Page 32 of Heat of Justice

“And you know this how?”

“No motive. And anyway, she doesn’t ring for me.”

Quinn pinned her with a hard stare, then promptly hit her with the next predictable question.

“Are you attracted to her?”

Again, fair enough. In her shoes, Cody would have asked exactly the same thing. She stiffened with a wave of reluctance but still held her ground in front of her commanding officer.No matter how intimidating Quinn could be when she was in this mode, like a hungry wolf hunting prey, Cody had earned her cop stripes on the mean streets of New York City. She was not scared, let alone intimidated. Just a little irritated at the situation, she supposed. She could and would deal with that.

“Kim Reed is not a suspect,” she stated calmly. “And yes. Maybe, I’m attracted to her.”

“Which one? Yes, or maybe?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out; how about that?”

Quinn must have appreciated the note of challenge in her reply, and a flash of simmering temper laced through it because Cody spied a small smile wobbling on the corner of her mouth. It did blossom eventually, even though Quinn shook her head at the same time.

“Ah, man!” She unceremoniously dropped into one of the two chairs in front of her desk, rubbed her hands over her face, and shot her a pained look. “Really?”

“Like I said,” Cody shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Be careful, Miller. Sounds to me like she’s way down your list of potential suspects but not totally off of it yet.”

“Noted. And to be honest, Lieutenant, I do not have a list of suspects as yet because, technically, there’s been no crime. Kim Reed said she saw Cassie Winters dead in her vision, but there is no body. Even the woman’s asshole husband told me she’s been threatening to run away for a while.”

“He certainly would say that if he killed her.”

“Yes. I am keeping this in mind as well.”

Like the tenacious cop she was, Quinn circled right back to the previous topic.

“Reed’s explanation for moving here and her shift to family law strikes me as a bit weird. When I asked if you believed her, you hesitated. Tell me why,” she ordered.

“Just because it also strikes me as a little strange,” Cody admitted with a light shrug.

“Ah…”

“But I think there must be a personal reason for it, nothing to do with this case.”

“All the same, are you going to dig?”

“If I need to.”

“If?” Quinn raised a dangerous eyebrow.

“Correct, Lieutenant.” Cody swallowed her impatience; she would stick to her guns. “Look, I’m not ignoring warning signs about her. I just see no reason to delve into her private, personal life at the moment.”

“I disagree. What about the psychic ability again? Do you really trust her on that?”

Remembering the startling episode at the bar when Kim had touched her, how sick she was in the restroom afterward, and the things she’d said, Cody had no problem nodding in the affirmative. Kim was not faking it. Proof of this was in a crucial detail she had mentioned: there was indeed a Dunkin’ Donuts store in the street where Emma was shot.

“It seems genuine to me, yes,” she repeated.

“I remember one time when the department brought in a professional clairvoyant to help us on an abduction case,” Quinn offered a little more thoughtfully. “Years ago, when I was still in uniform. Detective Roberts, in charge of the investigation, was certain he had the right guy in custody, but the man wasn’t talking. We thought his latest victim must be still alive and locked up somewhere. It was the height of summer, though, in the middle of a heatwave. If he didn’t tell us where she was, and we couldn’t find her, the poor woman would likely die of thirst before lack of food killed her.”

“Damn. Did the psychic help?”

“Yes. He led us to her after only two days.” Quinn nodded. “I know from experience this sort of thing isn’t just bullshit and make-believe.”

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