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“Can I help you two?” she asks.
“Detective,” Sara says. “My name is Sara Bray and this is my associate, Angelo. I work for the law firm Klein and Houndson.”
I try not to grin. I’m her associate now? It almost sounds like we both work for that fancy law firm, which was probably her intention.
Detective Vance’s eyebrows raise. “What can I do for you, Ms. Bray?”
“Sara,” she says and clears her throat. “Detective, I wanted to ask you about Wally Batt.”
Detective Vance’s entire demeanor changes the moment Sara mentions that name. Just like Wally back at the motel, her arms cross over her chest and she shuts down. She’s not going to run away like good old Wally did, but the expression on her face is harder than iron.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Bray, but I can’t discuss that.”
“You spoke with Wally, didn’t you?” Sara takes a step closer and Detective Vance flinches. “That’s what he told us, but there’s no record of your conversation.”
“If you have an issue with the files we released, you can take it up with the judge, or you can come down to the station during business hours. Surprising me on my night off isn’t going to get you anywhere, Ms. Bray.”
“What Sara’s trying to say is who wanted that interview to disappear, and why do you look like you’re ready to bolt?” I smile as sweetly as I can but Detective Vance looks like she tastes something sour.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. If you folks need something, go through official channels. I’m heading home.”
“Please, Detective,” Sara presses. “There are five dead bodies and an innocent guy’s going down for it. Why did your interview with Wally disappear?”
Vance stands with her hand on the handle of her truck, ready to yank it open, but she pauses. She stares straight ahead, not moving for a few seconds, and the night’s so filled with tension that I think it’s trying to shove its way down my throat. My heart’s going fast and I don’t know how the detective’s going to react to this line of questioning. Some part of me worries she’s about to lash out at Sara. Maybe I had it wrong and Vance really is part of the coverup after all.
But she looks down at the ground. “If I was interested in the truth, I’d find that interview. I conducted it and filed it through the proper channels, and if it’s missing, well, I don’t know who made it disappear.”
“Where should we look?” Sara asks.
But the detective only shakes her head. “Good luck to you two.” She opens her door, gets inside, and the engine roars to life.
We move out of the way as Detective Vance drives off and doesn’t look back.
“Well, that was interesting,” I say and steer Sara to the car.
“We need that file.”
“Problem is, where the hell can we find it?”
“Cops are half enforcers and half bureaucrats. They file, refile, and do everything in triplicate. It’ll be somewhere.”
I get back behind the wheel and Sara clicks her seatbelt on.
“You’re a scary woman, you know that?” I smirk as she glares at me. “Going toe to toe with that detective.”
“Take us back to the hotel, Angelo.”
“Yes, ma’am. It’ll be my pleasure.”
Chapter 15
Sara
I stand in the doorway to the bedroom at one in the morning that night and stare out at Angelo. He looks back and neither of us says anything for a long moment until he gets up from the couch. “Do you want a drink?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Can’t sleep.”
And it’s true. I’ve been tossing and turning all night and I’m finally at my breaking point.
“Then let’s fix that,” he says with a smile.
I hold up a hand. “No jokes. No comments. Just… sleep. Okay?”
I turn and hurry back to bed. Angelo follows me, undresses, and climbs in on the other side.
We lie there in silence.
I’ve been so good. I’ve gone days without inviting Angelo into this room even though most nights I want to feel his body next to mine, but this case is really getting to me. Even though I know letting Angelo get this close is a huge mistake, he’s also an enormous comfort and I need to balance keeping sane with keeping far away from him.
“I keep thinking about Detective Vance,” I say quietly and I know he’s listening. The sound of his breathing is a slow, steady drone. “She looked so young. And so afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“I saw it the second I told her that I’m a lawyer. She was freaking terrified, Angelo.”
He’s quiet for a moment. My head’s a spinning wreck. I can’t stop seeing that moment of terror in her eyes and it can only mean one thing.
She knows someone’s out to make sure the truth about this case never gets out, and whoever it is scares the hell out of her.
