Page 66 of Justice for Samara

More wiggling dots and another ping.

Sorry, babe. Love you.

It was so good to see that.

Love you too.

With a look at her mapping program, she set out to the third interview. All she needed was one piece of evidence that she could use to bring him in. Would she ever get it?

It didn’t hurt to hope.

CHAPTER 9

Carter had calledto say he’d be there in twenty minutes when Michael’s phone rang again, and he smiled when he saw her name. “Hey, babe.”

“Hi. Get anything else done?”

“Not really. Made a copy of the report to give to Cruz and Carter and highlighted the information I thought was important. Figured they could look at it while we talked.”

“That’s a good idea.”

There was a sound in her voice that he hadn’t heard before. “You okay?”

“Yes. No. I dunno. This is exhausting. Why is this so exhausting?”

“Because there’s a personal emotional component to it that you haven’t had on other cases.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“That’s why I sounded the way I did earlier when I was at the Thomas’ house.”

“Were they angry?”

“No. Matter of fact, they were really glad to see me. I loved them and they loved me. We thought we were going to be family until Stadler inserted himself into the picture. And boy, let me tell you, they havenothinggood to say about him. Nothing. They hated him before, and they really hate him now.”

“I bet. I just stepped inside, so I’m going to take a quick shower and lie down. Maybe take a nap. I dunno. I’m just wrung out.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Make sure to lock everything up and keep your phone close by.”

“I will. I love you.”

Hearing those words made his heart skip a couple of beats. “I love you too, and I miss you.”

“Miss you too. Call me and I’ll tell you what to bring to me.”

“I will. Talk to you in a bit. Bye, babe.”

“Bye.”

Ten minutes later, Carter came in wearing street clothes. “Just heard from Cruz. He’s about fifteen minutes out. Go change.”

“Yep. Going.” He headed to their small locker room, changed into jeans and a tee with a sport coat over it, and put on his athletic shoes. As soon as he checked his backup weapon at his ankle, he clipped his badge to the inside breast pocket of the jacket and straightened himself up. He looked like a guy going to have drinks with his buddies, and that was the look he was going for.

They drove separately, and he pulled his dark green Ram pickup in beside Carter’s Ford F150. The copies of the ME’s report were folded and slipped into an inside jacket pocket, so anyone watching them walk in thought they were just buddies out for a pleasant evening.

Tasha was doing hostess duty that evening, so Carter asked her for a booth in the back and told her there would be a tall man with a Texas drawl looking for them. They’d been shooting the shit for about five minutes when Cruz walked in, and he spotted Carter almost immediately.

“Hey, good to see you!” Carter said as soon as the man stepped up to the table, and they shook hands with a one-armed hug.