Page 26 of Deep Tide

“What is it you’d like to know?” she asked.

“I assume you’ve been to Amelia Albright’s apartment?”

The fact that he knew she lived in an apartment was a bit disconcerting.

“We were there yesterday but didn’t find a whole lot.” She glanced at Brady. “In light of today’s new evidence, I’m planning to go back and take another look around.”

“Mind if I come? I’d like to see it,” the agent said.

She looked at Brady, who gave her a slight nod.

“Sure. When?”

“The sooner the better.”

“Go now,” Brady told her.

“Don’t we have that meeting at five?”

“I’ll move it out. You two go ahead.”

She glanced at the agent, who stood there casually watching, as though he was used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. Must be nice.

Nicole pointed at the evidence box sitting on Brady’s file cabinet. “Mind if I...?”

The chief stepped aside, and she scooted past him. The box contained the murder book—a two-inch binder she had started Sunday that didn’t have much in it yet—along with an envelope containing a key that had been provided to police by the victim’s landlord. Amelia’s key chain, which had been recovered from a dumpster, had been sent to the lab for testing, along with a bunch of other evidence that would probably take forever to analyze.

Nicole signed out the envelope and turned to Brady. “Want me to tell the team we’re bumping the meeting?”

“I’ll do it.”

“Thanks.”

Brady opened the door. “Let’s aim for six thirty. Call me if you get sidetracked.”

“Got it.”

Nicole was aware of Emmet and McDeere watching her as she left the station with some guy nobody knew, which was sure to fuel speculation.

As they stepped into the late-day sun, she put on her sunglasses. “I’ll drive,” she said, striding toward her unmarked police unit. He didn’t object.

She popped the locks on the car and slid behind the wheel. It was hot, and she immediately got the AC going.

“She lives on Palmetto,” she said as she crossed the parking lot. “But I guess you know that already.”

He nodded.

Annoyed now, she pulled onto the highway headed south.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,” he said.

“I didn’t think I had a choice.” She looked at him. Up close, she noticed that his eyes were a striking shade of green and he had thick eyelashes that he probably didn’t appreciate at all.

He glanced at her, and she focused her attention on the road.

“So, you’re with the Brownsville office?” she asked. “You look familiar.”

“I was at the wedding Saturday.”

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