Page 119 of Capture My Heart

Trey opened his folder and leaned on the table. He started working through the questions, running over the events. Bob sat listening.

“I get it. You were passed over for promotions. A smart officer like you, I’m sure that stung.”

Bob’s expression stayed stoic.

“How far back does this go? Being on the criminal’s payroll?” Trey watched Bob. Amy was sure he was cataloging the man’s every muscle movement, right down to his little finger. “Were you the reason Officer Thomas Larson was accused of corruption?”

If Amy was any closer to the window, her exhalation would fog the glass, but when Trey asked the last question, she held her breath.

Bob blinked, then picked at a string on his sleeve.

Amy didn’t think they’d get anything out of him.

CJ leaned in. He folded his hands. “How’s Hailey doing? Is the new treatment working?”

Bob’s jaw tightened but no reply. CJ struck a nerve. Amy should have known his daughter would be their in.

Trey picked up the ball CJ lobed out there and ran with it. “Listen Bob, we know you did it for your daughter, but would she be proud of you?”

He cracked. “She’s alive.”

Trey nodded. “But Samuel Finden, Stephen Gardiner, and Gus West aren’t. Or Officer Thomas Larson, a fellow cop.”

“I didn’t kill Larson.”

Amy’s hands fisted. No, Stephen did. He told her he set it up.

Trey’s demeanor changed. He got his opening. “But you did kill Finden.”

“Corrupt piece of shit.” Bob mumbled but they all heard him.

“Look who’s talking.” Ryan scoffed.

Amy startled. She’d been so absorbed with what was transpiring on the other side of the glass that she had forgotten others were in the room with her.

“He’s right about Finden. I wish the asshole had suffered more.” Jim had no love loss with the former warden, and rightfully so.

Through the double-sided mirror, Amy watched Trey run down Bob’s most likely outcomes. The options weren’t pretty.

Bob smiled. “I think it’s time I call a lawyer.”

Crap. That was the end of him talking. Unless the lawyer could work a deal, Peterson would clam up. She hated needing Bob, but if he didn’t tie Stephen to her father’s murder then she couldn’t clear her dad’s record.

CJ closed out the recording and called the officer in the hall to escort Detective Peterson to holding. A few moments later, CJ and Trey squeezed into the observation room.

Chief Martin bumped into the wall. “Let’s take this into a conference room.”

Once they moved to the larger room, Trey sat down next to Amy. He whispered in her ear, “How are you holding up?”

“I’d be better if he’d admitted to everything.”

“Agent Fenley. Can you give me a rundown on the situation?” Chief Martin asked.

“Yes sir. Even without Detective Peterson’s admission, we have more than enough to charge him. Daniels took a photo of Peterson to Trudy’s bar and got a positive ID from the witness that Bob was the man who returned Larry’s keys that night. Which means we can tie him to the vehicle that hit and killed August West. Officer Larson’s statement from both the explosion at the Murray residence and the cemetery should be more than enough to lock him up for decades.”

“Good, and what about the murder of Warden Samuel Finden?”

“Bob was in the building. From phone records, we have him on a call with his wife at the time of Finden’s death.”