Page 70 of The Truth You Told

And with that she sailed out the door.

“You could call her back in and make her turn over the edited version,” Kilkenny said.

“It’s still going to be too many hours,” Raisa said, standing. “I’m going to try to reason with her.”

“She didn’t exactly seem—” Pierce said, but Raisa was already headed through the open door at a jog.

The elevator was on her side, and Raisa managed to sprint out of the office in time to watch Kate beep open the doors on an old Honda Civic not unlike Raisa’s own.

“Hey,” Raisa called out.

Kate glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes when she spotted who it was.

Raisa slowed to a stop not even out of breath, all those mornings running paying off.

“Are you going to try to use the fact that we both have tits in an effort to bond now?” Kate asked, hands on her hips, ready for a confrontation.

“Look, I mastered the abrasive thing just as much as you clearly have,” Raisa said. “I get it, you’re tough and don’t take shit from anyone.”

“So that’s a yes?” Kate snarked back. “That might have worked better before you threw me up against a wall.”

“Please, a stranger was stalking me three months after I got shot,” Raisa said, annoyed that she was forced into playing this game. “What don’t you want us to see on those tapes?”

Kate barked out a laugh. “Oh man, I thought you would at least try to be subtle. You got me. With one direct question I’m going to tell you all my hidden secrets. Fed.”

“You don’t care that we’re trying to figure out who killed at least three people?” Raisa asked, letting go of that information to see if she would get a reaction. She didn’t.

So Kate knew the second killer had likely struck more than once.

“I do care,” Kate said. “Is that all? I have dinner plans.”

“You care, but you’re not going to help us figure it out?” Raisa asked.

“Who? Them?” Kate waved to the building. “It took them five years to catch Conrad. Like, I’m no Monday-morning quarterback, but don’t think you’re going to convince me Pinky and the Brain are going to solve this before Conrad rides the lightning.”

“They do lethal injection down here,” Raisa said absently as she parsed through that. “You thinkyoucan.”

A dimple flashed in her cheek, a blink-and-miss-it tic. “You seem smarter than them, but just barely. What do you think?”

“I think you made some kind of deal with the devil,” Raisa said, riding her gut instinct. “And that you think he’s going to tell you something that will help you figure it out.”

Kate smirked but said nothing.

“But I’m still stuck on why you don’t want us to view the raw footage,” Raisa said. “If he hasn’t told you what you need to know yet.”

Some of the arrogance dropped out of Kate’s expression, as she stared off into the distance at nothing. Then she swiveled her jaw, a decision made. “He’ll know if I tell you anything.”

“And if you tell us, he won’t give you the information you think you need to solve this,” Raisa followed. “You could have told us that.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “You’ve had an easy life, haven’t you? You just think everyone can trust law enforcement?”

Raisa didn’t argue. She knew why people didn’t trust them better than most. “We can act like we don’t know anything.”

“I don’t trust any of y’all, sorry,” Kate said. “One of you might be in cahoots with the wrong person. I’m going to go ahead and do my best to keep my word. Tomorrow, we’ll all be better for it. You can thank me later.”

“You really trust Conrad?”

“I’d trust a killer’s promise quicker than I’d trust that the Bureau could handle this without fucking something up,” Kate said, lifting one shoulder. “And if he’s screwing with me, I’ll be no worse off in thirtyish hours. Then I’ll tell you everything I know.”

---