AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cassie leaned closer to get a better look. “Money paid or money owed?”
“Looks like paid, though some of them have subtractions.”
“What do you think the numbers are for?”
“Not sure. Could represent people or companies. Maybe they’re random, or maybe they’re tied to something speci—” Harris froze.
Cassie looked from Harris to the computer and back again. “What is it?”
Harris pointed a finger at the screen. There was a line with a four-digit number, no date, and a zero in the space for the dollar amount. “That’s my badge number.”
Cassie looked again. “Eight-four-three-two. You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“I mean, are you sure that’s supposed to be your badge number? It could be anything.”
“The folder is labeled Blue.”
“Like the boys in blue.” Cassie sat up straight. “These are cops Aguilar tried to pay off?”
“Maybe.” She shook her head. “He never got to me, but does this mean I was on his shortlist?”
The knot in Cassie’s stomach got tighter. “What’s David’s number?”
“Eight-one-seven-seven.”
“Search it.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Cassie looked her dead in the eyes. There was a reason David didn’t want her to investigate his death, and she needed to know why. “Search it.”
Harris’s fingers paused over the keyboard, but as she took a deep breath, she pressed each number in turn. When she hit enter, they both held their breath.
There was one result.
Harris scrolled to the match. It was David’s badge number, all right. And a list of dozens of dates. But instead of monetary payments, it just said DEBT in capital letters. Cassie looked up at Harris, wanting the other woman to have some sort of explanation for this. Wanting her to tell Cassie it wasn’t true.
Instead, Harris slammed the laptop shut. “That’s enough of that for tonight.”
“Adelaide—”
“There’s another explanation.”
“What is it? Your badge number is on there. His is on there. Do you know anyone else’s?”
“Not tonight. Not now. I need to think.”
“Adelaide—”
Harris turned to Cassie with such ferocity in her eyes, Cassie sat back in her chair. It looked like Harris was tempering her voice, but a fury lurked just under the surface. She sounded monotone. Dead. “Not tonight. Please. I have some things to think about. To get straight in my head. We can talk about it in the morning.”
Cassie didn’t have the heart—or the courage—to argue.
14
By the time they woke up in the morning, Harris was back to her normal self. Cassie waited for her to bring up what they had discovered the night before, but the detective avoided the topic like the plague. But she did mention she’d gotten a new idea in the middle of the night.
