Page 177 of Dead Man's List

The giant dog stared up with soulful eyes and a mouthful of purple blossoms.

Sam laughed, such a sweet, welcome sound. “Oh my God, that’s hilarious.”

“It really is. Luckily pansies aren’t toxic to dogs, so the big doofus is just fine. The girls—” Kit stopped when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Caller ID listed Susan Robinson. “Susan? Is Connor okay?”

“It’s me,” Connor said. “My mother was laughing about me calling myself dense and I told her that I worked out and CeCe liked my dense muscles.”

“He’s okay,” she told Sam. “Connor, what do your dense muscles have to do with me?”

“Because I get them atthe gym,” Connor said. “See if Peter Shoemaker uses a gym. See if he usesmy gym. Veronica had their victims leave thousands of dollars in cash in a gym locker. Maybe that’s where Shoemaker put the list.”

“Hey, it’s worth a try. I’ll do that right now.” She ended the call and dialed Navarro. “Can we find out where Shoemaker went to the gym?” she asked, bypassing greeting him when he answered.

Sam’s expression showed instant understanding. Kit liked that about him.

“The list,” Navarro breathed. “I’ll get on that now. I’ll call you when I have a warrant.”

“Thank you,” Kit said, ending the call. She smiled up at Sam. “Let’s see Daniella and hopefully we can eat some pot roast before we search.”

The Beachside Athletic Club, San Diego, California

Saturday, January 14, 9:15 p.m.

They did, in fact, have time for Betsy’s pot roast before Sam and Kit headed over to the gym where Shoemaker worked out. The mood at McKittrick House had been boisterously happy and slightly chaotic, with six teenage girls and three dogs running around.

The newest girls were happy and they’d all given Sam big smiles. That had done some good for his soul. He’d killed a man, yes, but he’d helped these girls to get off the streets and into one of the best homes possible.

It was balance, and Sam appreciated that.

Harlan had pressed something into Sam’s hand as they were walking out the door—a carving of Sam on a horse, wearing armor and holding a sword. It was a thank-you for Sam’s part in saving Kit’s life and currently rested in Sam’s pants pocket.

Kit had her good-luck charm—the cat-bird figurine. Now Sam had one as well.

The nice family evening complete, he and Kit were back at work. But this might be one of those balance things again. The awful things Sam had seen balanced by the triumph of truly solving the case.

It had taken a few phone calls for Navarro to figure out where the man had a membership, and it turned out that Shoemaker had had three. Two were gyms he’d joined in the last week.

No shock there. Shoemaker would have needed access to all the places where Munro had done business with his blackmail victims. Navarro had gotten warrants for all of them.

But they’d started out at the gym where he’d had his membership the longest. It was the same athletic club where Connor played squash.

“It would be nice to find it at the first place we looked,” Kit said.

Sam shook his head as they passed by the gym’s front desk, heading for the locker room. “Except this isn’t the first place you’ve looked. You’ve searched his house, his office at school, his in-laws’ house, all his vehicles, and that cabin.”

“True. I honestly thought he’d have hidden Munro’s three-ring binder in the Ferrari. It’s where I would have put it. Oh good. Navarro’s here. Let’s do this.” She and Sam followed Navarro into the locker room, where a uniformed officer stood guard by one of the lockers.

“I figured you two should be here when we opened it,” Navarro said. “Connor should be here too, but we can show him the video.” He pointed to CSU’s Sergeant Ryland, who held a camera. “Ryland’s going to video the whole thing as evidence.”

“It’s like Al Capone’s vault,” Kit said. “Except hopefully this one isn’t empty.”

“Hush,” Navarro said seriously. “Don’t jinx it.”

Kit mimed zipping her lips closed. “Do you have a key?”

Ryland produced a set of bolt cutters. “You want to do the honors, Lieutenant?”

“Sure would.” Navarro cut off the lock, then stood back. “Kit?”