Page 68 of Justice for Francesca

Good questions. And they were ones she had no answers for.

“If I may be permitted a question, what will happen to Evans?” Francesca asked.

A less-than-happy grunt came from across the desk. “Lucky for him, he won’t be investigated for the murders, given you are his alibi.”

Francesca’s heart began pounding, and her mouth dried up. What? While she didn’t want Tripoli to come under fire for her poor judgment, how the hell was she a reliable alibi after all she’d just told her boss? He should be behind bars too.

Her boss was still talking. “Due to his impeccable military standing, he’ll get a slap on the wrist for his failure to report themurder of Jessa Knight, his impromptu surgery on you, and his failure to report not only that but what he knew regarding how that injury was sustained. Cruz is questioning him now.”

“With respect, hedidreport Jessa Knight’s murder. It was my choice to withhold that he was my source. And as to the injury, while it is accurate that he didn’t report it, he did keep me from bleeding out.”

“Believe me, I’m well aware that he may have saved the life of an agent who is a valuable asset to the FBI. In the moment, the actions were to be commended—albeit illegal. He should have reported what he did afterward.” Her dark eyes pinned Francesca to her chair as her fingers drummed against the desk again as she considered her agent for several painful moments. “Luckily for you and your career, the only people who know about this are me and Special Agent Livingston, and we have a confession.”

“We do? Since when?”

Ortiz sat back in her chair, elbows to the armrests, hands steepled in front of her. “Your brother showed up at our front door and turned himself in.”

Francesca paled. “He confessed?”

“His story is that after talking to you and discovering we were looking for him, he came to us to make things easier on you.”

“That’s not a confession. Do we have hard evidence that it was him?” Francesca felt as if she had no control over her brain and body. Everything was moving at high speed, not allowing her to think or process, and she didn’t like that. It didn’t mean that what the chief was saying was inaccurate. It was just that Francesca always needed to work from point A to point B, and then to point C, and so on, at a methodical pace. Each step needed to be accounted for before she would accept something as true, even if it was the most elementary piece of information.

“He seems to be more concerned about how all of this reflects on you than he is about saving his own skin. So, no, right now, the evidence is all circumstantial, but it all points to him. If we can play up the inconvenience and possible suspension angle for you, we may get a confession that will speed up the process and allow us to just confirm what he says rather than have to hunt down the evidence ourselves.”

“His attorney will never allow that.”

“No attorney,” Ortiz told her.

“He doesn’t have an attorney?” What the hell was this nonsense about? Based on the salary Elysium paid him, he could certainly afford one. He had next to no debt other than month-to-month charges on his credit cards, rent on an apartment, and other general living expenses. His bank accounts were flush. Why wouldn’t he have an attorney?

“It’s not that he doesn’t have one. It’s that he doesn’t want one.”

“Then he needs a counsel appointed to him. Allowing him to be without an attorney during questioning borders on entrapment.”

“We can’t make him consult one, Frankie. When this all goes to trial, he’ll have one, but right now, he doesn’t want one.”

“When this all goes to trial?What the hell? Since when do we work like that?”

“Relax, Frankie. It’s no different than if we collected evidence and then verified it. Besides, you know that interrogations always work like that. We work angles to get information, and then we always verify what a suspect says. If a suspect doesn’t lawyer up of their own volition, we don’t pursue it further.”

“Yes, but we don’t interrogate with the intent ofmakingpeople confess just to get a confession fromsomeone. We use that method when we know they did whatever they’re being accused of, and the information we’re asking for is additional.We can’t even come up with a connection between the three women other than their employment with Elysium. What would have been his motive?”

Ortiz stared Francesca down. “He was involved romantically with Sequeira; they had a fight and broke up. He’s angry she didn’t want to get back together.”

“Conjecture! No one knew about the relationship, and she’s not here to confirm!”

“Moll? He was the last to see her alive?—”

“That we know of.”

“And he was seen leaving his apartment building with a crate large enough to hold a person in it?—”

“But we don’tknowif anyone was actually in that crate! We don’t have the crate!”

“Moll was never seen leaving the building.”

“Maybe she went out the back door. Maybe she left the building in a large group of people, and we missed it on video. Maybe she just plain was out of the camera’s eye.” Had Ortiz lost her mind? Francesca felt like she’d entered an alternate universe where her boss had been replaced by someone her exact opposite. “What about Jessa?” she pushed. “What possible motive could he have had for Jessa’s murder?”

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