Page 156 of Don't Say a Word

No one else liked the plan, but Cal sold them.

I was impressed.

We were briefing in the DEA conference room Sunday afternoon. A surprising feat considering Cal and his boss were the only federal agents involved right now.

Cal had gotten five Phoenix PD detectives and cops in the room: Hitch, King, Chavez, Josie, and her partner Tyrell. I could have done without King—I still didn’t like her. But she was onboard, especially since we did all the work to prove Melissa Webb was in the building when Lena was killed.

Apparently, she had lied in her statement. She claimed to have left right after the volleyball game. And since no one saw her in the building, they had no one that contradicted her alibi.

Except Angie. I wondered if Webb had seen Angie and Parsons talking Thursday afternoon and worried that Angiehadseen her. Or maybe Parsons had doubts based on some knowledge he had.

Hehadwanted to talk to me.Trade notes, he’d said. He could very well have had something big to trade. And we’d probably never know. Unless Cal could charm Melissa Webb into turningstate’s evidence. If anyone could, it was Cal Rafferty. He’d already started.

I enjoyed listening to him go through how he spent his Saturday: A deep dive into Melissa Webb and—surprise, surprise—she had millions of dollars in an off-shore account.

I liked how Cal took over the room. He had an easy confidence and was very nice to look at. He ran through Webb’s finances, injecting humor here and there, then came up with information that I hadn’t known until he spoke.

“John Brighton graduated from Sun Valley High School,” Cal said. “He was a freshman the year that Melissa Webb was hired from a school in Los Angeles. The year after she started, she brought Coach Bradford in. Probably at the request of Manny Ramos. Going through publicly available archives, Melissa Webb has been to many of Ramos’s charity events over the years so it’s safe to say they have known each other for some time.

“After Bradford went to prison, they changed their recruitment process. Melissa Webb took over the work-study program and referred students to Ramos. She appears to have focused on young men with no father figure at home, who were easy to manipulate and had no support structure. Once we arrest her, we can depose staff and ask for records and may give us a clearer picture.”

Then Cal called me up to help him lay out the plan. It was Cal’s plan; I’d just improved on it.

“Any questions about Operation Saguaro?” Cal said and I laughed at the tongue-in-cheek label he’d given our plan. He winked at me. I hope no one else saw it.

There were questions, which we answered as best we could. When there were no more questions, we had a little time before we began.

I stepped outside because I needed air. Jack followed me.

“That happened fast,” he said.

For a split second, I thought he had noticed Cal flirting with me... and how I didn’t shut him down.

But he was talking about the plan.

“Yep,” I agreed.

“You did good,” Jack said.

“Wedid good,” I corrected. “I couldn’t have found what Tess did about Manny Ramos and the Bradfords—she really dug in. And without that file you got from your contacts at Phoenix PD, there’s no way we would have had so many details about the Bradford arrest.”

“You’re good in the field,” Jack said. “I’m really glad you’re working with us.”

“So you’ve said.”

“I mean it, Margo.”

“Why so serious?”

He didn’t answer me right away. Then he said, “I loved being a cop. But then three years ago—well, you know.”

I knew. With Dad in prison and Jack going through a divorce, his life had been thrown into upheaval.

“I like being a PI, and I couldn’t go back to the force, not after having so much freedom from arbitrary rules and the intense scrutiny by politicians, the media, the brass. It was exhausting and depressing. But after seeing that bloodbath last night? I wanted back in. I wanted to have a badge and bring those killers to justice. They shot that janitor in the back. He was just coming in for a six-pack after work and they killed him. But while I miss parts of the job, I’m happy where we are now. Working with my family. Helping people like Alina and Angie. I don’t know if I like Cal’s style, but I can’t argue with the results. Be careful tomorrow.”

“I will.”

I looked down at my phone. I had a message from Rick.