takes thinking to figure out what to do with it. I’d rather be out chasing car thieves and answering old ladies who hear cats and think prowlers have come by.”
“And occasionally working murder scenes.”
“Marsh and I take what comes with the days. You want to go get those french fries, or have you changed your mind?”
“The intent is good, but there’s probably a better way to pass out free food to kids than hollering at them with a bullhorn. Maybe I’ll sponsor a kids’ night at the ballpark and give away hot dogs.”
“With mustard.”
She smiled. “With mustard.”
He opened the passenger door for her. “You’re going to do fine being rich, Marie. You’ll see.”
Connor had been to the chief’s house a few dozen times in his life, but it had never become comfortable ground, and coming by in the evening hadn’t changed that. The barbeque pit out back was fine, but the private office tucked at the back of the house-the inner sanctum of the chief’s territory-it was the place sheriffs from the surrounding area came to put up their feet and privately compare notes on crimes and cops and who was cutting it and who was not. It was not the place mere cops wanted to be, and he’d be sitting in that office soon.
Connor waited by the kitchen door while the chief opened the refrigerator and found cold drinks. “Are you sure I can’t get you something to eat? I’ve got a few steaks set back and the grill is still hot; or there are sandwich fixings that can quickly pile together.”
“I’m fine, Chief.”
Luke found himself a soda and passed another one over. Connor studied the man he worked for as he opened the soda. The man had come up through the force from a rookie walking the streets to end up as chief of police. Connor respected the work and focus that journey had demanded, and he knew it had come with experiences Connor wasn’t sure he would want to ever face himself. Granger looked tired tonight, like he hadn’t slept much in the last twenty-four hours, and Connor wondered just what it really was he’d stepped into. The chief’s call late last night had answered some of the questions, and the request that he help cover Marie today while they worked on the security picture-that had been no hardship. But what he was seeing tonight said there was more to it than that.
“Sam will be here shortly.”
“It’s no problem. There are few places I need to be tonight.”
It was personal for the chief-that was the only thing that made sense, the fact this was being worked late at night, quietly on the side, said the case was not only sensitive but also personally important. To the best of his knowledge, the chief had met Amanda Griffin only once or twice and briefly at that three years before. It made him wonder. But he also understood some of it. If the oldest sister was anything like Marie in personality, it didn’t take much time to form an impression that mattered.
“What’s your opinion of Marie after today?”
Connor smiled. “Tiger shark wearing a lei.”
Luke chuckled. “You had a good afternoon.”
“She’s roughly my age, remembers high school as I do, gets nervous in an endearing kind of way, and has a laugh that makes a guy want to dive into it. She’s still pretty real for a rich lady-lots of layers, but not the hard-shell, polite kind of layers.” He stopped talking, for he was trying to fit a whirlwind of reality into something that could be conveyed to another cop, and it just wasn’t coming out right. “I like her.”
“Can she handle the fact her sister is alive?”
“Alive, yes. That Amy’s spent the last eight years running for her life-I don’t think Marie has had anything in her life to prepare her for that kind of reality arriving.”
“What about Tracey?”
“Marsh would have a better read. I don’t know. I think it’s all around going to be one incredible shock.”
Connor felt a nudge and looked down to see Wilks looking for some attention. He reached down to rub the dog’s head. Chester had met him earlier only to disappear out through the dog door to explore outside.
“Silver Security was covering Marie when you left her?”
“He put two of the best on her-James Anthem and Michael Tate. They were outside Daniel’s place, and they’ll stay on her back to the gallery apartment. The security improvements seem to have done the job for tightening the place up. Marie will be fine upstairs.”
“You introduced her to the man who will be the visible security around the building and gallery?”
Connor nodded. “Jonathan tapped Tom Bryce for the job; he put her at ease pretty quick with that smile of his. She seemed satisfied that his presence around the gallery will be enough to keep the reporters and thrill seekers in check. The fact he could also take down a professional hit man we just kind of glossed over.”
“Better that way, I think.”
“The sisters can’t stay in that cocoon for long; they’ll slip coverage not even realizing why it’s so important to have around.”
“I know. This is at best a stopgap arrangement for a few days while we sort things out.”
“Daniel knows?”
“No. You, me, Marsh, Sam, Jonathan-the world that knows Amy is alive is staying under a handful until I’m sure we understand the risks. Word gets out she’s alive before we’ve found her again-you can be sure it will make the search we’ve made so far be like child’s play compared to the effort it would take then.”
Lights crossed the window. “There’s Sam now.”
The chief went to meet him and Connor waited. Sam Chapel was the kind of man a cop could respect and admire but also want to stay an uneasy step away from. Sam did the type of investigations that weren’t illegal, just often distasteful. He found out facts that could form-if not a case which could hold up in a court of law-a slate of truth about a matter. When you had to know something, you called Sam. And one way or another he figured out what the answer was. The fact the chief had made the call to Sam on this case told Connor more than he probably should know. The chief didn’t work off the books from his own pocket unless the information was both highly charged and extremely dangerous to know.
The men came in. Sam was still very much the broad-shouldered, thick-chested, powerful defensive tackle who could control his environment without much effort. Connor had to stop himself from stepping back to give the man more room.
“Connor.”
He nodded a greeting in return rather than shake hands. “Sam.” The investigator had come into his profession after a side trip through the navy, and his hands still had the strength of a man accustomed to wrestling ships into line.
Connor followed Sam and the chief back to the office. He was involved even if he wasn’t sure he wanted to be, and about the only thing he knew for certain was the next few days were going to be a challenge.
Connor knew the reason Amy Griffin had run, the reason Richard Wise wanted her dead, but listening to the two men who had carried the knowledge of Amy’s flight around with them for years made him feel like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation. He stood inside the door to the chief’s office, one hand resting on the bookshelf and the other holding the cold soda, and he listened and he learned. This was now his problem too. Not only because his partner, Marsh, dated Tracey, but because he personally liked Marie.
Sam flipped back through his notebook and then simply closed it. “Amy’s last known location was Minnesota, twenty months ago. There’s no need to be more specific than that-you can safely be sure I’ve turned that lead upside down without results. She’s been cold since then. Nothing passed to the federal officers she works with. No contacts or attempts to make contact that I can discover. No inquiries by third parties that would raise the concern. She just for reasons of her own dropped out of sight.”
“Again,” the chief added with a grimace.
“She does like to run solo.” Sam shifted in his chair. “I do know she monitors what is going on in this town and with her sisters. The news conference this morning-odds are good she knows about it now or will know about it in the next twenty-four hours.”
“And if Amy is watching for news-Richard Wise and his crew will be watching too,” the chief said. “Maybe not quite as closely, but the fact Amy has two sisters is known to them. The fact those two sisters just came into a chunk of money-it’s not
