Page 14

FAITH

W atching Coulter walk out of the precinct, something tugged at me. His broad shoulders, his long legs and their steady stride, oozed confidence. He had never caved under Oscar’s grilling, and I felt conflicted for admiring him for it.

Oscar grunted next to me. “You getting soft on him, Faith?” He asked, his tone dripping with skepticism.

I frowned, turning my gaze his way. “I’m not soft. But I don’t see any reason to go hard on the guy either.”

He snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t let the Rodman charm cloud your judgment. It doesn’t clear him of murder.”

I sighed. Arguing with Oscar was futile. He was blind to nuance. Everything was black and white. “I’m just saying we should keep an open mind. None of the evidence is conclusive. ”

“None of the evidence rules him out,” Oscar countered. “We’ve got Rodman returning to the scene.”

My phone buzzed, interrupting. I glanced at the screen—Laura, a friend I’d worked with on the force in Miami.

It was the second time she’d called today.

It was rude and unprofessional, but I welcomed the distraction from the Coulter-Suspect conversation and held up a finger to Oscar, stepping away to answer the call.

“Hey Laura! Long time, no see,” I said, trying to sound cheerful.

“Hey hot stuff,” my friend said cheerily. “Guess where I am right now.”

“Umm, I’m a helluva detective but you have to give me a little more to go on.”

“Big, gaudy, retro sign,” she said. “Giant pool. Cold margaritas on the beach.”

I bit my lip, recalling where we’d sipped cold margaritas on the beach together. “Retro sign has to be South Beach.”

“Nope, think retro sign in your ‘hood.”

“Oh, you’re in the Keys!?” I squinted, thinking. “The Islander!” I almost shouted, and caught myself, walking further away from Oscar.

“Yep, I’m here through New Years. Want to catch up tonight? Maybe grab a drink?”

I hesitated, glancing at the clock. “I’d love to, but I’m swamped with a case. I don’t think my partner would appreciate me taking off tonight.”

“Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve? ”

I laughed. “I wish. What are you up to?”

“Bar hopping. You down?”

We’d had a few wild nights out in Brickell. New Year’s with Laura might be dangerous. But I hadn’t had a good night out in the six months I’d been in the Keys. “You know it. Text me when and where.”

“Yes!” Laura squealed. “Can’t wait to see you!”

As I hung up, Deputy Louis walked up, his usual friendly smile in place.

“Hey Faith,” he leaned in and lowered his voice, “How about dinner when we get off tonight? You look like you could use a break from that one,” he hitched a thumb in Oscar’s direction.

“There’s a new place that opened up on the bay. I thought we could maybe check it out?”

I managed a polite smile. “Thanks, Louis, but I don’t date anyone at work. It’s just a bad idea for a woman on the force.” Nevermind that I wasn’t the least bit attracted to him either.

He nodded, looking crestfallen. “I understand, but hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying. If you ever change your mind…”

I chuckled, admiring his guts. “You’ll be the first to know, Louis. I promise.”

“Anything come of the Lorelei folks?” Louis called as I walked away.

“Only what we already knew. The victim didn’t show up to work. Before that everything seemed normal,” I said over my shoulder.

“Get anything else from Coulter Rodman?” he asked .

Hearing Coulter’s name sent a zing right through me, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back to Louis and smiled. “Just a DNA sample. Can you please put a rush on that for me?”

“I can try,” he said with a slight wince, “but with the holidays…”

“Lean on them for me, Louis. Pretty please.” I flashed a smile.

“On it!” he grinned.

I walked back toward my desk, where Oscar stood staring at me and shaking his head. “You’ve got too many distractions. Focus on the case, or you’ll never make lead detective at this rate.”

“I am focused,” I bristled at his dismissive tone.

I was a damn good detective, and should be lead on this one.

I would be if the Sheriff hadn’t called him back to work early.

It was clear that my peers thought I needed oversight, but no one knew the case like I did.

“Yes, we have Coulter returning to the scene. But we also have Kylie’s apartment untouched and her mother's house ransacked, which doesn’t point to him. ”

“He’s smart enough that he might have thought of that.”

“So he killed his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage and then staged a burglary upstairs?” I tried not to let my opinion that it was an asinine theory come through in my voice.

“Where’s the evidence to support that? There were similar scratches on both locks.

Coulter had access to keys. So he picked the locks to throw us off too? ”

“We’ve got motive. And we’ve got him at the scene. That goes a long way with a jury,” Ramirez grumbled as he walked away .

A chill ran up my spine. Oscar accused me of crushing on Coulter, but he was the one with a hard on for him.

One of the cardinal principles of investigation was to view the evidence objectively, without blinders.

Tunnel vision is dangerous. You only see what you want to see.

Looking for evidence to prove your theory rather than examining the evidence to form your theory, was a slippery slope.

One that can land innocent people in prison.

I slumped into my chair and rubbed my temples, wishing I was going for that drink with Laura tonight. Staring up at the name at the top of the board made my head hurt worse.

Could Coulter Rodman have killed his ex-fiancé? Deep in my gut, I didn’t believe he had it in him. But was that my own tunnel vision, because it’s what I wanted to be true?