It’s a feeling I’ve been missing for a while.
Vindication.
I want it for Avery. And I want it for the ACPD.
“Are you wearing the same suit as yesterday?”
And like that, Sadie’s keen observance knocks me right off my pedestal of justice.
Ignoring her outright, I point to the whiteboard. “We need to scour Maddox’s list of high paying clients. Find out which ones enjoy extra curricular activities with working girls. Maddox has been with at least one of the vics. And this guy here—” I shuffle through the notes in my desk until I find what I’m searching for. “Price Wells. He was a partner at Maddox’s law firm before he was found dead. Didn’t he end up on your slab, Avery?”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and I try hard not to think about how soft and tempting that mouth is. “He was…I mean, yes, he did. He was the first vic I autopsied after—”
Sadie takes ahold of her hand, offering her a comforting touch. I look away, feeling like a bastard for bringing it up now. It could’ve waited until she was better…settled.
“I’m not questioning your findings,” I assure her, my gaze lowered to the COD report. “But I think we need to look deeper into this. Find out why so much shit is suddenly revolving around this law firm. Find out if Maddox or anyone else had a reason to want him dead.”
“And this illusive crime ring?” Sadie says, steering my notice to the laptop screen.
I prop my hands over the stack of paperwork, giving it some thought. “It’s bogus. We know that. There’s never been one single conviction linked to it. But just to cover our ass, contact Agent Rollins.”
A hint of shock registers on Sadie’s face. “You want to bring in the FBI.”
“No. Not bring them in, just feel them out. See if you get any kind of reading off of Rollins. Suss out whether he knows something.” I scrub my hands down my face, already feeling the weight of this case burying me. “First, get to Maddox. If he’s not our perp, then the perp might have ties to him and that firm. Either way, Maddox is dirty and I want his clients talking. Soon.”
“All right. I’ll follow that lead,” Sadie says, then gives Avery a reassuring smile before she releases her hand.
“Take Carson with you.” I catch Sadie’s gaze, and it’s there in her green eyes, that flicker of suspicion. But whether it’s stemming from her or me, I’m not sure.
“Okay.” She nods. “I guess the partner thing is on hold for a while.”
A heavy silence chokes the air. I push back in my chair, gripping the armrests. “You’re my partner, Bonds. But right now, I need to make sure Avery’s protected. I know you can handle this, but with all the shit going down within the department, it’s wise to have some backup with you.”
She holds my gaze a moment longer, understanding passing between us. Then she releases a resigned sigh. “Got it. I’ll take the rookie with me. No problem.”
Carson steps forward. “You both know that I’ve been a detective now for—”
“You’re still a rook,” Sadie cuts him off. “And right now, you’re a rook who’s going to follow my lead with Maddox. He’s not our typical person of interest. He knows the law, and he knows how to get around it.” She eyes Carson with raised eyebrows. “We’re clear?”
His mouth hardens into a line as he chews back a retort. He nods once.
I push away from my desk, going over the new facts as I head toward the whiteboard. I have no doubt Sadie can handle Maddox, and Carson, for that matter. I just hope she doesn’t handle them too well.
Wiping the board clean, I say, “This is what we know, and these are the people we know it about.” I jot down four names across the top of the board.
Ryland Maddox. Price Wells. Lewis Sellars and Markus Right?
?the two perps we wrangled down yesterday for Avery’s kidnapping counting as one.
“Bonds and Carson are on Maddox. Get information on Wells while you’re there. If Maddox is running for the DA’s office, he knows he needs to work with us. Use that angle to get as much as you can without coming up against a warrant. He won’t want the lives of these women on his hands. See if you can work any information out of him without giving away our lead.”
I clear my throat, adjusting my stance. “Avery and I will work the two perps and the evidence angle that the press don’t have.” I make eye contact with both Sadie and Avery, relaying silently that no one mentions the drug. Not even to Carson.
“Someone is leaking like a damn faucet in this department,” I add. “I want them flushed out. So anyone approaches you, anyone asks to get updates or access to the case, you report it to me.”
“What about the other?” Carson pipes up.
“What other, Carson?” I ask, barely masking my frustration.