

"Well, somehow, he seemed more liberated. He really threw himself back into his work. It went on like that for a few years until the day, well, the day he lost it."

"And then?"

"Well, it was a shock for all of us; none of us saw it coming."

"Okay, I see. And what happened in the time after Brandt?"

"Not much. As you know, I was appointed as his provisional successor. I briefly looked through the files, but there weren't as many open cases as expected. We divided the urgent cases among us and continued to process them, leaving the non-critical files for the time being. When you came, I took another closer look at his other cases. And shortly after that, the other man came." Schaefer hesitated now, and he looked at Jalen, feeling insecure.

"What man?" Jalen asked, frowning.

"The foreigner. Arab, I think."

"And what did he want?"

"He just told me that he had worked with Brandt before. But I've never seen him here before. And that a lawyer would be in touch soon, and we could continue working then."

"And you didn't find that unusual?"

Schaefer laughed. "You're telling me that?"

Jalen realized that the conversation was about to take a turn for the worse. He decided to ask his last question: "Mr. Schaefer, I need to know who this man, this foreigner, was. Did he say his name? And what else did you tell him?"

"I didn't tell him anything, nothing at all. Except that, you also asked about Brandt."

xxx

Elizabeth looked at her daughter Ashlyn for a long time with a frown on her forehead while Maggie poured three cups of coffee.

Ashlyn had decided to pay her parents an impromptu visit after needing to talk to someone objective about the Kim/Dominic case.

Elizabeth opened her mouth with her eyebrows lowered, seemed to want to say something, paused, and closed her mouth again after narrowing her eyes thoughtfully after her daughter had described her private dilemma to her parents.

Maggie took a deep breath and carried the three cups to the kitchen island. Now, she understood her daughter's evening call but remained silent.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes again, tilted her head, and looked at her daughter questioningly and simultaneously in amazement. After all, Ashlyn was her daughter, formerly her high school and college valedictorian. "How long did you say it was like that with Kim and Dominic?"

Ashlyn took a deep breath and licked her lips. "With Dom, it started two years ago after we lost a case. We were drunk and frustrated. With Kim, it started two years after I moved to Denver."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes again and nodded slowly. 'Which was a little over ten years ago,' she said, seemingly retracing the timeline.

Ashlyn nodded in agreement and picked up her mug.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and still had her eyes narrowed. "And why exactly didn't you tell us back then that you might be gay or bisexual? Did you assume that we would judge you for it or even disown you?"

Ashlyn rolled her eyes, knowing full well that the last question had been more ironic, and Maggie rolled her eyes, too.

Since Elizabeth had officially retired from the police force and had withdrawn from the family for a long time after she had begun to indulge her pronounced idiosyncrasies. After, it had also come out that she had a child with a murderer that no one knew about.

After Benjamin had told her at the stunt arena of the Unirealm Studios Boston that she was still needed by her family and Nikki had suggested to her more than once that she finally attend one of the family dinners, the former detective had decided to go back to therapy and also to a support group to leave her complicated life behind and lead a reasonably everyday life. Over time, she had rediscovered the old self that Maggie had fallen in love with long ago and started a family with the redhead. That was why she was sitting in her house with her ex-wife today, trying to revive their old relationship.

She pulled down the corners of her mouth and looked at the ME. "I mean, yes, that would have been really obvious. It's not that we can't understand what it's like in a same-sex relationship, and we strongly disapprove of it for that reason. After all, I'm Catholic and strictly against same-sex relationships, and Maggie is --" She paused and looked at the redhead with wide eyes and a frown. "Maggie is --"

Maggie looked at the former captain and rolled her eyes. "I'm a healer! And I'm wonderful!"

Ashlyn laughed and turned the cup in her hand.

Elizabeth chuckled and nodded in agreement. 'There's no question about it.'

Maggie grinned broadly.

Then Elizabeth became severe again and looked at her daughter intently. She had deliberately made light of the whole thing because she could see that her daughter was still uncomfortable talking about the kind of relationship she had had with Dominic and Kim for years. Surprisingly, this concept hadn't blown up in her face long ago.

Ashlyn licked her lips and frowned a little. "I had to find myself first." She paused and raised her eyebrows. "I always assumed that I was straight; I mean, I've always had boyfriends and not girlfriends. And when I got involved with Kim during my teaching degree, I was pretty confused. After all, I'd only ever been with men, which was perfectly fine until that moment."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. She could understand what her daughter was talking about very well; she also had her phase in which she had to decide whether she preferred to be with men or women. However, this phase occurred much earlier in her life than in Ashlyn's; at that time, it was about boys and girls. She decided to put this topic aside. "Ash, you're an intelligent young woman. Did you really think that you could have sex with one or two people for years without developing feelings for either of them? We don't work that way!"

Ashlyn drew in her chin and lowered her brow. "We? Do you mean women?"

