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“It’s not that.”
“Is Hannity giving you shit again? I know you don’t like the way I handled that, but this is my team and—”
“I spoke to that FBI agent.”
Tom’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel until they went numb, but he managed to keep his face blank. “Yeah?”
“I wanted to know why the hell he was hanging around being useless.”
“He’s keeping an eye out for another suspect,” Tom said carefully.
“Tom. He showed me photos. Asked me to keep it quiet. He wanted to know if anyone looked familiar.”
Fuck. Of course he had. He’d probably asked Hannity, too, but Tom couldn’t recall any time Isabelle would’ve interacted with Hannity. With Mary, on the other hand... “I’ve got it under control,” Tom said.
“Yeah? Then maybe you could clue me in on why you’re lying to the FBI about a person of interest in a police shooting.”
“She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Her father shot a cop, and she may have helped him get away,” Mary said, sounding pissed now and still not looking at him.
“Something isn’t right with this case, Mary,” he said. “You trust my hunches. You always have. I was right that Isabelle was hiding, and I’m right that—”
“Beth,” she interrupted, finally turning to look at him. “You mean Beth.”
Tom held her gaze for a moment before looking back to the road. She looked pissed but not furious. She was willing to listen. “Fine,” he agreed. “Beth Pozniak left everything behind and ran fourteen years ago. She’s not with her father. She doesn’t have any other family. She’s hiding.”
“You’re involved with her, Tom.”
He thought of denying it for a moment, but if he wanted Mary’s help, he’d need honesty. “I got involved before I knew.” He held up a hand when she started to speak. “Yes, I had suspicions, but I thought they’d pan out to be nothing. You know that. By the time I realized who she was...”
He saw from the corner of his eye that she was staring at him. “So you did sleep with her.”
It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t bother answering.
“This Gates guy is asking around. Showing her picture. He’s going to find someone who knows her.”
“No. He doesn’t want to alert her. He only showed you the photos because you’re with me.”
“He’ll get to that eventually.”
“I’m hoping he’ll give up before then. The only reason he’s here is because I stumbled onto a flagged file. That’s it.”
“So he’s got good instincts, too,” Mary said darkly.
Shit, she was right. Tom didn’t like the guy, but Gates wasn’t an idiot. “You didn’t tell him,” he said quietly.
She turned to look out at the hills again for a long moment. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. “He’s a smarmy asshole, and you’re not, so I figured I’d give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“I’m honored,” he said, going for sarcastic, even though he really meant it.
“If you aren’t being honest with Agent Gates, you have a good reason. I’ve known you too long not to trust that.”
“Thank you.”
“Plus, you’re my boss, and I didn’t want to be fired.”
He managed to huff out a laugh. “All right. Just give me twenty-four hours. I want to get her side of it. I’ve been hoping she’d open up, but...”
