Page 32 of State of Retribution

Sam showed her badge.“Lieutenant Holland with the MPD.My partner, Detective Cruz.Were you Alexa’s roommate?”

“I, uh, yes, I am.I mean, I was.”She blinked back tears.“I’m not used to talking about her in the past tense.She was just here…”

“May we come in for a minute?”

“Um, sure.”

While Vernon waited in the hallway, the woman stepped back to admit them into the kind of place Sam would’ve liked to have had if she’d been a single girl in the city.Clean, contemporary, with big windows that let in tons of natural light, the apartment had been decorated with colorful pillows and artwork to offset the beige walls and furniture.Someone clearly had an eye for design.

“Your place is so nice,” Sam said.

“That was all Alexa.She wanted to be an interior designer and was well on her way.”She curled into a plush orange armchair.“She was so insanely talented.”

“I can see that.What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry.I’m Brianna Weaver.”

“We’re sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”

“I can’t believe the first lady is here.Alexa would freak out.She had a thing for your husband.”

Sam smiled.“Understandable.”

“She used to say you’re the luckiest woman in America.”

“That, I am.”While Sam normally hated talking about first lady stuff on the job, the topic seemed to bring Brianna a bit of light.“I’m so sorry you lost her this way.”

“It makes no sense.She never bothered anyone.She went to work and school and came home and worked so hard.”

“Where did she go to school?”

“Marymount, here in Arlington.They have a design program, and she was there on scholarship.If she wasn’t doing schoolwork, she took every shift she could get at the restaurant.All she did was work because she made big money at the restaurant.That’s why she went into the city to work there.I used to tease her about being all work and no play, but she’d remind me she had no safety net to catch her if she fell.”Brianna looked up at them with big eyes full of devastation for her friend.“I admired her so much.We all did.”

Brianna reached for a framed photo that she handed to Sam.“That’s all of us with her on her birthday last year.”

Dark-haired, pretty Alexa was surrounded by a group of smiling young women.

“She said we were the family she never had.”Brianna wiped tears from her face.“I don’t know what we’re going to do without her.She was the glue that held us all together.We… we started a fundraiser to cover funeral costs.”

Sam handed her notebook to Brianna.“Write down the link so we can publicize it.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course.Put down your name and number, too, so I can keep you informed.”

Brianna wrote the info and then handed the notebook back to Sam.

“Was she having trouble with anyone in her life?”

“Not that I know of, and she would’ve told me.”

“Was she dating anyone?”

“She didn’t have time for men, or so she said.We teased her about that.We said she was going to die a virgin.”She choked on a sob.“I hate that we said that to her, because that actually happened.”

“We’re so sorry for your loss, but I don’t think your friend would want you to feel bad about teasing her.It’s obvious from the picture that she loved you all very much.”

“We loved her, too.”

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