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“It sure as hell’s not a yes. Have a good evening, Detective. And when you talk to Nathan Beckham, be gentle. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said he was fragile. I think he’s at serious risk of self-harm. I wouldn’t want you to find another body hanging from a rope, because Nathan’s would actually be suicide.”
He ended the call and sat staring at his phone.
Joel still sat beside him, his hand still on his shoulder. The silence between them seemed to go on forever. Then Joel sighed.
“I’m so sorry, Sam,” he murmured.
Sam looked over at him. “For what?”
“For not realizing how much Skyler’s death hurt you. I was thinking of this as a danger to your reputation and your career. I wasn’t thinking that you were grieving, too. I’m sorry for that.”
Sam shrugged. “It’s okay. I think the detective is going to make my life a living hell, though, because I’m not going to back away and trust her. I can’t.” He expected Joel to try to talk him out of it, but he didn’t.
“First, I do understand. I’m not going to tell you to stop, but you have to be careful.”
“I will. What’s second?”
“McKittrick isn’t stupid or unfeeling. I got a new case today, an arrest of a city councilman who’s accused of murdering his former housekeeper.”
“Okay,” Sam said cautiously. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Nothing, but it does have something to do with McKittrick. The murder happened a few years ago, but the guy wasn’t even questioned because he’s rich and has connections. But Kit met the victim’s daughter. She’s being fostered by the McKittricks. When Kit found out that the killer was never caught, she looked into it. Found an issue with the evidence and got her boss to reopen the case. Today they made an arrest. She didn’t get involved after handing it off to Lieutenant Navarro even though she had to have wanted to.”
“She trusts the system,” Sam said heavily, because that meant she’d expect him to trust it—and her—too.
“She trusts the system to a point. I think it’s more accurate to say that she trusts Navarro. I think if Navarro hadn’t reopened the case and taken it seriously, she would have stepped back in. She’s by the book, nearly all the time.”
“And?”
“Her investigations are nice and neat. She’s a workhorse. She never stops, and when she closes a case, she gets a conviction. A Kit McKittrick case will be as airtight as an Egyptian tomb.”
Sam shook his head, becoming frustrated. “And?”
“And you’re toppling her carefully constructed world. I don’t think she blames you, but I’d be shocked if she didn’t try to stop you.”
“What can she do?”
“Put you in protective custody, for one.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “She’d do that?”
“I honestly don’t know. But I wouldn’t be your best friend if I left you unprepared.” He squared his shoulders. “I also wouldn’t be your best friend if I let you go this alone. You need a chaperone, someone to vouch for you if the bastard in a black Mercedes does anything else. That’s going to be me. I’ll need some time to get my cases handed off and request a few days’ vacation. I have plenty since I never use it.”
Overwhelmed, Sam’s mouth opened and closed before words would come. “But your career. I won’t jeopardize that.”
“I’ll tell my boss what I’m doing. I’ll have to recuse myself from this case and anything that comes from it, but it’ll be okay. I hope,” he added in a mutter.
“I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
“But you need to promise me that you won’t make any other visits alone. You made yourself incredibly vulnerable today, Sam. The least awful thing that could have happened is that Nathan kid would realize you were the CI mentioned at the press conference. Did you think about that?”
“Yes. Several times. But this is not just about me anymore. Ripples, right?”
Joel nodded soberly. “Yeah. Ripples. What was your next step going to be?”
“I want to talk to Colton’s ex-wives. I don’t plan to reveal that I was his therapist, but knowing who his friends were is important, and his ex-wives might know this.”
“McKittrick’s almost certainly interviewed them already.”
