Page 6 of Cornered

THREE

POSSIBLY MURDERED?Steph couldn’t process it. She moved the chair out of the way and motioned for Tate to help himself. Virginia Carson walked over to stand beside her. “What’s going on?” her coworker asked in a low voice.

“They’re investigating Brenda’s death.”

“They don’t think it was an accident?”

Steph shrugged. “Apparently there’s some evidence that warrants an investigation.”

“They’re going to want to talk to us, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Do you know anyone who had it in for Brenda? Because I sure couldn’t think of anyone.”

Virginia shook her head. “No, not really. I know she was acting a little weird over the last couple of days, but when I asked her about it, she just shrugged it off and said, ‘Family stuff.’”

Steph blinked. “What? I didn’t notice—Wait, yes I did. She was on the phone yesterday, and I overheard her say, ‘Not here. I’ll call you when I finish up with work.’ When I looked at her, she gave me a really strained smile and rolled her eyes like it was no big deal. So I didn’t think anything about it ... until now.”

“What makes that stand out to you?”

“It wasn’t so much the words as it was her tone. She sounded angry and resigned all at the same time.”

“Hmm ... guess we’d both better mention this. They’re going to talk to her husband and anyone else she had contact with just before she died.”

“And once we tell them about the phone call, they’re also going to want to subpoena her phone records,” Steph murmured.

Tate stepped back. “We’ll take her laptop and files and see what we can find.”

Cole laid a hand on her arm. “We have boxes in the car for this. I’ll be right back. Tate’s going to stay here with the desk.” He nodded to Tate and headed for the door. Virginia squeezed Steph’s hand and returned to her desk.

“So you’re James Cross’s sister,” Tate said.

“I am. How well do you know him?” she asked.

“I met him a few times while I was working patrol. He’s a stand-up guy and an excellent detective.”

She smiled. “Yeah. He is.” And Tate was going to be a good one too, if her instinct was correct. He had that look about him. Smart, observant, dedicated. Hunky. She cleared her throat.

Cole returned with the boxes, and he and Tate went through the desk. Surprisingly, Brenda didn’t have a ton of stuff in the drawers. Just office supplies that they promised to return. And a couple of books.

“Brenda was a big reader,” Steph said. “Loved all kinds of books. Fiction and nonfiction.” She pointed toOliver TwistandThe Old Man and the Sea. “Her favorites were the classics, but she loved contemporary stuff too.”

Tate smiled. “I actually likedPride and Prejudice.”

“I’m impressed that you would admit that.”

He grinned and her lungs stuttered a moment.Focus, Steph.She gestured to the computer. “All of her client files will beon the hard drive,” she said. She handed him the paper with the laptop password. “We have backup copies on the server, of course, but I think you’ll need a warrant to access them.” He would know that. Duh. She ducked her head, hoping to hide the heat rising to her cheeks.

“Already gave that to your boss,” Cole said.

“Of course.”

Once they had everything they wanted, Tate nodded to her, his gaze lingering on hers. “Are you okay?”

She raised a brow. “No, not really, but thank you for asking.”

He frowned. “I know you have your brother and Cole, but if you need anything, feel free to reach out. Or if you think of anything else that might be helpful.” She told him about the phone call, and he nodded. “We’ll talk to Virginia and get the phone records from her work line and cell. Thanks.”

A memory floated back to her almost as quickly as it had faded only days earlier. “You know,” she said, “you’ll need to talk to her husband, but someone might have broken into their house a couple of weeks ago.”

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