Page 113 of State of Suspense

“I won’t.”

“That LT from AC is a peach, huh?”

“I didn’t get to meet her. One of her people brought me the info.”

“Probably the one who wanted to tell me why the LT can’t stand me. I’ve decided I don’t care.”

“That’s the way.”

“I’m headed home. Freddie is on the way back to HQ with threads to pull.”

“We’re on it.”

“Sorry to duck out again.”

“Don’t be. It’s all good in the hood.”

“It really isn’t, but I appreciate you guys more than you’ll ever know.”

“And we appreciate the invites to the White House. Everyone we know thinks we’re the shit because you guys are our friends.”

“I do what I can for my people.”

“And we do what we can for you. It all comes out in the wash, Sam. Don’t sweat it, okay?”

“Trying not to. We need a suspect—and we need it now.”

“I’m meeting with Archie in half an hour to look at cell phone pings.”

“Sounds good, and by the way, Nick agrees with renting Ninth to you guys. It’s all yours if you want it.”

“Christina and I talked about it last night, and we’d love to live there. If you’re sure.”

“We’re sure. We’re not using it, and it’s just what you guys need.”

“It’s way more than we need, but we’re excited just the same.”

“We’ll arrange to put our stuff in storage so you can have the run of the place.”

“Thank you again. You’ll never know what this means to us.”

“It’s our pleasure. Keep me posted on the case?”

“Will do.”

Sam closed the phone and put her head back against the seat, trying to decompress from an intense few hours so she could change gears when she got home. She closed her eyes and let the details of the case run through her mind, picking it over from every angle. Why, she wondered, had Cox’s admin refused at first to give her his name? What had become of the golf pro Tom had gotten fired? Had Ralph and Laurel Sellers really been at home on Sunday morning? The shooter she’d seen on the video was a much smaller person than Ralph Sellers. Could it have been Laurel? What would she have to gain by killing Forrester?

None of it added up.

How could it not lead right back to Damien Bryant and his criminal enterprise, which was threatened by Forrester’s investigation?

And then there was Avery’s shooting. What, if anything, did that have to do with Forrester?

She opened her eyes and reached for her phone to call Archie.

“What’s up?”

“Is there film of Avery’s shooting?”

---