His eyebrows shooting up with excitement and surprise, Martinez followed Brandon out. He turned back to Jim as if he won. “I guess he’ll be back in a while, Mr. West.”
As soon as they were out of earshot, Jim slammed his hands on the desk. “Son of a bitch!”
Sam stood at the entryway of his office with a folder cradled in her arms, flinching at the tone in his voice. “O-kaaay. What did I miss?”
Looking at her with his ice-blue eyes he begged, “Please follow Brandon down to the station. Make sure he doesn’t say or do anything stupid.”
Her jaw dropped as her forehead wrinkled. “What the hell is he going to the station for?”
Jim tilted his head and stretched his neck from side to side. “Detective Martinez was here with a warrant. Also said he had the autopsy report. It’s not looking good, Sam. And Brandon is at his wits end; exactly where Detective Martinez wants him. He set the bait and reeled him right in. Just please go supervise.”
“Of course.” Without hesitation Sam returned to her office, dropped her files on the desk, grabbed her purse, and ran out of the Tribune to try and catch up to them.
She ran up to Brandon’s vehicle and grabbed the handle just before he shut the driver’s side door. Catching her breath she pleaded with him. “Brandon, what are you doing?”
Turning on the ignition, he paused. “Sam, please don’t. I’m taking care of this once and for all.” Looking into her eyes he grabbed the handle from inside. “Please let go.”
She flipped her long black hair behind her shoulder and met his gaze with sincerity. “I’m not trying to stop you, Brandon. But I’m begging you to at least let me come with you. You’re doing exactly what Detective Martinez wants you to do and this can’t end well.”
He placed both hands on the steering wheel and leaned his head against the headrest, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. Leaning forward he put the car in reverse to back out. “Fine. Get in.”
Martinez was well ahead of them as they pulled out of the Tribune parking lot. Making it to SPD headquarters, they pulled into a visitor parking spot. Sam’s eyelashes blinked from under her bangs. “You know you don’t have to do this.”
Without giving it another thought, Brandon angrily opened his car door and said, “Yes I do.” Slamming it behind him, he sprinted up to the glass doors entering the station with Sam quickly following behind. The lobby being empty, Brandon approached the records window.
There was a lady at the desk a few feet away. When she failed to acknowledge his presence, he knocked on the glass. “Excuse me?”
Her eyes rudely glanced up at him before she turned her gaze back to her computer screen.
He knocked on the window again. “Excuse me? I’m here to see Detective Martinez. He just came in minutes before me.”
Taking her time to finish whatever she was working on, she finally rose out of her seat and came to the window. In a non-urgent manner she replied, “I’m sorry. Can I help you?”
Growing irritated, Brandon kept his composure. “I’m here to see Detective Martinez. He has information about my wife’s death.”
The clerk looked at him over the top of her glasses. “Do you have an appointment?”
Sam stood next to Brandon with her arms crossed, growing more pissed off by the moment. Before he could answer, she responded, “Yes! He’s expected. Please let him know Mr. DeFranco has arrived.”
Looking crossed, the clerk said, “Sure thing,” and returned to her desk, picking up the phone receiver. Before she could dial a number, Martinez sprung from the heavy steel door leading from the bureau stairs to the lobby.
“Mr. DeFranco, thank you for coming.” He motioned to the clerk and then turned his attention to Brandon and Sam. “Ms. Brown. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you.”
Sam pursed her bright red lips. “I’m sure you weren’t.”
A tad perturbed, Martinez led Brandon into the interview room. He stopped Sam before entering. “If it’s alright with you, I have some intimate details of the investigation I need to share with Mr. DeFranco alone.”
Without saying a word, she turned to Brandon for guidance.
“Detective, I’m sure nothing you have to say can offend my colleague. I’d rather have her join us, if it’s all the same to you.”
Shrugging his shoulders he thought to himself, Two for one special today. Hot damn! “Alright then.” He motioned Sam to enter and have a seat next to Brandon as he sat in the chair across from them and gently set a file folder on the table. Opening the file he pulled out the autopsy report. “So, I guess we can start with Dr. Wexler’s initial findings.” He spread out a couple documents in front of them. His eyes focused on Brandon as he spoke, gauging his reaction. “It’s been confirmed that your wife was indeed the victim of foul play. She suffered a harsh contusion to the head that knocked her unconscious but the actual cause of death was due to drowning.”
As Brandon read the report, Sam reached over and grabbed his hand in support. Shaking his head he tried to vocalize his amazement. Placing the report back on the table in front of him he responded, “I’m at a loss for words here, Detective. Who would do something like this?”
Relaxing back in his chair, Martinez glanced back and forth between the two of them. “That’s what I was hoping you could help me with.”
Brandon leaned his elbows on the table and began rubbing his forehead with the balls of his fingertips. His hands fell in front of him. “Look, it’s like I told you, Pam didn’t have any enemies. None of this makes sense to me.”
Grinning inside, Martinez made his move. “Okay, maybe this will help.” He reached
