Page 57 of Wicked Sin

My next stopis the station, where the captain has organized a teleconference with the forensics team in Quantico. I arrive early to give myself time to check in with my team before Ferdinand arrives. I’ll stay well after he leaves, too, to make sure I’m not followed before I go home.

The first thing I do is run a more detailed report on Gerome Lively and make a few calls on the down low. A contact I trust in Miami, and another call to Kendra Browning in D.C.

She picks up on the first ring. “Detective Vasquez. I understand everything has gone sideways out there.”

“Sometimes shit has to fall apart before it can get pieced back together properly.”

“Is this an unofficial call? I heard the Feds have taken over the case.”

“Something like that.” I tell her about my conversation with Hailey Parker. “This guy seems above the law. That doesn’t scare me, but I don’t want to run into the same problems others have with getting blocked as the case moves through the system. Cop to cop, should I ask the Horus Group for their dossier on him?”

She hesitates. A long silence, followed by a frustrated sigh. “They’re good guys. But their means are dubious at best.”

“I got that impression.”

“If you aren’t sure you’re going to be able to take a case forward, it’s almost better to leave them alone to do their thing. Trust me on this—Cole Parker isn’t going to let that guy go without justice being done. He’s holding back for his wife’s sake. She wants it to go down in a legal way. But he’s watching. He’s got Lively on a digital leash, for sure.”

I don’t like that. Vigilante justice isn’t justice, because it’s not available to everyone.

But Igetit.

“Patience isn’t the same as inaction,” she says in my ear. “But it can feel too damn similar sometimes.”

Don’t I know it. I’m restless and ready for the case to break open. “Thanks.”

“I’ll put my ear to the ground here and let you know if anything comes up.”

After I hang up, I rock back in my chair, thinking about how I want to document this new lead. It takes me a while to write up a short report on my brief interview with the Reid sisters. Then I carry it to Captain Woods’ office myself.

She looks up from her computer when I knock on the door. “Vasquez, how’s vacation going?”

“Turns out I don’t like taking days off,” I say, handing over the report. “Thanks for the heads up on the Reid sisters’ arrival. I went to see them. Turned over a bit of a boulder there. Hailey Parker says we should look at Gerome Lively.”

Her eyebrows hit the roof. “This isn’t our case anymore.”

“Then let’s make a new case.”

“You can’t simply start investigating private citizens who’ve had their day in court already.” She holds up her hand when I start to hotly protest. “I’m not telling you he’s not worthy of investigating. I’ll have your back here. But I thought you wanted to transfer to undercover? Are you sure you want to start something that could take months or even years to come to a close?”

That pulls me up short.

She gives me a grim frown. “Think before you leap, Vasquez.”

Fuck.

Pulling open her drawer, she puts the report away. “After this video call with Quantico, I want you to take your vacation time. For real. Go home. Be bored. And think about what you really want to do for your next move. Maybe you don’t need to get tangled up in a case here, when you’ve been itching to move on to a whole new challenge for the last year.” Her knowing, experienced gaze searches my face. “Unless all of this has shifted your thinking.”

Something has shifted. A seismic crack has formed beneath my feet, but God damned if I know what’s going to happen next.

“I’ll take some time,” I finally say. Gruff. Humble.

She hears it, too. Her eyes light up with clear amusement. “Any chance you’ll have company for that thinking time?”

The captain knows I know where Taylor is. She doesn’t know that Taylor is at my house. “No comment.”

“I like her,” she says.

I hear footsteps behind me, and twist around to find Ram and Sarah approaching. Saved by the crowd. “Are you guys going to sit in on the conference call?”

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