Brody dropped into the empty chair next to Daniel and laid a thick file folder on the edge of the desk in front of him. He turned a bright smile toward Captain Green. “Hi, Sheila. Thanks for calling me in on this meeting.”
Daniel glanced at the captain. A slight smile curved her lips and she lifted one perfectly arched eyebrow.
“I don’t have any real objection to your coming in on this thing,” Brody continued, calling Daniel’s attention back to him. “Like you say, another pair of eyes won’t hurt a thing.”
“But?”
“But we’re a little concerned about your relationship to a material witness in the case.”
Rose, of course. “Concerned how?”
“When she first showed up on our radar as a peripheral witness in the investigation of Alice Donovan’s murder, the name rang a bell with me.” Brody picked up the file folder from the edge of Captain Green’s desk and flipped through until he found a sheet of paper. He handed the sheet to Daniel.
It was a photocopy of a newspaper article about a case that had been big news a little over a year ago-a politically motivated kidnapping that had led to murder and a huge scandal. A black-and-white photo of a man and a woman speaking to each other, heads close, took up the right side of the article.
Daniel read the caption. “Lieutenant J. McBride of the Borland Police Department confers with elementary schoolteacher Lily Browning, who allegedly claims to have seen visions of Abby Walters, missing since her mother’s murder.”
Lily Browning.
Rose’s sister.
Chapter Eleven
Brody and the captain looked expectantly at Daniel. He remained silent, preferring to see what direction they were going with the information about Rose’s sister.
“You can understand our concerns,” Captain Green said when it became clear he had no response.
“Especially considering our conversation this morning with Mark Phagan,” Brody added. “Ms. Bannerman recently fired Ms. Browning over some rather interesting claims-”
“I know what the split was about.” Daniel tried to ignore the queasy heat churning in the pit of his stomach.
Brody looked surprised. “So you know what she’s claiming. And you don’t find that…alarming?”
Daniel met the FBI agent’s narrowed gaze. “She’s not a danger to herself or anyone else.”
“You sound like McBride.”
Daniel looked at the newspaper photo. McBride looked like television’s idea of a typical cop-muscular and solid, with short-cropped hair and strong, craggy features. No-nonsense written all over him. “So McBride listened to Lily Browning?”
“Listened to her? Hell, he married her.” Brody slanted Daniel a look. “He didn’t seem the gullible type, either.”
“Never said I believed her, just that she’s not dangerous.”
“She says she sees visions of people about to die.” Captain Green shook her head. “She’s either lying or insane.”
Daniel didn’t argue. He couldn’t defend Rose when he wasn’t yet sure what he thought about her claims. “Let’s get to the point, okay? Am I in on the case or not?”
Captain Green’s eyes narrowed, but she picked up a folder from her desk and handed it to him. “Copies of everything we have on the murders. Crime-scene photos, lab reports, witness interviews, the whole she-bang. I’m trusting you with these because of your reputation and on the recommendation of people you’ve worked with before. And, yes, I did check.”
“Of course.” Daniel kept his expression neutral, but excitement was already building in the pit of his belly. The information inside the file he held was a gold mine to a profiler. All he needed was one piece of data he didn’t already have. One bit of evidence that could make or break the case.
Captain Green’s voice grew stern. “If anything in that file shows up in the media without our express permission, there will be dire consequences. Understood?”
“Understood. Thank you, ma’am.” Daniel headed for the exit, sparing a look at Agent Brody, who looked dyspeptic. Feds talked a good game about interagency cooperation, but most thought the locals were rubes and outside “experts” were shills.
He suspected Brody’s opinion of former FBI profilers wasn’t much better. Especially profilers who consorted with the likes of Rose Browning or her flaky sisters.
DANIEL WAS QUIET on the drive back to her house. Rose darted a glance at him. “I think Jesse Phillips is a good lead,” she said.
“Probably,” he agreed absently.
“Maybe whoever did the background check on him at the security company missed something important.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
His unresponsiveness was beginning to get on her nerves. “I think Detective Carter was interrogating me.”
That earned her a quick glance.
“He knows about the death veils.”
“I know.” Daniel didn’t sound happy about it.
She nibbled her lip. “He asked a lot of questions about my relationship with Melissa.” She told him what Frank had asked, about the suspicion he hadn’t been able to hide. She considered mentioning the detective’s out-of-the- blue comment of his sister, but decided against it. Just because the detective had been fishing for information about her relationship with Daniel didn’t mean she was about to do the same. If Daniel wanted to tell her about Tina, he would.
“Once I mentioned Jesse Phillips, he changed his focus,” she added. “But he didn’t act like he considered Mark Phagan a suspect at all.”
“He’s not going to share his theories with someone outside the investigative team.”
“Y’all will look into it, won’t you? I mean, you said you always try to eliminate the significant other, first, right?”
“We’ll find out where he was last night and the night of Alice’s murder. Okay?”
“Okay.”
The message light was flashing on Rose’s answering machine when she let herself and Daniel into the kitchen through the back door. She rewound the tape and listened.
“Rose, this is Sandra Martin. I wanted to confirm our meeting this afternoon to discuss my wedding. 1:00 p.m. at Office Park West, Suite 400. Please call if you can’t make it.”
Rose looked at her watch. Almost twelve-thirty. She’d forgotten all about the appointment. “I should reschedule.”
“Take the meeting.” Daniel turned to look at her. “It’ll be good to think about something else for a couple of hours.”
He was right. Concentrating on business would be a welcome distraction. “What about you?”
He patted the file folder. “I have plenty to do.”
She didn’t know why she found his eagerness to dig into the file so discomfiting. Of course he wanted to fill in all the blanks. He’d been looking for this killer for years.
But did he have to seem so eager to get rid of her?
She stopped herself there. She’d never been the needy type. She wasn’t about to start now. “I’ll go change.” She jogged upstairs to change into a fresh business suit, stopping only long enough to run a brush through her hair and apply a touch of mascara and lipstick.
Daniel was waiting for her downstairs, the file folder tucked under his arm. “I’ll wait in the car.”
Rose shook her head. “That’s not necessary.”
He gave her a pointed look. “You’ve received two messages from someone who in all probability is a vicious
