Page 72 of Follow Your Instincts

I sighed. “Hasn’t even filed a claim with the insurance company. And he’s running out of time to do it. Doesn’t seem like a criminal mastermind.”

Jacobs glared at me. “The nephew, then. The guy seems like a scumbag.”

“His girlfriend alibied him, but we searched his house, his car, and her house. Nothing.”Which you would know if you bothered to read a report, I thought.

“And no leads on the witness’s ‘pack’? You really are useless,Murray,” he said, and got up from his desk before I could reply. Our desks were adjacent in the bullpen, which only made it more convenient for him to insult me without contributing to any actual police work.

I took three deep breaths.

My phone buzzed. Maggie. Thank god something was going right.

I leapt up from my desk and hurried outside to answer.

“Hey, baby. Everything okay?”

“Hey, Soren! Oh my god, I think we found it,” she said.

“Found what?”

“The bar, the one in the picture Greta posted,” she said impatiently. “Kira went out last night and recognized it. I’m sending you a picture.”

My phone buzzed again and I pulled up the picture she’d sent. Sure enough, there was the brick wall and a pink neon sign that read “Hush.”

“That’s it, right?” she asked, sounding excited.

“Looks a lot like it, yeah,” I said, my excitement mounting. “But don’t get your hopes up. Could be another dead end.”

“Oh my god, stop being so pessimistic and just tell me that my genius sister has solved the case.”

“I’ll have to go check it out,” I replied. “Fuck. I don’t want to bring Jacobs.”

“Ugh, you’re right, he’ll probably take credit for everything,” she said. She was quiet for a moment. “Is it horrible for me to say I wish I could get a little credit?”

I closed my eyes against a surge of impotent anger at Phillips. “I wish you could, too.” I wanted to give Maggie everything; a bump in her solve rate would have been a great gift.

“Well. Maybe next time there’s a jewelry store robbery that turns into a missing person case,” Maggie said ruefully.

“Fuck that. I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “How about we go and check it out?”

“‘We’? Like you and me?”

I chuckled. “Not sure who else I could be talking about.”

“Are you serious? Isn’t that like… not allowed since I’m technically on medical leave?”

“Could just be a coincidence, going to a bar with my girlfriend,” I said.

“Girlfriend?” Maggie asked. “That’s new.”

“That okay with you, baby girl?”

“It’s more than okay,” she said softly, and I had to adjust myself. Even just her voice could get me hard.

“Then it’s a date,” I said.

“Can I dress up and do an accent?” Maggie asked.

“Absolutely fucking not,” I said.

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