Page 11 of Wicked Sin

“This must have been a mistake,” she says softly. I glance across the car at her. Her face is pinched.

“Nobody has a motive to kill you?”

The corners of her mouth tug down. “The worst of what I’ve done is in the past.” She gives me a sideways glance. “And pretty public knowledge.”

“Your affair with the Vice President.” I say it neutrally, but infidelity is a powerful motive—for all involved parties. “When was the last time you spoke to him?”

She doesn’t question how I know about that.

Everyone knows about that.

“Years ago.” Her jaw juts forward. “That’s not—I’m not—”

“People harbor grudges for a long time.”

She casts her eyes down and nods. “I guess.”

“Any contact there at all? With him, or his wife?”

“No.”

“Any apologies or amends?”

She hesitates. “No.”

Was that beat a lie, or a regret? Did she want to make amends, or did she try and it didn’t work? I can’t push too hard here if I want to maintain her fragile willingness to talk to me. And my gut says this isn’t about the affair she had.

“Anything happen at work? Maybe something out of the ordinary? A disgruntled client?”

She shakes her head. “No. I haven’t been doing counseling there that long—I used to be a client myself. And so far, everyone has been really great.”

“Any of your clients have angry exes?”

Her lips press tight.

“Ms. Reid, this might be a matter of life or death.”

“Might be? My car blew up. I’m aware. Thanks. But my clients’ personal lives are confidential and none of your business.”

I can get a warrant that makes it my business, but I don’t want to push her on that point. At least not yet.

Which brings us to the third potential reason why someone might target her today—the federal indictments against her father.

My badge helpsto get us into a bed in Emergency pretty quickly. The doctor takes one look at me, then at the scowl on Taylor’s face, and she points to the hall.

I tip my fingers to my temple in a mock salute and step outside to check my messages while they have a private chat about whether or not the big, bad detective was being mean to her.

The first message is from the bomb squad. Taylor’s apartment is clean. They’re doing a broader sweep before letting residents back in. I reply and advise them that I’ll bring her around to pack a bag later. There’s no chance I’m letting her stay there alone tonight.

I also have a brief update from Forensics. They were able to recover parts of the explosive, which is great news. It’ll take weeks to put it back together, but it’s a start. I fire that news off to the captain.

She replies immediately.

Woods:Do you want me to share that detail with the FBI? Their labs could process the pieces sooner.

I hesitate.Handing over any part of this investigation feels wrong. Is that my ego, or am I doing my due diligence? Integrity wins out, although it’s a close call.

Vasquez:The sooner we get anything off it, the better.

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