“Because it was one of their own that did this to my Ben.”

Her voice a whisper now so that Doc had to lean in to catch the tail end of her sentence. He sat there looking at the red and white checkered tablecloth for a few minutes, letting this new information sink in.

Just then the waitress reappeared with their drinks, and during the interval, he sat there quietly assessing the woman seated before him. She couldn’t be more than twenty. He noticed that her left eye was brown while her right eye was blue. Her dark hair fell in a soft wave down her shoulders, curling at the ends. Skin as pure as the driven snow, and when she smiled, her whole face lit up. But now she sat there looking sad and cold. He decided she was the most fetching creature he’d ever laid eyes on.

“How do you know for sure, Miss Maple?” he asked finally.

“Call me Audrey. I know because Ben ran with the mob and they’d been on his tail for weeks.”

“Do you have any evidence?”

“Just this.” Audrey opened her purse and handed him a letter.