AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Roman blinked but didn’t budge. “No.”
A beat of silence passed awkwardly. “Well, Sergeant Sinclair is very busy. I’ll have to see if he’s available.”
Roman waited, unmoving from the desk, while the kid walked to a phone just out of earshot.
“Ugh,” Camila whispered, and yeah, that about summed it up. Barton’s chest puffed up as he dialed, then spoke, carrying himself with a truckload of swagger when he returned a minute later.
“They’re working on a big case. I’ll escort you upstairs.”
Well, that was new. But since they’d gotten the green light to at least talk to Sinclair, he wasn’t about to push. Barton ushered them down the hallway, where they went through the motions of signing in and going through the metal detectors, with Camila having her purse checked, then led the way up the stairs to the second floor.
“Agent Roman and Camila Garza are here to see you, sir,” Barton said as soon as they crossed the threshold into the Intelligence Unit’s office, sending a few surprised glances in their direction.
“Camila?” Detective Garza asked, his dark brows drawing down. “What’s the matter? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” she said, a barely suppressed sigh hanging in her voice. “Just like yesterday. And the day before that.”
Sinclair, who was no dumbass, nodded from his spot by Capelli’s workstation, with—damn—all six screens of the array lit up like Christmas trees, all bearing what looked like details on the bank robbery. “Thanks, Barton.” To Roman, he said, “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess the two of you showing up here unannounced isn’t a social call.”
“No.” Roman sent a covert look around the office. Not one of the detectives was masking their curiosity, and shit. Guess he might as well come out with it. “We want to know if you’ve got any leads on the bank robbery.”
“I told you—both—that we’d keep you updated,” Garza said, frowning.
Irritation flashed through Roman’s chest. “Since we haven’t heard anything other than that in an entire week, should we assume thereareno leads?”
Maxwell scowled right alongside Garza. “You do know we’re not obligated to tell you anything, right? That you’re still not working this case?”
Oh, that was a sore spot. Roman could feel it. But before he could jump on it, Camila said, “These robbers threatened my life with assault rifles and ripped off a bank for what I’m guessing isn’t a few bucks”—she swung a chilly glance at her brother—“not to mention knowing my full name and knocking me unconscious for my trouble. I get that you don’t technically have to tell us anything, but would a little courtesy really be that out of line, seeing as how we could’ve both had our heads blown off?”
“Whoa,” Barton breathed. The reminder of his presence broke the mounting tension, and Sinclair turned toward the officer.
“That will be all, Officer Barton. You can head back downstairs.”
Indignation flashed over the guy’s features, gone before Roman could be certain he’d even seen it. “Of course,” he murmured, about-facing his way over the threshold. The interruption gave everyone a chance to take a breath, and Roman tried again.
“Look, I do understand that I don’t have any jurisdiction, here, and I’m not questioning this unit’s ability to work this case.” Ignoring Garza’s snort, he continued. “But wewerein that bank. We had eyes and ears on the crime, and that knowledge could be valuable. Please. If you won’t let me help, at least give us an update on where you are.”
Hollister sent a lightning-fast glance at Isabella, who then sent one at Sinclair in return. “Can’t hurt, can it?” she asked. “I mean, theywerethere when the robbery went down. I know we took their statements, but we are kind of spinning our wheels.”
“Camila’s a civilian,” Garza argued, and Roman’s counter was out before his brain even knew his mouth would go there.
“She deserves answers as much as I do. Plus, you briefed Delia on all the updates on her case while it was active, and it sounds like you could use our help.Bothof us.”
Sinclair split a serious stare between him and Camila. “You understand that all case details are confidential. Disclosing them to anyone, in any way, could jeopardize our ability to find these three.”
“Of course,” Camila said, and Roman nodded.
Sinclair, thank fuck, didn’t need more than that, despite Garza’s scowl. “We pulled all the security and street cam footage from the morning of the robbery. The three assailants arrived in a black Nissan Sentra at nine thirty-seven a.m.”
He gestured to one of the screens on the array, and sure enough, a nondescript black sedan appeared in front of the bank.
At Roman’s lifted brows, Capelli said, “The car had been reported stolen a few hours before the robbery. They swapped out the plates before they used it as the getaway car and it had remote ignition, so there was no need for them to leave a driver behind.”
Roman’s gut sank, his suspicions confirmed. “Okay. So they’re definitely smart.”
“They are,” Sinclair agreed. “The leader wasn’t bluffing about everyone’s cell phones being useless, or the silent alarm being disabled.”
“How…how can a person even do that?” Camila asked, her dark eyes wide. “Don’t you have to, like, cut lines or cables or something to disable an entire alarm system?”
