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“That seems to fit what we know, but it’s not enough to make a formal declaration. I’m going to follow up with Tad regarding this new evidence. I’m sure you both want to talk to him too. I’ll find out his current location, let you know, and we can meet up there.”
“Thanks, Joel. We won’t step on your toes,” Christian said.
“I never worry about that. See you two there.”
Christian looked over at Andi after he and Joel hung up. She had an impish smile on her face.
He reached over and cupped her cheek, running the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip. “What’s that mischievous smile for?”
Her smile widened as she leaned into his hold. “It’s time to trap Tad in a web of his own making.”
FIFTY-TWO
DECKARD HELD THE DOORfor Harper as they entered the Arizona Forensic Science Academy’s office headquarters on Lake Drive. The woman at the front desk looked up at them. Mid- to late-forties, brown hair in a braid, elegant in carriage.
“Hi,” Harper said, striding to her.
“Hello. How may I help you today?”
“We need to speak with Todd Phillips,” she said as Deckard placed himself behind her and a little to the right.
The woman scanned a calendar on her desk. “I’m sorry. I’m not showing any appointments for him today.”
“Oh, we don’t have an appointment.”
The woman lowered her glasses down on her nose, looking up at them through the upper part of the lens. “I’m afraid Mr. Phillips only takes visitors by appointment.”
“I used to work with Mr. Phillips,” Harper said with a smile. “I’m sure he’ll be okay with it. I’m Harper, by the way.”
“Temperance,” the woman said. “Pleasure.”
Not a name heard often. “And this,” Harper said, turning toward him, “is Deckard MacLeod.”
“Ma’am.” He dipped his chin.
“You called here yesterday,” she said. “I took the message.”
“Unfortunately, Todd never returned our call, but Deckard here is a private investigator,” Harper explained, easing into a casual vibewith Temperance. Much better than the aloof detachment when they’d first walked in. Harper had a way of putting people at ease.
“A private investigator?” Temperance’s penciled-in brown brows arched.
“Yes, ma’am. We’re investigating a murder case,” he said. “We really need to speak with Mr. Phillips.”
Temperance leaned forward, rising up from her desk to lean against the front counter separating them from her. “Is he in some sort of trouble?” she whispered, pushing her glasses back up on her nose.
“Possibly,” Deckard said. “That’s what we’re here to determine.”
She smiled. “I’ll go get him. Y’all wait here.”
“Well, she changed her tune when she heard Todd could be in trouble,” Deckard said.
“He’s certainly not a pleasant man to work for,” Harper said.
“Sounds like it.” Deckard slipped his hands into his Dockers pockets and walked the length of the lobby, praying they’d get answers or at least a feel for whether the man had any involvement in setting Andi up.Setting Andi up.When exactly had he started believing her? He was getting ahead of himself. There were more facts to examine, but he couldn’t ignore what he’d learned thus far, and for the first time since he was hired by Mitch Abrams’s family, he was questioning the man’s innocence. What if he’d been wrong? What if he’d gotten a guilty man out of prison? His shoulders tensed as he stared out the glass wall overlooking a picnic area. Andi being innocent and Mitch being innocent didn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Did they?
A tall man with curly brown hair, green eyes, and a hard-set jaw walked into the lobby.
“Harper,” the man said with a frown. “What are you doing here?”
