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CHAPTERFOUR

Emmett stood next to his mother outside the town hall and waited for Robash to step behind the podium to give her statement. “Why didn’t she invite you? Or me, for that matter? I was there with Jeff Allen when one of her men shot him.” Emmett swallowed the bile in his throat. He’d replayed that scene in his head a million times. It kept him up half the night, and he knew for sure that Robash’s agent had jumped the gun. “I get this is a national case, but it happened in our town.”

“Relax. It’s not that big of a deal, and I hate being on television anyway,” his mother said. “Besides, what would I say? That I disagree with how she handled the situation? That wouldn’t look good, and my boss would have my head.”

“I’m glad you agree that Robash mismanaged the scene.” Emmett rolled his neck.

“That was obvious. But now she’s doing what we would do and covering her office’s tracks. For all we know, she’s already had words with her agent and is dealing with it. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t let another department be up there with me. Not when someone fucked up. Too risky. Too much chance of making me look bad.”

He had to admit that it made sense. “How long has she been the agent in charge at the Fort Lauderdale office?”

“I think for about four years.”

“Have you ever worked with her before?” he asked.

“Nope,” his mother said. “We’ve crossed paths once or twice, but Lighthouse Cove hasn’t had a case where we needed the feds or where they wanted in on something. Not since the Rollins killing.”

“That was a shitshow,” Emmett said. “Here she comes.” He folded his arms and widened his stance.

The sound of camera shutters filled his ears. All the reporters present either lifted their microphones and shoved them in Robash’s direction or held up recorders if they were magazine or newspaper writers.

“I want to thank everyone for coming,” Robash said. “I’d like to start by expressing my gratitude to the Lighthouse Cove Police Department for their help.”

“Isn’t that sweet?” Emmett muttered. She didn’t even mention the chief of police or her son, who spent some time with the accused. But whatever.

“I know the citizens of South Florida have been on edge for the last two years while theAdultery Killerwas terrorizing our communities. We were on our way here yesterday to arrest Jeff Allen for those murders. The physical evidence is overwhelming in this case. While my office has some paperwork left to finalize, I’m confident that we have caught our man, and so is the district attorney. Thank you, everyone.” She turned on her heels and headed straight for her SUV.

Reporters shouted questions after her, but she didn’t even glance over her shoulder.

“That’s it?” Emmett asked. “That doesn’t answer anything, and the reporters are turning and expecting us to answer their questions now.”

“Shit,” his mother said. “When Robash said she’d handle it, I thought that was exactly what she meant.” His mom held up her hands. “Sorry, folks. My office has no comment.”

“Come on, Chief,” Jon Kaplan said. “You’ve got to give us something. A man was gunned downed in a local diner, and you’ve got nothing to say about it?”

“This is the FBI’s case. They are handling everything,” his mother said.

“What about you, Emmett? You were there,” Kaplan said. “Can you shed some light on what happened and why the FBI was so quick to—?”

“All questions need to be directed to Agent Robash and her team,” Emmett said. “Now, if you will excuse us.” Emmett took his mother by the arm and guided her through the crowd and into the building where the police department was located.

A few reporters hollered after them, but no one followed.

No one dared.

Besides, they knew better. They wouldn’t get anything out of either of them at this point. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t come knocking.

“What the hell was that woman thinking?” His mother pulled out her cell and tapped the screen. “If she thinks she’s going to drive away and leave things like that, she’s got another thing coming.”

“Put it on speaker.”

His mother tapped the appropriate space on the screen.

“This is Agent Robash.”

As if she couldn’t tell who was calling.

“This is Police Chief Rebecca Kirby. Care to tell me why you gave a non-statement?”

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