“Not at the present time, no,” Detective Stewart said. “And I apologize. We’re just trying to gather all the facts, and the sergeant appears to have had a fixation on Agent Cole. An obsession. When was the last time you saw him?”
Izzy looked at Piper, who nodded. She couldn’t lie about this, because if she did and they found out, it would make her look guilty. “A couple of weeks ago, the sergeant showed up while I was jogging.”
Detective Stewart frowned. “What happened?”
“I told him to leave me alone,” she whispered.
“Had you seen him recently before that?”
She nodded. “Yes, at a coffee shop in town. I thought that might have been an awful coincidence, but when he turned up on my jogging route, I realized that it had to be intentional.”
“And I assume that frightened you?”
“I didn’t want to have anything to do with that man,” Izzy shot back.
“Have you ever been to his house?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Are you certain of that?” Detective Stewart asked.
“Yes. That isn’t something I’d forget.” The thought of being at his house sent another round of chills down her back.
Piper stood. “I think we’ve done enough for today.”
“Are we done?” Izzy asked, unsure what to do.
Detective Stewart’s expression softened. “Yes. I know this is extremely hard for you.”
She was about to say something, but Piper jumped in. “We’re not trying to be obstructionist here, but my client has already been through enough.”
“Just one more quick thing. I need to ask where you were four nights ago.”
“At home,” Izzy answered softly.
“Alone?” Detective Bryant asked.
“Yes.”
“And did you stay at home all night?”
“Yes. I left the next morning for a jog around five thirty.”
“All right,” Detective Stewart said. “Agent Cole, we’re not the bad guys here. As much disdain as you may hold toward Sergeant Tybee, his murderer still deserves to be brought to justice.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Izzy blurted.
Detective Stewart quirked a brow but didn’t say anything.
Piper took Izzy by the arm and led her out of the room.
“Sorry.” Izzy turned to Piper once they were down the hallway. “I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.”
Piper patted her on the shoulder. “You did as well as could be expected under the circumstances.”
“What do you think?”
“Let’s get outside.”
A minute later, they were walking to the car. “So?” Izzy wanted Piper’s perspective.
“They clearly don’t have any actual evidence against you at this point, but the fact that the sergeant was so obsessed with you isn’t great.”
“Tell me about it.” Izzy considered what had just happened back in the conference room. “Do you think they have anything on Jay?”
“You sound concerned. If you’re convinced he didn’t do it, then everything should be okay.”
“I know he didn’t do it, but I’ve seen enough to know that sometimes the facts and the law get all twisted up.” It was yet another reason she was tossing around the idea of law school and ultimately being a prosecutor. “Can I ask you a totally unrelated question?”
“Sure.” Piper started up her car, and they pulled out of the precinct parking lot.
“Why criminal defense? You seem like the search-for-justice type.”
Piper laughed. “I am, and that’s exactly why I do criminal defense. As you just said, not everything is always so clear-cut. Of course, not every client I have is innocent, but they all deserve their opportunity to be heard—or not heard, as the case may be. The right to take the Fifth, to have qualified counsel. Those things are important to me, because I believe in the integrity of the justice system as a whole.”
“I guess I never thought of it like that.”
“Then maybe something good can come out of this bad experience.”
“Maybe so.” Izzy had a lot to think about. “Do you think we did the right thing by not volunteering the information about the text messages?”
Piper frowned. “I wanted to see how it went in there before offering up additional information. Let’s sleep on it, and depending on how things proceed, we can make a decision about the texts.”
Izzy had to trust Piper on this. She was the expert. “I’m just relieved she didn’t make me relive the attack blow by blow.” She’d stayed up all night worrying about that.
“I am too, but this was just the first interview. I don’t want you to think you’re in the clear, as far as that is concerned. It could quite possibly come up again, and she might be much more aggressive with you.”
Izzy groaned.
“Are you going in to work?” Piper asked.
“Yeah. I can’t just sit around and mope all day. I also have to talk to Marco and let him know what’s going on.”
“Your boss?”
“Yes. I’ve been dreading having this conversation, but now I have no choice. For all I know, they’re going to want to question him, too, and I need to be the one to tell him about all of this.”
“The less you tell him about the history, the better. Got it?” Piper asked.
“Understood.” Although right now, she didn’t feel like she understood anything.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Layla walked into the living room of her condo. “They want me at Langley tomorrow.” She sat down beside Hunter on the couch. She’d just gotten off the call.
He frowned. “For what?”
“The IG’s office said they had questions for me. I guess they’re finally ready for my interrogation.”
He turned toward her. “What if you get there and they decide to take you to a black site, and we never hear from you again?”
She blew out a breath. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic?”
He placed a hand on his chest. “Me? C’mon, Layla. These aren’t games you want to play. I know you believe in the Agency and all the good they do, but do you really have any doubt in your mind that they would turn on you if they thought you were dirty? I think you’ve been set up, and we have to assume they will do everything in their power to get answers