"That's a fascinating question," Maggie added, looking at her wife with a raised brow.

Elizabeth realized at that moment that this was an inferior choice of words and looked at the two women one after the other. "Humans!" she quickly corrected herself, looking at them again. "Humans are not designed to have sex without feelings. Unless you're a psychopath, or --"

"A porn actor," Maggie added when the former captain faltered.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said loudly, wide-eyed. "Or a nymphomaniac." She waved a hand and cleared her throat. "Sex is one of the most intimate things about a person. Even if you keep telling yourself that you just want to blow off steam, they develop whether you want them to. And in your case, the feelings for Kim have developed more strongly than for Dominic. In your case, the only question is whether you will stand by your feelings for her and whether your friendship with Dom will survive it. In any case, you have to talk to both of them and be honest with them; otherwise, you won't stand a chance with them."

Ashlyn took a deep breath, bit her lower lip, and nodded slowly.

xxx

Kim's condition had stabilized. With a sense of relief she had never felt before, Ashlyn poured herself and Jalen a gin and tonic. The two clinked their glasses, to Kim, to life, and to everything being all right. Even though they both knew that the danger was not yet over, the good news had eclipsed everything else for the moment. Side by side, they stood on the roof terrace and looked up at the Boston evening sky. But the calm lasted only a moment. They still had a task to complete.

Jalen told his cousin, who had arrived at her apartment a good hour ago from her parents, about the conversation with Schaefer, and both put two and two together. Whoever had visited the administrative officer was behind the whole thing. And everything fell into place. Except for one name, all the puzzle pieces had fallen into place. When Nicholas Brandt learned that his daughter Lily suffered from Angelman syndrome, and it was clear that comprehensive care would cost more money than he would earn with his civil servant salary, he kept this secret from his wife, Anja. He wanted to do everything for Lily but couldn't afford it.

Then Eric Sanchez, a lawyer and notary from Boston, appeared on the scene. He must have made a deal with Brandt and paid him handsomely for his services.

Nicholas Brandt had explained the extra money to Anja with alleged consultancy contracts and a promotion that had never happened. And then something must have happened that put Brandt in a tight spot. Sanchez had probably demanded something that Brandt couldn't deliver. He must have been blackmailing him. Brandt was in such an exceptional situation that he saw no way out except to shoot Sanchez.

"What did Eric Sanchez want from him?" Jalen asked. 'What was it that put him under so much pressure that Brandt shot him?'

Ashlyn gritted her teeth and shook her head. "I don't know, but I suspect it was threatening Lily. Lily means everything to her father. She's why he got involved in this business in the first place."

"And what was his plan?"

"Well," she replied. "Look at it from his perspective. Whatever Eric Sanchez wanted had to be so risky that Brandt couldn't do it. By taking out Sanchez and going to jail for sure, he took himself, especially Lily, out of the line of fire. He was only valuable to those behind him as long as he could fulfill their demands for them."

"But doesn't he have to assume they'll finish him off then, too? After all, he knows too much."

"That may well be. But killing someone in prison would be too conspicuous. Because then the BPD Special Homicide Unit, Nikki and her team would have been on their trail for sure. And if there's one thing they don't need, it's attention. If Nicholas Brandt remains silent and says nothing, he will go to jail, but the organization will remain protected. And if he talks, he also puts Lily's life at risk because then the people behind it will no longer have any need to spare anyone. Then it won't matter anyway."

Ashlyn had to admit to Nicholas Brandt that the plan was ingenious. With the disadvantage, though, that he was in prison. Depending on how much money he had set aside, he probably couldn't maintain care for Lily forever, either.

"An excellent plan," Jalen nodded in agreement. "However, we still have a problem. Obviously, someone wanted to take me out to make sure I didn't dig any deeper. Whoever went after Schaefer wished to eliminate any evidence of his shady dealings. But that doesn't make sense. Something's not right here. If the criminals don't want any attention, they shouldn't have tried to kill us."

Ashlyn had to agree with her cousin. It really didn't make sense, but maybe there was an explanation for it that they didn't yet know. And sometimes, she had learned in the past, the others made mistakes, too. "I'll talk to Nicholas Brandt," she said. He has to tell me precisely who and what is behind this; otherwise, the situation will escalate even further. Even if I don't fully understand it, there remains a contradiction."

And just when she knew what to do next, her cell phone rang.

Ashlyn looked at Jalen, eyebrows raised. Who could be calling so late? Could it have something to do with her case? Curious, Ashlyn accepted the call.

"Good evening, counselor," said the voice on the other end of the line. It sounded cold and hard and had a distinct Southern accent. "My name is Kamil Gazal. I'm sure you know who I am."

