Page 40 of Crossing Lines

“Lucy is too smart for that.” Sam turned back to the gurgle of the coffee machine.

“Mew.” It was the most timid meow he’d ever heard. Turning back to the cat, he saw the usual malevolent glint in his chartreuse eyes. It was probably a fake meow for the purpose of tricking Lucy into thinking the cat was timid and docile so she’d let her guard down over the toy.

Sam took a sip of coffee then turned to Lucy. “Don’t fall for it, Lucy.”

“What’s going on?” Jo came around the side of the post office boxes. Her gaze fell on the toy. “Oh, I see. They’re at a stalemate.”

“We’ll see who caves first. Coffee?” Sam gesture toward the coffee machine.

“Yes, please. I slept in late. Bridget’s been feeding me too good.” Jo put her notebook down on her desk as Sam put the yellow smiley mug she favored under the spout and pressed the button.

“So things are working out good with you two?” Sam handed her the mug, wondering when she would fill him in on Tammy’s case. He understood her wanting to protect Bridget from that, but he thought maybe Bridget had a right to know. But they were busy on the current case and wouldn’t be able to do any investigating anyway. Tammy’s justice would have to wait a little longer.

“Yes, very good. She seems to be settling in.” Jo took a sip, her gaze meeting Sam’s. “I’m not sure if I should tell her about working on Tammy’s case.”

She was asking for his advice? Good, that meant things were getting back to normal between them. “You think she can handle it?”

Jo shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it seems wrong to not include her.”

“I agree.”

“Morning!” Reese came bounding in with a white bag from Brewed Awakening. Wyatt was right behind her.

They passed the bag around as Jo filled them in on her talk with Kaylee Summers.

“So we still don’t have anyone that can place Kirsten with Ricky Webster, and even though his past is suspicious, he wasn’t found guilty of anything.” Reese stated the obvious.

“True, but I found something interesting out from Holden Joyce.”

Sam frowned. When had Jo talked to Holden Joyce? Must have been last night, because he hadn’t been here at the station. Maybe they were closer friends than she let on. “What’s that?”

“He said that the case where Ricky Webster was accused had links to another case. An older one.” Jo gave Sam a knowing look. Must be something connected to her sister. As far as he knew, she hadn’t told the others about her sister, so he didn’t ask if it was connected.

Wyatt frowned as he chewed a chocolate-glazed cruller. “What’s that mean? There’s some kind of ring of serial killers, or just one killer that gets around a lot?”

Jo grimaced. “Hopefully not a ring, but maybe more than one acting together.”

“Horrifying.” Reese shivered.

“I’m not ready to rule Ricky Webster out. If he was a suspect in a previous case, they might have collected DNA. He has brown hair, and we need to compare that to the hair found on Kirsten’s body.”

Jo nibbled the edge of her lemon-filled donut. She usually preferred jelly, but Sam guessed they were out again. “We can’t, though. Need justification for that, and we don’t have any.”

Reese cleared her throat. “I could have one of my contacts get a head start.” As an attendee of the police academy, Reese had made lots of useful contacts, and not all of them thought it was important to go by the letter of the law. Sam didn’t like to do that in general, but he’d found out long ago that serving justice sometimes necessitated breaking rules.

“It could work against us if he turns out to be the killer and someone finds out we did that without due cause,” Sam cautioned.

Reese shrugged. “You know my friends are discreet.”

“Okay. In the meantime, we need to talk to the other friend, Vicky Thompson. With any luck, she’ll have seen Kirsten with Ricky.”

“I’m one step ahead of you.” Jo held up her phone. “I messaged her, and she can meet us on her lunch hour today.”

* * *

Vicky Thompson worked at the one and only insurance agency in town, Liscomb Insurance. Jo had arranged to meet Vicky in the small park across the street from Liscomb’s. Vicky was seated at a picnic table shaded by a huge canopy of leaves from the giant oak just behind it. Acorns dusted the ground near the trunk, and an industrious chipmunk foraged among them. The rustle of leaves and warm summer air gave it the feel of a picnic despite the grim purpose of their meeting.

The first thing Jo noticed about Vicky was her vibrant red hair. Given Menda’s interpretation of the note, it set off alarm bells. She glanced at Sam. His jaw was tense, and she knew he was thinking the same.

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