Page 51 of Diamonds in the Mud

There was no text with the image. No threatening words. The image was meant to do that job. That morning, I had been pissed off, not scared. Now, however, I started wondering if it was one of the Reapers or someone else. After all, they weren’t hiding the fact that they were watching me.

I chuckled as I shut my computer down. Then again, maybe they thought they were doing a great job of being inconspicuous.

Stepping out of my office, I passed by Owen, who was on the phone.

“Have a good night,” I said to a few people.

“You off tomorrow?” Abe asked as I passed his desk.

“For the next two days,” I added with a nod. “Night.”

The man turned back to his computer.

Quincy stood at the break area watching me as I knocked on Randy’s door.

“Yeah,” he called out and I opened the door. “Hey, sweetie.” He stood up and stretched. “Heading out?”

I nodded. “I’m heading over to hang at Arias for a while.”

His smile was quick. “Girls’ night?”

I nodded. “How’s Mom doing?”

His smile grew bigger. “She loves the new do.” I watched his eyes and saw them turn slightly sad. “It’s given her a second wind. She’ll need it for this next round.”

“That starts in a week?” I asked, trying to remember the schedule he’d sent me earlier.

“Yeah. Her friend Carolyn is going to be with her for the first bit. She’s flying in from Florida.” He smiled. “I know you’re working the big one, so we called in a favor.”

“I could have…” I started, but Randy held up his hand.

“Do your job. We’ll take good care of her until you solve this one. Speaking of which?” He motioned for me to shut the door. I did and leaned against it. “Updates?” he asked.

“I’m working a couple of leads.” I moved closer and lowered my voice. “Something stinks about the whole corruption and embezzling angle.”

“I talked to the state attorney’s office. They’re going to shoot you what information they can. But obviously, the case is dead as far as prosecuting Sharon Taylor.”

“Did they mention anyone else on their radar?” I asked.

Randy shook his head. “They wouldn’t say. I was lucky to get what information I did. It seems their case is pretty hush-hush at this point.”

“Right,” I nodded, understanding that when you’re working a case this big, you held your cards tight to your chest.

“What about Jameson? How’s that going?” he asked.

“The Reapers are doing a shit job of tagging us. Jameson says they want him to use me to see how I’m dancing around the Taylor murder.”

Randy frowned. “Why do the Reapers give a shit?”

“That’s a very good question,” I added with a smile as I glanced down at my watch. “But look, I’m officially off duty.”

He chuckled. “Have fun tonight.” He sat back down in his chair.

“Aren’t you heading out?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’ve got a new report from my lead detective in my inbox I have to look over.”

I laughed. “Lance auto-sent that to you?”