Page 3 of Last Seen Alive

“It sure is, Detective. Unless that’s committing a crime or abetting one.”

Amanda bit her bottom lip, trying to quell the urge to continue defending herself while pointing out how ridiculous Graves sounded. If Amanda wasn’t careful, whatever came from her mouth would be a CLM—a career-limiting move.

“Tell me what’s happened here.” Amanda got the sense there was more Graves wasn’t saying, given how she peered into her eyes.

“As I told dispatch, there’s a DB—”

“Right.As you told dispatch.May I remind you that as your sergeant, you should also call me?”

And there it was… the true gripe. “I knew they would have informed you.”

Graves tightened her arms, testing the fabric of her suit jacket.

She must be sweating like hell!

“There may be things you got away with when Malone was in charge, but I want to be kept current. Am I understood?”

If she was asking if Amanda realized the woman had an issue relinquishing anyperceivedcontrol, then yes, Amanda understood her perfectly.

“Detective?” she prompted.

“I heard you, and yes, I will keep you informed.”

“Now that’s out of the way, run me through what happened here.”

“Logan and I were here for a nightcap when we found the body.”

“A nightcap?” Skeptical, and Graves didn’t seem to try to conceal that fact.

“Yes.” As if Amanda were going to come right out with the fact that she and Logan were going to hook up.

“And how well do you know this…”

“Logan Hunter.” Amanda provided his name again.

Graves gestured for Amanda to proceed.

“We’ve been acquainted for a year and half but haven’t seen each other in several months.” She would keep her answers simple and vague. Besides, she didn’t know much about what had taken place here. And as much as she wanted to rush to Logan’s defense, she also had her career and future to think about. Zoe’s future too, as it was linked to hers.

“Friends? Lovers?”

“I’m not sure why that matters.” But Amanda knew that it very well did where a homicide investigation was concerned. “Former lovers,” she eventually offered.

“Yes, well, that explains some things then.” Graves flicked a finger toward Amanda’s shirt, indicating the missing buttons.

Amanda resisted the urge to cross her arms in some display of modesty. She was a grown woman and if she wanted to hook up with a guy, why should she care what anyone else thought?

“And the woman inside…? Who is she?”

Amanda gave thought to how to respond. It was always best to be forthright, but no matter how she could think to spin her response, it didn’t come out sounding good for Logan—or her. But it was best she stick to the truth. “She’s his wife, but they are estranged.”

“Huh. Doesn’t seem like they are muchestrangednow, does it?” Graves didn’t give Amanda a chance to respond and charged toward the house. She stopped at the doorway to say something to Officer Wyatt before going inside.

Amanda was grateful for a few seconds alone and for being obscured by shadows. She was scowling and had one hand balled into a fist at her side. Malone really couldn’t get back to the job fast enough. She took a deep breath and headed to the front door.

Wyatt held up his hand to stop her. “Sorry, Detective, but I can’t let you in there.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”