Page 27 of Last Seen Alive
“You heard what I said?” Kristen asked, and Amanda nodded.
Her mind was too full of thoughts to say anything coherent. Foremost was the replay of Kristen’s words,There may be things you don’t know about.
TEN
Amanda’s weekend passed in a blur that included a lot of family, but that was fine by her. It was like she was making up for the time she lost when she’d pulled back from them after losing Kevin and Lindsey. Amanda had four younger sisters and one older brother. And of her five siblings only the two youngest didn’t have kids of their own.
On Monday morning though, she was up and ready to go. She was even armed with a coffee from Hannah’s Diner. She brought in one for Trent too and threw in a glazed donut.
She was setting both on his desk when he came in. “Thought you might like a morning dose of sugar.”
“Oh, tell me it’s chocolate.” Trent peered eagerly at her offerings.
“Next time.” She went to her cubicle, practically slinking away. Somehow coming face to face with him, her trip to the chief’s house came hurtling back with intense clarity. She’d done what she felt she needed to do, but Trent was her partner and there could be repercussions that affected him. It just all depended on how the next few hours panned out. She had a feeling that she’d know Buchanan’s decision sooner rather than later.
The phone on her desk rang, and she answered. Sergeant Graves, requesting that Amanda join her in her office.
“I’ll be right there,” Amanda said and hung up.
The knot in her stomach didn’t necessarily mean bad news was coming… right? She swallowed roughly and informed Trent that she was going to see Graves.
“Happy Monday.” He lifted his cup in a toast gesture.
“Yep. Lucky me.” She probably should confess about her trip to the chief, just to prepare him in case he caught flak for it too. But she was out of time.
She headed down the hall, bringing her coffee, clutching it to her as if it could give her courage to stand her ground with Graves. She didn’t want to give true consideration to losing her job. Sure, she’d survive financially. The house was paid off, and there was money in her account from Kevin’s life insurance to keep her and Zoe going for a while until she found a new job, and it wasn’t like her family would ever let them go without. In addition to that, Zoe’s parents, who had been murdered, had left their sizable fortune to Zoe, including an allowance to assist her guardian should they die while she was a minor. They’d be fine. Maybe if Amanda repeated it enough times, she’d believe it. But what the hell would she do if she didn’t get up and don the badge in the morning? Heck, it was so much more than an accessory to her wardrobe; it was a part of her. It gave her purpose.
Graves’s door was open, but Amanda rapped her knuckles on the frame.
Graves waved her in without looking up. “Close the door behind you.”
Amanda did that and dropped into the chair across from the sergeant.
“There’s been a development,” Graves started, looking at Amanda for the first time since she entered the woman’s office. “First, I want you to know that your friend Logan Hunter is going in front of a judge today. The charges against him stand.”
A wave of nausea flushed through her. “On what grounds?” Somehow, she found her voice.
Graves straightened her posture and clamped her hands together. The picture of prim and proper—and defensive. “As you may know, the autopsy on the victim was conducted on Saturday. Bullet fragments were pulled from the victim. One round, but the ammunition caliberandmanufacturer match what was loaded in Hunter’s gun.”
“From my understanding, there were two guns that were loaded with the same ammo.”
“Huh. I see you’ve been keeping yourself in the loop even though this isn’t your case.”
Isn’t… Had the chief decided to leave things with Hudson and Ryan?
“Only one was missing a bullet,” Graves hissed.
Amanda literally bit her bottom lip to refrain from pointing out the oddity that both guns—including one in the victim’s purse—were loaded with identical ammo. But why waste her breath?
Graves went on. “Let me be crystal clear. There was no sign of forced entry. There are prints on Hunter’s gun belonging to him and Claire. They must have had a struggle over getting control of the weapon. Hunter won.”
Just one more thing working against Logan. When would the hits stop coming? Or was she being blind to the situation and Logan had killed Claire? The absence of a third set of prints, ones belonging to the true killer, was explicable. He or she had worn gloves.
“Maybe you’re not so convinced of his innocence anymore yourself.” Graves scanned Amanda’s face.
Amanda peacocked her stance. “I believe there are too many anomalies that need to be explained if the investigation is to be conducted fairly.”
Graves angled her head. “And what’s that supposed to mean exactly?”
