Page 152 of State of Suspense

“He’s my only son, my whole heart. Do you know what that’s like?”

“I do. I have a son, and if he’d committed murder-for-hire, I’d have done as I was advised and delivered him to the authorities. I’m sorry you’re in trouble. I really am, but you had every opportunity to do the right thing.”

“I bought the plane tickets to come here. We were getting ready to go to the airport, and then… I just couldn’t do it. I had to try to save him. I panicked, and I was wrong to do that.”

“If you tell the judge that, you might get off without prison time or a lesser sentence.”

She blanched as if it hadn’t occurred to her that she could do time. “Prison?”

“Yes, Rosemary. People who help others run from the law go to prison.”

Deep, gulping sobs shook her.

The processing officer gave Gonzo a frustrated look.

He stepped back so she could finish. “Good luck to you, Rosemary.”

“Th-thank you for being kind to me.”

“Sure.”

“I’m… I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

“It’s okay. Happens a lot in my line of work.”

She wiped the tears from her face. “Keep a close eye on your boy. You can do everything right…”

“Take care, Rosemary.”

Gonzo returned to the pit, weighed down by Rosemary’s grief. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to raise a child into his twenties only to have him charged with murder-for-hire while away at college. That’s not something any of the parenting manuals warned you about.

“All set with the Bryants?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, why?”

“You looked upset when you came into the pit.”

“Something Rosemary said… About how you don’t raise a kid to adulthood thinking you might someday have to worry about him being arrested in a murder-for-hire plot.”

“Ain’t that the truth? But don’t forget that Randy’s upbringing was disrupted by a nasty divorce and protracted custody battle—not that that causes a kid to become a criminal—and his arrogant, self-involved father is up to his eyeballs in crime.”

“All that’s true, but it’s a reminder that you can try to do everything right?—”

“Your son will never be a murderer, Gonzo.”

“Listen to her,” Freddie said when he joined them. “She’s always reminding me that we’re skewed by the crap we see every day on the job, and she’s right.”

“Yes, she is,” Sam said with a smile for her partner. “She’s always right.”

Freddie groaned. “You just had to add that.”

“I did. Let’s go talk to Amber Peckham and see what she can tell us about her husband’s retribution tour and where her stepson might be.”

Faith Miller came into the pit with a thick folder tucked under her arm. “I brought you the Peckham case file.”

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