Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3) by Barbara Freethy Page A

now. Everything is over—at least that's what I think."
    "But your siblings don't believe that?"
    "No. While Jake was in Mexico, our great-grandmother told him that my father isn't resting in peace, or something to that effect. And Jake found a medallion at the ranch where the weapons were found. He and Alicia now think that my dad was at that ranch and that maybe he didn't die in the Gulf as we thought. We don't even know if his plane actually crashed."
    "Seriously? Your dad's death might be tied to the MDT problems?"
    "Maybe. The FBI has been investigating, and we've had many conversations. There aren't any links between my dad and anyone at MDT, except his former friend. And my dad died ten years ago, so what could he have been involved in? All this business was recent."
    "Didn't Senator Dillon get involved in the Senate hearings where the head of MDT was called to testify?"
    "Yes, he's on that committee. It was a complicated situation for him, because the Packer brothers, Alan and Reid, who run MDT, are also big contributors to his campaign."
    "And what about the fact that your brother and sister were responsible for revealing some of the problems at the company? Did that make your relationship with the senator more awkward? Did he talk to your family about what they knew?"
    "Not really. He spent a lot of time talking to me, but they were annoyed that he wasn't interested in talking to them. But I understood it, and I gave him the information that we had. He made sure that the committee was aware of everything that had gone on. In the end, MDT was forced to make some changes to clean up their act."
    "What kind of changes?"
    "Well, I don't know exactly, but they've certainly been under a lot of scrutiny."
    "That's a really intriguing story, Dani."
    She smiled and shook her head. "Don't get any ideas. It's not a movie in the making or a book; it's just my crazy life."
    "I can see why your siblings are still stuck on finding your dad. Knowing that he had to be in Mexico at some point would raise a lot of questions, since I assume he never made plans to go there."
    "He didn't, although, the ranch in Mexico was not far from my great-grandmother's home. The fire there killed several members of the cartel and the ranch burned to the ground. Alicia and Jake are still hoping to find someone who was at that ranch around the time my father died and see if they can pinpoint when he was actually there. But they don't really have any clues, and the investigator we hired has come up with nothing. It's also difficult to get any cooperation from the Mexican government. So that's where we are. My siblings continue to be somewhat frustrated by my lack of involvement, but honestly I don't see what more we can do."
    He could hear the desperate note in her voice, and the way she was playing with the heavy ring on her finger showed more of her tension. "Does Senator Dillon's relationship with MDT and the Packer brothers contribute to your desire to not get any further involved?"
    She shot him a dark look. "That's one of the reasons, but that wouldn't stop me if I thought there was something to find."
    "Maybe you need a better investigator."
    "Or maybe there is nothing more to discover," she countered.
    "I don't know about that. There are a lot of loose ends."
    "You don't have to know. It's not your business," she said sharply. "You have your own mystery to investigate, remember? Let's get back to that."
    "Yours is sounding more interesting than mine," he muttered.
    "I don't think so."
    "Your ring," he said. "Why is it so important to you? You came back to the park to find it. You can't seem to stop playing with it."
    Her hands stilled. "It's not important; it's a nuisance. I want to take it off, but my finger is swollen, and I can't get it over my knuckle."
    "It looks very old."
    "It is. My great-grandmother gave it to me. I didn't want it, but Alicia and Jake insisted that she wanted me to have it. I put it on for Alicia's wedding, because she