Ashlyn didn't have to think about who she was talking to. And that had nothing to do with the fact that she had been a successful prosecutor for years but rather because Kamil Gazal was one of the most colorful residents of Boston. Organized crime had many faces, but Gazal's regularly graced the front pages of the tabloids. More than a few people referred to him as the godfather of Boston, and Ashlyn knew that this was not an exaggeration. Instinctively, she signaled to Jalen and switched the conversation to loudspeakers so her cousin could listen in.

"Please listen carefully because I will not repeat myself," the clan leader continued. 'I want to meet with you to discuss something that has come to my attention and that has brought great suffering into your life.'

All the alarm bells went off immediately for Ashlyn, and she could tell from Jale's expression that her cousin felt the same way. Was Gazal behind all this? If that was the case, the crime boss was the last person she wanted to talk to. Yes, I was allowed to speak to you. In criminal defense, there was a fine line that no reasonable lawyer would ever cross. Never would the lawyer align themselves with the cause of a criminal or be put in a compromising situation. And that often happened faster than you could see.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about," she interrupted the clan chief, toying with the idea of hanging up when he continued in a calm voice.

"I understand your surprise at my unexpected call, but you're completely wrong. Neither I nor any of my employees have anything to do with this. I just have information that can be very useful to you. But it's certainly not something we should discuss on the phone. If you're interested in this information, meet me at Raffles at nine o'clock in the morning the day after tomorrow. Otherwise, just forget that we ever spoke." After a short pause, he added, "And please trust me that you, your family, and your friend Kim are no longer in danger."

xxx

"I won't meet with Gazal, not if my life depended on it!" Ashlyn said, looking at Jalen indignantly. 'I don't trust that asshole at all.' She grabbed her gin and tonic from the small wooden table and took a big gulp. She added angrily, "And if that motherfucker was behind the attack on Kim, I definitely don't trust him. We should call Nikki right away. Who knows if she and her team are bugging, and we'll have them on our hands." She took the next gulp, emptied her long drink, and looked around for the gin bottle and tonic water she had set down on the terrace balustrade.

Jalen, looking thoughtfully at the lawyer, obviously had another thought. "And what if Gazal really isn't behind it? What if it's another clan, and Gazal just wants to take the opportunity to get back at his competitors?"

Ashlyn, who had refilled her glasses in the meantime, looked at Jalen questioningly. "You don't really believe that, do you? Why would he turn to me then? They usually settle everything among themselves."

"Maybe," Jalen agreed. "But maybe not. We just don't know. What do we have to lose by listening to what he says?"

"Everything!" Ashlyn replied, wide-eyed. "Everything! Let's just assume for the moment that your assumption is correct. What would happen if we got involved with one clan to harm another? Not only would I probably violate more laws than I can think of offhand, but we would potentially start a gang war in the city."

"And if there's something completely different behind it?"

"Jalen, you just don't get it. I'm a damn lawyer, not a damn gangster. It happens often enough that I operate on the edge of our legal system because I know more than I should. But never, ever will I consort with a criminal. And that's exactly what it looks like here!"

"I'm sticking with it, Ashlyn! You're just assuming a lot right now without really knowing what's actually behind it. What on earth do we have to lose by meeting with Gazal? If he does or says anything even remotely conspiratory or threatening, we immediately turn to Nikki and the BPD. And if he has something that could help us, we'll see."

Ashlyn huffed. She didn't like the idea at all. Too often had she seen inexperienced or bad lawyers get themselves into trouble by making a 'deal' with a criminal organization. Not only was it wrong and went against everything she believed in, but it was also dangerous.

What was true was that experienced lawyers and clans formed a strange symbiosis. Both sides were aware of this. But there were limits that no one would cross.

The clans paid a lot of money for the best possible defense, and the lawyers took that money. On the other hand, the defense lawyers also clarified where the criminals did not need their help. And, absurdly, it was precisely these refusals that underpinned the lawyers' standing. Clans had no respect for hookers who could be bought for money. Still, it kept happening. And every time a lawyer crossed that line to make common cause with the criminals, it ended in disaster. That was the last thing Ashlyn wanted, the last thing she needed.

On the other hand, Ashlyn also had to admit that Jalen wasn't entirely wrong. Gazal hadn't said anything so far. And Gazal's information could help her understand Nicholas Brandt once and for all.

Ashlyn let out a scream. She couldn't think straight. She tried to control her emotions, which were challenging due to the last few days' events, especially Kim's situation. Were her feelings clouding her objective view of the matter? She took a deep breath and looked at her cousin.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Look, Ashlyn, we'll just listen to what Gazal has to say, and if it goes in the wrong direction somehow, we'll talk to Nikki. Direct and immediate! What do you think?"

Ashlyn thought about it. She didn't feel able to make a decision. But she trusted her cousin. Jalen seemed to take a more sober view of the matter for whatever reason. And his suggestion was okay.

"Deal," she replied and held out her hand.