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“Her folks live outside Hershey, Pennsylvania. His mother is in Maryland.”
“Thanks for your help,” Freddie said, handing her a card. “If you see them back here, will you please let me know?”
“Are they in trouble?”
“Not necessarily. We’d just like to talk to them again.”
“I’ll let you know.” She gave the Cortez house a side-eyed look. “There was something off about her, if you ask me.”
“How so?”
“She’s dissatisfied with her life or something. She’s just very unhappy and wants everyone to know it. I think he’s been a disappointment to her, motherhood isn’t what she thought it would be, nothing has worked out the way she wanted it to. Except for her daughter’s gymnastics. That was the one thing that made her sparkle when she talked about it.”
If Sam were there, she might have said she felt the tingle down her backbone that happened any time a promising lead developed.
“We appreciate the insight. Thank you again for your time.”
“Is your boss tough to work for?”
“What?” Freddie asked. “Not at all. She’s one of our closest friends.”
“Ah, good to know. I was hoping they’re as real as they seem on TV.”
“They are. Thanks again.”
As they walked toward Gonzo’s Charger, Freddie said, “Cheers to nosy neighbors, huh?”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Do we have to go to Hershey?” That was the last thing Freddie wanted to do.
“Nah, we’ll send people. That’s the beauty of command. You can delegate the shit you don’t want to do.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about sending people after a guy who already ran from us once before.”
“They can handle it.”
“Who should we send?”
“Cam and Matt.”
“Okay.” He looked over at Gonzo. “You’re sure it’s okay to send them and not go ourselves?”
Gonzo stopped and turned to face him. “You have to ask yourself how our time would be better spent as the ones leading this investigation, as the ones who have the most information on the case at any given moment. Would we be best using our time by spending hours in the car driving to Pennsylvania, or would it be better if we stayed back and continued to work the case from other angles while they go after the Cortezes?”
“When you put it like that…”
“That’s how you make decisions as a commander. You think of how best to use everyone’s limited time and go from there.”
“Thank you for that insight. It’s all new to me to be viewing it through this lens. Sam makes it seem so simple to make a thousand different decisions in a day without breaking a sweat.”
“Because she’s been doing it for years, and it comes naturally to her by now. You’ll get there.”
When they were back in Gonzo’s car on the way to HQ, Freddie was still thinking about what Gonzo had said about command and delegation. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything.”
“I never pictured myself in charge of anything in this job. I’ve always been along for the ride, one of the worker bees, not one of the bosses. I just didn’t see that happening, so I never prepared for it.”
