Her Frozen Cry (Detective Amanda Steele)

EIGHT

Amanda and Trent arrived at Central, and she headed straight to Malone’s office. Trent went to his desk with Alicia’s will.

She rapped her knuckles on the doorframe.

Malone motioned her in with a wave. “Just the person I wanted to see.”

She offered him a small smile as she entered and shut the door behind her.

“Oh, whatever you have to say must be serious.” Malone sat up a little straighter.

“It is.” Her mind kept throwing around whether it would be prudent to tell him about the friction between her and Trent, as well as her connection to Alicia’s husband. She dropped into the chair across from Malone. “I’m here about a few things.” Her intention was out, leaving her little choice but to proceed. “Trent and I have our hands on the victim’s will. Trent’s starting to look it over as we speak.”

“Great. It could shed light on a suspect if her death was motivated by financial gain.”

“Yes. Trent and I are considering that as one angle.” She held back telling Malone that they already knew Tony Bishop stood to inherit.

“As I’d expect.” He spoke slowly, watching her. “Something else? You have things under control from what I’m hearing, and I appreciate the play by play on the case, but I have a feeling there’s more to why you’re here.” He studied her face. “Am I right?”

She let out a deep breath. “Yeah. There’s no easy way to say this other than to come out with it, but I used to be friends with the victim’s husband, Tony Bishop.” She expected an animated reaction, a declaration that it would be a conflict of interest for her to investigate. He gave her none of this.

“I was wondering if you were going to come to me.”

“What…? You knew?”

“Uh-huh. From the start.”

Amanda leaned back in the chair. “And you never said anything.”

“I knew you’d tell me.”

She was touched by his faith in her. “I would have told you sooner, but I didn’t know how far I’d be going with this investigation.” She went on to update Malone on Rideout’s findings.

“Oh, sounds like it could be murder.”

“The way Trent and I are leaning.”

“All right, can you remain objective with this case? Say, if the evidence mounts and you’re led to the husband?”

“I haven’t seen Tony for the better part of seven years.”

Malone nodded. “So there’s definitely some separation there.”

“I’d be lying to say I don’t feel empathy for him, but it’s not going to affect how I do my job.”

“Suppose I can trust that. You’ve already proven yourself in that regard. You know what it feels like to be in his position—from the standpoint of…”

Then why had he questioned her ability to do just that a second ago? “So you’re not going to remove me from the case?”

“Nope. I have faith in you.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, when you came in here, you said you wanted to talk to me about a few things. Was that just the update on the case and your confession, or is there something else?”

She’d been hoping he wouldn’t ask. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to bring up the friction with Trent. Another thing occurred to her. “We could benefit from getting authorization to look at the victim’s phone records and her computer.” She left out Tony’s refusal to hand them over.

“Yeah, that’s going to be a no-go right now. Until we have a ruling or strong reason to prove murder.”

“Rideout is quite certain that—”

“Pentobarbital was in her system. Yes. I heard you, but we still don’t know how the victim came into contact with it—or that she did. I’d prefer to wait until the tox results are back or the investigation gives us more to go on.”

She chewed on that. Hated the flavor. Nodded. She wanted to help him see he was being ridiculous, but she wouldn’t win any argument with Malone once his mind was made up.

“I have a feeling there’s more you wanted to say.”

There’s a lot but… “I’m not sure if Trent and I are quite seeing eye to eye these days.” There, just like ripping off a Band-Aid. Just as painful as when the sticky strip yanked hairs from the roots.

“Probably just a spell. From what I can see, you two work very well together. You’ve closed a lot of cases—in record time, I’ll add.”

She tried to think of a counter, something to defend her position. But he was right; she and Trent did get the job done. Her issue with Trent was rooted in her personal feelings—ones that shouldn’t exist. Just as she had thought before. She’d shove those feelings down deep inside until they ceased to exist. She’d proven before she could be an ice princess when she’d shut out her parents and siblings after losing her husband and daughter. Not that it was any real way to live. She jutted out her chin, nodded. “You’re likely right. Just a spell.” She attempted a smile but didn’t trust the expression showed.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Now, you might recall that I said I’d wanted to see you.”

She thought back to her arrival. “Ah, yes.” She’d since assumed it was to talk about her connection to Tony Bishop.

“Word about Alicia Gordon’s death has reached the new chief, and he wants answers lickety-split—his words. Says the people of the county deserve as much since Gordon was a prominent member of the community. She brought jobs to the area, supported local charities, etcetera.”

The new police chief was Jeff Buchanan. He was initially put in as an acting chief last November until a new one could be given the permanent position. But he’d quickly impressed the County Board of Supervisors and they made the appointment official in February, dropping the “acting” part from his title. Amanda didn’t know Buchanan that well, but his reputation had reached her. An outsider but a decent man, committed to the job, the community, and his family. That all sounded good if it was true. She’d reserve opinion until more time passed. “Trent and I are doing all we can,” she said.

“I trust that. I just wanted to keep you apprised that the chief has his eye on the case and interest in its speedy resolution.”

Doubt he wanted it resolved faster than she did. “Is that all?” Amanda put her hands on the arms of the chair to get up.

“Yep.”

She left his office. The closer she got to the warren of cubicles for the Homicide Unit, bringing her nearer to Trent, she felt a jumble of nerves. Stuff it down, Steele! She lifted herself taller, back straight. As her dad would say, “Appear confident, become confidence itself.”

Trent lifted his head but didn’t say a word.

“You should know that the police chief wants us to do everything we can to resolve this case quickly.” She was too proud to get into how she’d told Malone about knowing Tony Bishop and having been his friend in the past. If Trent really wanted to know, let him ask like a big boy.

“Can’t say that surprises me. While you were with the sergeant, I googled Alicia Gordon.”