Page 100 of Capture My Heart

“Oh, I don’t know. I heard someone say it was a bomb.”

Trey nodded. “Okay, I’ll look into it.”

The doctor came out of Amy’s room. She crossed to them. “She’s resting now. I gave her a sedative. She should be fine but I want to keep her for a day for testing and make sure there is no additional brain trauma that occurred from the blow to her head.”

“Thank you, Dr. Chu.” Trey shook her hand before she left.

“Well, I’m going to stick my head in before I go. See you later, Fenley.”

“Yeah, later.” Trey processed the information Peterson had given him. He had read the case file Amy gave him and hadn’t smelled a whiff of corruption.

He climbed into his vehicle. The clock on the dash read 12:45 a.m. He should go home and get some sleep, but when he pulled out of the parking structure, his car turned in the direction of the station.

Ashwood Police Station was quiet. Only a couple of officers were working at their desks. The custodial guy emptied trash cans. Trey stopped at Amy’s cubicle.

No, he wouldn’t go through her desk, not on a rumor. He moved down the hall to the hotel cubicle and used his access to get into the system. He punched in Officer Thomas Larson’s name and searched. After a few minutes of sifting through the list of cases, he pulled out the file Amy gave him and entered the case number.

The file popped up, and he hovered the cursor over the number. On a deep inhale, he clicked the button.

Pages of PDFs loaded and Trey scanned the file. Page after page, they looked identical to the file sitting beside him. He kept clicking, almost in a mindless haze.

Then, on page twenty-four, he stopped. He enlarged the page and leaned in. It was an evaluation for Sergeant Johnson. The handwritten note was attached to the bottom. Trey swallowed down the ball of betrayal. There, in black and white, Officer Thomas Larson was formally accused of corruption.

Trey clicked to the next page, another document missing from the file he had. Amy’s father had been in possession of drugs and a buttload of money. He refuted the accusations.

After reading the rest of the file in detail, Trey dropped back in the chair. His hands chased trails of stress through his hair.

He rubbed the grit from his eyes. He needed to talk to Amy.

Pushing back from the desk, he stood. It was after 2 a.m.

Raw hurt and anger mixed in his veins. Was she out for justice or did she have something else to hide?

Trey needed sleep. He couldn’t march into the hospital and demand she tell him the truth. No going off half-cocked. He printed a copy of the official file and logged off the computer.

His mind whirled with scenarios and questions. But none of them would be answered tonight. Besides, he had a meeting with Gunter Lindstrom at nine tomorrow. The lawyer finally responded to Trey. Figures, he’d kept Trey waiting for weeks playing this game, schedule and cancel, then not responding. Finally, he emailed Trey late last evening. He put it on a Saturday morning. Asshole.

The next morning, Trey sat at the table with Gunter Lindstrom and his lawyer. The counsel looked impeccable for an early weekend meeting. A custom-tailored suit, pressed to a crisp knife edge. Fine leather shoes with a high gloss shine. And not one hair out of place.

Gunter brushed off the pants leg of his prison uniform. He was less polished but just as sharp. The man had a gleam in his eyes that revealed the intelligent businessman that he was.

Trey blinked. Gravel coated his eyeballs. He looked from one to the other and wished for a second cup of coffee.

“I have a tee time at ten thirty so let’s get this started.” The lawyer, Mr. Klein, checked his watch.

“Mr. Lindstrom, you hired an Ashwood police officer to filter information to you last September.”

“That is speculation. My client never admitted to being involved in any corruption.”

Gunter sat with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.

“Mr. Lindstrom openly admitted to having an informant in the department on the night he assaulted Ms. Doyle in her home at gunpoint.”

“That was hearsay.”

“It’s in the court document. Witnessed by three people.”

“My client denies all allegations to that comment.”