Page 98

CHAPTER 96

RICHIE CONKLIN, SONIA Alvarez, Cappy McNeil, and Paul Chi were seated on one side of the long conference table. I sat across from them with an empty seat on either side of me. I was trying to pay attention, but my head was pounding with the contents of Brady’s note: that there was no news about Joe.

Psychologically speaking, I was spiraling. Thoughts of Joe circled my brain in an endless loop: the sound of his laugh, his way with Julie, his support for how hard I worked, and the last thing he’d said to me: I’ll call you tonight.

What was happening to Joe right now? I wanted to know how he was, where he was, how to get him back. And while I waited for word of him, I wanted to find, interrogate, and lock up Jacobi’s killer.

All of us, everyone in this room, were united in our desperate desire to solve this case. Our unity was our strength, and it gave us the resolve to push forward.

A tired-looking Asian woman in her thirties came through the door. I’d met Bao Wong after she and Joe started working together, and I liked her. I guessed now the two of us were going to partner up for a while. She looked depressed. I’m sure I looked the same or worse.

Bao waggled her fingers at me and took the empty seat to my right. She whispered, “The lieutenant wants me to work with you on this case. Okay with you?”

I nodded in agreement. “Absolutely.”

She asked, “Lunch later, after the meeting?”

“Sure. Good idea.”

Brady swung down into the chair at the head of the table. Seeing that we were all present and had coffee and fatty snacks beside us, he said, “Awright. We have news.

“Please say hello to FBI agent Bao Wong, who is joining us for a while. She will be working with Boxer on this assignment for now. She has information gathered by and sent to us by the FBI. Bao, you know Lindsay, of course.”

And then he introduced her to the others seated at the long, scarred table. There was a welcoming murmur and hands stretched across the table to shake hers.