AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Deckard’s brows arched. “You’re FBI?”
“Yes.” Harper nodded with a smile brimming with her usual confidence. Always so strong.
“And you work in the same lab Miranda did?” Deckard asked.
“Yes.” She gave another nod.
“You’re a crime-scene analyst?” he asked.
Andi took a seat beside Christian, her gaze bouncing between Deckard and Harper as they lobbed responses back and forth.
“Yes,” Harper said, “but in a specific area. Andi’s the expert in DNA analysis.”
She paused long enough for Andi to study Deckard’s face in relation to the comment. He shifted his lips but didn’t say anything.
Harper continued, “I’m a forensic botanist.”
“A forensic botanist. Wow. That sounds interesting.”
“It can be,” she responded, “but the main point is that I worked at the lab when everything went down, so I have some firsthand knowledge.”
“You worked in the lab that night with Miranda?” Deckard asked, taking a glass of lemonade from his sister. “Thanks, Cool Whip.”
Cool Whip?Andi mouthed to Christian.
Later, he mouthed back.
She nodded, forcing her gaze off his lips—Where was her mind?—andback on Harper and Deckard duking it out in what would have been a very entertaining conversation if it wasn’t her reputation in the balance. She prayed Harper won, and knowing her friend’s diehard persistence, Andi had strong belief she would. Andi had witnessed her relentless pursuit firsthand in everything from how she approached her work to how she played games. She’d played poker with the woman once and hadn’t been foolish enough to do so again.
Harper finished sipping her drink and set her glass on the side table. “Where were we?”
“I was asking if you saw Andi’s work in the lab that night firsthand?”
“No.”
“No.” Was that disappointment echoing in Deckard MacLeod’s tone?
“I was in the field,” she explained.
“In the field?” He sat forward, propping his elbows on his thighs. “You worked Anne Marlowe’s crime scene?”
“Yes.”
He swallowed, his pronounced Adam’s apple bobbing. He rubbed the scruff on his face. “I’m sorry. That had to be tough. Given the nature of the murder...”
“Sadly, it wasn’t one of the worst I’ve worked.”
“That’s saying a lot.”
“It’s not a job for the squeamish, that’s for sure.”
“Okay, let’s go back to that night. You’re working Anne’s murder. Walk me through what happened on your end, and then we’ll shift to Andi. I’d like to hear as much about that night as possible.”
———
Deckard had seen a copy of the case file from the defense attorney, just words on a page, and some copies of photos—those nearly turned his stomach. But even that wasn’t the same as being on the scene. Mitch hadn’t been there that night, despite what the initial evidence indicated. So he hadn’t been able to fill anything in, and the prosecutor was clearly stonewalling him, along withthe homicide detectives who had worked Anne’s case. All believed Mitch was where he deserved to be—guilty and behind bars. None of them wanted to help him prove otherwise.
“Okay,” Harper said, setting her glass of orange juice on the blue side table. “I was called to the scene after the initial walk-through was completed by homicide. I joined the CSI team in progress. For whatever reason, they always call in botanists and entomologists last.”
