The Monuments Men Murders (The Art of Murder 4)

J.J. shrugged that off. “Petty is their golden boy. He was almost named Supervisory Agent over James Salazar, which, given Salazar’s seniority…”

If he and J.J. had reached the point where J.J. was sharing office gossip, their partnership had come a long way. Jason didn’t like hearing any of this, let alone discussing it, but he said neutrally, “I appreciate your looking out for me. Sam told me about Petty the night he arrived.”

“Did he?” J.J. sounded both relieved and a little surprised.

Jason nodded. He searched around for a change of subject. “How’s it going with Martinez?”

J.J. threw him an odd look. Why?

It occurred to Jason that he had never actually initiated a personal conversation with J.J. In fact, he’d tried to avoid any such conversations. J.J. was a pretty vocal guy about his likes and dislikes—most of which they did not share—and Jason preferred his own thoughts most of the time. But, well, there was no denying this trip had made a difference in their work relationship, maybe even moved it forward a square or two on the gameboard.

J.J. said gloomily, “She doesn’t want to move.”

“You asked her? Already?”

“Of course not. Not directly. But we were talking in generalities last night. Her mom is disabled and her dad is quite a bit older—late seventies. She’s got brothers and sisters, a lot of brothers and sisters, but they’ve all got their own families, so a lot of the responsibility for the parents has fallen on Mari.”

“Right.”

“Plus, she likes Montana.” J.J. sounded disbelieving.

Jason admitted, “Sam likes Montana.”

They were both silent.

“I mean, it is beautiful,” Jason said. You couldn’t argue that with those towering mountain ranges and breathtaking blue skies bearing down on them.

J.J. made a skeptical sound.

They glanced at each other and shared reluctant, pained smiles.

More bad news waited for them at the Resident Agency.

“Brody Stevens’s parents are filing a wrongful-death suit,” SAC Phillips announced after bringing them into her office.

“How the hell do they figure that?” Jason asked.

J.J. was stone silent.

“Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just informing you of the newest developments. No one from this team was involved in the incident. This does not actually concern the Bozwin RA.”

“That’s an unusual perspective,” Jason said.

She gave him a cool, unfriendly look. Yep, she definitely did not like him.

“Jesus Christ,” J.J. said. “Where does this leave us? I’m the guy who shot the kid.”

“A lot depends on the SIRG’s findings.” She grimly regarded his stunned expression, then relented. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Agent Russell. There are plenty of witnesses to corroborate your version of events. Even Stevens’s cousin initially backed up your account. He’s since recanted, but…” She shrugged. “That said, the sooner you two finish your investigation and get the hell out of Dodge, the easier life will be for all of us.”

“I’m heading down to the newspaper morgue,” Jason told J.J. when they were back in their own office.

J.J. didn’t answer.

Jason glanced at him. “Russell?”

J.J. threw him a distracted look. “What?”

“I’ll be down at the Bozwin Daily Chronicle if you need me—” He broke off as J.J. grabbed his phone and started tapping the keypad.