“Is that coffee?”
They both looked up. Nate walked into the living room looking only half awake.
“In the kitchen,” Quinn said.
With a grunt of thanks, Nate shuffled across the room and out of sight.
“Let’s hear it,” Quinn said to Orlando.
She hit the Play button, but no sound came out of the speakers.
Orlando stopped the playback, then moved the cursor to the middle of the file timeline and started it again. Again there was nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked.
“Hold on.”
She tried a couple different spots on the timeline with the same result.
“What’s going on?” Nate asked as he emerged from the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
“Not now,” Quinn said.
Orlando had opened the conversion software she’d been using and was examining the log. After a moment, she shook her head and closed the program.
“What is it?” Quinn asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It should play. The log says it converted fine.”
She tried the file again. Dead air.
She leaned back and stared at the screen.
“There was something on the tape,” Quinn said. “Right?”
“Yes, there was something on the tape,” she snapped. “Please, just...give me a few minutes to figure this out.”
“Sure,” Quinn said. He touched her shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” she said, glaring up at him. “There should be something here. We should be hearing it.”
Quinn went into the kitchen to refresh his coffee and to give Orlando a little space. When he returned, her mood seemed to have gotten worse.
“It should be there,” she said. “There’s no reason why it’s not.”
“Then run it again,” he said.
“That’ll take another day.”
“Okay, so it takes another day. We’ve got nothing now.”
“Another day will be too late,” Jenny said. She was standing near the entrance to the hall, her good shoulder propping her up against the wall. “Can I get some water?”
Quinn shot Nate a look, then nodded toward the kitchen.
“I’ll get it,” Nate said.
Quinn walked over to Jenny. He put an arm around her waist and guided her into the living room.
“Sit down,” he said when they reached the couch.
She didn’t need to be told twice.
“How’s the shoulder?” he asked.
“Not too bad if I don’t move it.”
Nate came back in carrying a glass of water. He handed it to Jenny, and they all watched while she took a drink.
“What did you mean?” Quinn asked after she set the glass down. “Why too late?”
“It was on the tape,” she said. “If you’d been able to listen to it, you’d have understood.”
“We don’t have that option right now,” Quinn told her. “You’re going to have to tell us what was there.”
She looked down at the glass in her hand and sighed. “They’re going to kill him,” she said. “Today.”
“Kill who?” Orlando asked. She’d turned in her chair so she was facing everyone.
“Guerrero?” Quinn asked.
“Yes,” Jenny said.
“Who’s going to kill him?” Quinn said.
“I don’t know exactly who. Someone was hired to do it. That was what was on the tape. A conversation between the killer and...”
“And who?” Orlando asked.
Jenny didn’t look up. “The congressman’s wife.”
