Page 44 of Flash Freeze

“When can I see her?” Flash asked. All anger had drained, leaving only sorrow.

“I’ll find out.”

“You’re right. Velasquez will need all the friends she can get. Such a distinguished career destroyed by a lack of judgment.” Lifting her head, Flash sought Athena’s gaze. “Don’t ever let me do something stupid like that.”

A smile quirked Athena’s mouth. “I’ll do my best. But even if you slip up in another way—and it’s bound to happen, as you’re only human—I’ll still love you.”

“Same goes. Thank you for telling me in person, for letting me vent. Now I need to go home and process all this. You’re sure you have to work late?”

“Yeah. More interviews ahead. Deeper dives to run,” Athena said. She brushed her lips to Flash’s. “We aren’t any closer to finding the arsonist, and I really want to before tomorrow. It’s going to be a busy day for you. Will you be able to sleep tonight?”

“I’ll drink a few beers and put on a boring movie. I love you. What’s more, Snuffles loves you. Isn’t that right?” she directed to the pup, smoothing her head with a gentle hand.

Those hands. They knocked down doors, subdued fires, rescued people on the worst day of their lives. They were strong hands and yet could give such pleasure. Tough and tender. That was Flash. How could Athena not love her?

“I am honored to have been accepted into Snuffles’ family.” Athena kissed the dog too.

Chapter 21

Athena grabbed lunch on the drive back to the office. The wind had picked up, and the air felt cooler than that morning. A weeping yaupon bowed beneath the growing gusts, its cascading branches sweeping overhead as she rounded the corner. The forecasts hadn’t been exaggerating.

Relieved that Flash was adjusting to the shock of having a role model cast down from her pedestal, Athena focused her attention on the upcoming interview with Justin Booker. Maybe he was a Robin Hood of sorts, reallocating company profits to benefit his workers. But did he also kill the inspector and sabotage the office to make it appear like an accident? He could have planted the bomb ahead of time and moved his employees away from danger.

Yet there was a flaw in this theory. The lab said the bomb was activated by remote control, not on a timer. He couldn’t just pull out a triggering device and flick the switch while conducting a staff meeting. She hoped to catch him in a lie or pry some key information from him. One thing was for sure—Booker was on the hook for bribing a city employee.

She carried her takeout food up the elevator and headed straight for her office. “What time is Mr. Booker due to arrive?” she asked.

Shoops said, “Two o’clock. I think he’s getting worried because he said he’s bringing his lawyer along.”

“He’s not as clueless as Whitmore believes,” Athena said. “He probably knows we talked to the purchasing manager, the bookkeeper, and he might even be aware we brought Velasquez in. I’ll be in my office.” She noticed Detective Bach’s absence and figured he was checking in with HPD to update them on the new findings. Maybe they’d uncovered something useful.

Closing her office door, she sat at her desk, opened her bag, and took a deep breath. A moment’s peace and quiet was exactly what she needed to unwind. When the clock hands pointed to 1:30, she took the last swallow of her iced tea and headed back out into the bullpen.

“Anything new to report?”

“I’ve got something,” Paulson called. Athena almost smiled. She knew she could count on the battle-scarred veteran.

Crossing to his station, she said, “Tell me.” Athena took the chair nearest his to save him from constantly needing to look up. Fine wrinkles radiated from his bright eyes, his dark hair well mixed with gray, and his cheeks drooped more than they had when she first met him. Still, he brought vigor and expertise to the job every day.

“You wanted me to finesse some data from the damaged office computers and to look at the charred ledger book.”

“Yes.” Hope and anticipation surged through her.

“They’re in really bad shape, so don’t get too excited,” he warned, “but a few interesting points. From what I can piece together, the plant’s purchases don’t line up with their sales.”

“Explain.”

He pulled up some numbers on his viewscreen. “I salvaged a six-month period from January to July of last year. With a large company like this, that might not be representative, but what I can tell you is Booker approved purchases for significantly more raw materials than their recorded sales should have required. It’s like, he could have produced twenty or thirty percent more chemicals than are recorded.”

He shrugged, swinging his wheelchair to face her directly. “It could be he ran into a bulk sale and stocked up. I can’t say if maybe the second half of the year the sales made up for this. I’m sure the plant wants to keep extra ingredients on hand, but I thought I’d bring it to your attention since you’ll be talking to him soon.”

“Yes, this is interesting indeed, Agent Paulson.” Athena’s most recent theory dreamed up over lunch was that Whitmore had deposited half a million dollars into Booker’s shell company as hush money or a payoff for something like, oh, say, killing Inspector Nolan and sabotaging the plant. She didn’t know Justin Booker, but, from what she’d seen and others’ testimony, he was a good guy. It would have taken an enormous pile of money to convince him to compromise his principles.

They say anyone can be bought or coerced into committing a criminal act if the payoff or stakes are high enough. She didn’t want to believe that. Powerful people had unsuccessfully tried to strong-arm her in the past. And she couldn’t see Flash ever compromising her integrity. But what if it wasn’t money? What if they threatened a loved one, held them hostage to force her hand? Do this, or they die? Then it becomes a whole different ball game. Don’t even think about it. She shook the irrelevant fear away.

“I can keep on this if you want, or pursue another line of inquiry,” he offered.

“See if you can get anything else out of the files this afternoon,” she said. “If Booker isn’t our guy, or he doesn’t know who is, we might have to look elsewhere tomorrow.”