Page 67 of Liar's Point

“I ran him, too, Nicole. But that doesn’t tell me jack shit. This guy could be violent, and I can’t believe you were going to go over there alone.”

She bit back a retort. He was right—just because someone didn’t have a rap sheet didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. But still, Emmet’s tone right now irked her.

“Well, he doesn’t have a criminal record,” she reiterated. “And anyway, I was going to ask Owen to go with me. That’s why I called him.”

Emmet crossed his arms, looking only mildly placated. Maybe he thought she should have called him instead, since he was the lead on this case.

The turnoff for Sam Pacheco’s neighborhood came into view. She slowed and put on her turn signal.

“Well, we’re almost here,” she said, “so we should figure out how we want to approach him.”

She turned down the street and neared the apartment complex. It was a two-story building with moldy white stucco and a red tile roof. A spotlight out front illuminated a clump of dead palm trees and a sign that said Seabreeze Apartments. She pulled into the driveway. No gate or passcode or even a security camera out front.

“You been over here lately?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Emmet shot her a look. “The meth bust three months ago.”

“That was here?”

“Yes.”

She swung into a visitor’s space and parked. At least they were in her pickup right now, which was slightly more low profile than an unmarked police car. Emmet glanced at the unit on the corner where two men stood in the shadows.

“Pacheco’s place is around back,” she said. “He’s in unit 149.”

“Let’s do some recon first.”

“Don’t you think that will tip him off?”

“Tip him off that what?” he asked. “That cops want to ask him questions about his dead girlfriend? Unless he’s stupid, he already knows.”

Nicole stared at the building, thinking. “He may not even be aware of Aubrey’s death,” she said. “Assuming he didn’t kill her, that is. Have you considered that? It sounds like he doesn’t run in the same circles as her and her friends.”

“This thing has been all over the news. He’d have to be living under a rock not to know about it.”

“Still...” She surveyed the building. The men in the shadows were gone now, and she noticed a woman staring down from an upstairs window. “I think we should just walk up and knock on the door, catch him off guard and get a read on his reaction.”

“And I think we should scope it out first,” he said.

“So, is that an order?”

He looked at her. “What’s that mean?”

“Is that you calling the shots again because you’re lead, and my opinion means nothing?”

“Nicole—” He shook his head.

“What? I don’t appreciate your tone with me. And I don’t like the way you’re treating me different because I’m a woman.”

He looked offended. “How the hell am I treating you different?”

“Giving me crap about coming over here. If I was Owen, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.”

“That’s right. Because Owen wouldn’t rush off to interview a murder suspect half-cocked.”

“He’s not a suspect yet.”

Emmet glared at her, and she regretted using such a weak defense. Of course Sam Pacheco was a suspect. Even if it wasn’t official, Aubrey’s ex-boyfriend was the closest they had at this point.

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