I smile and press my hand to my belly as the baby inside me moves.

This evidence was an unexpected find and brought far more clarity to what must be done next. A fine-tuning. Of course, any changes require additional steps and time. Nothing I can’t handle.

Very soon it will all be over.

36

Tuesday, June 12

10:30 a.m.

Kerri and Falco hadn’t been able to avoid sitting in on the MID mandatory weekly briefing. Brooks didn’t cut anyone slack on that one. Unless you were in the hospital or dead, you’d better be at the damned briefing.

From eight until nine they had listened to updates on every case in the division. Org changes and what have you.

When they had finally gotten back in their office, they’d gone over their case board again and made the necessary updates.

A quick call to Lieutenant Brown in San Diego had confirmed that Sela Rollins Abbott had been a regular at the firing range. She knew her way around a weapon. Then, they had headed to the scene of the crime. If Sela Abbott had purchased a handgun for the purpose of murdering her husband and her mother, what had she done with it after she did the deed? Had she taken the weapon with her or hidden it somewhere on the property?

Another long look around was in order.

Kerri scrubbed a hand over her face. What they really needed to do was find Sela Abbott. Whatever had happened, she was the key. “Our suspect had a car that couldn’t be readily linked to her, and she had a weapon. It’s clear she had been preparing for a while.”

“No doubt,” Falco agreed.

“If the woman went to all those lengths to prepare for whatever her endgame is, wouldn’t she have a place to lay low as well?”

Falco nodded. “Damn straight she would.”

“We need to know any other properties owned by the Abbotts in nearby areas. She could be holed up in a rental property or cabin by the lake.”

“We could ask Ben Abbott’s father,” Falco suggested. “Personally, I think we’d have better luck going to his friend.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” They had tried to reach Bellemont again this morning. A stop at his office had garnered the same as yesterday: He’s not in.

Her cell vibrated. Kerri checked the screen. “Speak of the devil.” She accepted the call, set it to speaker. “Devlin.”

“Detective, I apologize for being unavailable yesterday. I’m hoping you’re free right now. If so, please come to my office. Considering we’re a week into this travesty, I think it’s imperative that I share some additional information with you.”

Well, it was about time. “We’re on our way right now, Mr. Bellemont.”

A pause went on for a beat too long before the attorney said what was on his mind. “I’d prefer to have this meeting with you, Detective Devlin. Alone.”

Falco exchanged a look with her.

“I’m afraid that doesn’t work for me, Mr. Bellemont. Falco and I are partners. We do this together.”

His wearily exhaled breath rushed across the line. “Very well. I’ll be waiting.”

Falco executed a U-turn and headed back downtown. Kerri mentally listed the questions she had for the attorney.

As they reached their destination, Falco said, “I appreciate you keeping me in the loop, Devlin.”

“That’s what partners do.”

He parked and turned his head to look at her. “So that wasn’t the tequila talking last night?”

“It was not. But don’t make me regret it.”

Kerri got out and headed across the sidewalk. Last night she’d decided to explore Falco’s theory about her daughter’s motive for wanting to spend the summer in Manhattan. She and Tori had talked. They’d had a good long heart-to-heart. Falco had been right about Tori. She didn’t want to move to Manhattan and leave her friends—or her mom, she’d tacked on lastly. What she wanted was a summer adventure to tell her friends about. Kerri had agreed to her staying four weeks. A damned good compromise in her opinion. This morning before heading to work, Kerri had called her ex and shared the news with him, and he’d told her it was too late for compromises. He would see her in court.

He was a bastard.

Falco caught up with her and opened the door to the attorney’s office. The assistant, Martha, glanced up.

“He’s waiting for you.”

Kerri gave her a nod and headed back. There was something to be said for loyalty as long as it wasn’t impeding a homicide investigation. She doubted telling the lady that protecting her boss in this situation had done so would make a difference in what she did in the future.

Bellemont stood behind his desk when they arrived at his door.

“Have a seat.” He gestured to the chairs. To Falco he said, “Close the door behind you, please.”

Anticipation had Kerri’s nerves jumping. She was ready to hear something that would move this investigation substantially forward.

With the door closed and seats taken, Bellemont made the first move.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you, Detectives. It is always my first obligation to protect my client.”

“Understandable,” Kerri agreed. “Unless that client is in imminent danger. And we have every reason to believe that Sela Abbott is in danger.”

She made a conscious decision to keep the information about the gun out of the conversation for the moment. As he’d said, protecting his client was his first priority. He might feel different about talking if he learned his client had illegally purchased the very caliber of handgun used to murder her husband and mother.

“Ben came to me in February. Sela had revealed to him that she had an older sister who had gone missing here in Birmingham a decade and a half ago. She wanted his help in finding the truth about her disappearance. He was not happy at first. As you can imagine, he was concerned that she had used him to position herself for a personal vendetta of some sort. It took a bit of time for them to work it out, but he came to see that helping his wife would be the right thing. With that in mind, he approached me.”

By this point, Kerri was beyond livid. “Six days have passed since we discovered the bodies of Ben Abbott and Jacqueline Rollins. You didn’t feel like it was in your client’s best interest to share this information before now?”

“As I said—”

Kerri waved him off. “What transpired after your meeting with Ben Abbott?”

“It is Sela’s belief that Theo Thompson is somehow responsible for whatever happened to her sister.”

“The Theo Thompson?” Falco feigned surprise. “Who’s running for the Senate? I hope you’ve got serious evidence to back that up. Some might see your suggestion as an opportunity to damage his chances of taking over his father’s legacy.”

“As I said, this is what Sela believes. I warned Ben that we would need compelling evidence before making any sort of legal move against the man. Despite my warning, Ben and Sela were not prepared to let the theory go, evidence or no. So I agreed to do what I could to help.”

“Since that initial meeting four months ago, what have you done toward that end?” Kerri watched him closely as he spoke. His expression was carefully closed. He looked at her from time to time but didn’t maintain steady eye contact.

“First we started to dig into the events leading up to Janelle Stevens’s disappearance. She was employed by Thompson’s father, T. R., but only for a few months before she disappeared. There were no reports of trouble in the workplace or with any of her neighbors in the apartment complex where she lived. She was a bit of a loner and didn’t have any friends outside work.”

All the things Kerri already knew from reading the old case file. “Did you find any evidence that Thompson might have been involved in whatever happened to her?”

“I did find one woman who worked with Janelle who stated that she believed Janelle was having an affair with the son, Theo. She was adamant that she had told this to the police at the time of Janelle’s disappearance, but no one ever came back to follow up. A few days later I returned to speak with her again, and she had fallen down the stairs of her home. She didn’t survive the fall. I checked with a friend at the ME’s office, and the death was ruled an accident. Still, it was quite the coincidence.”

Kerri reserved judgment. Waited for him to go on.

“From that point forward, every step we’ve made in the investigation has sent us stumbling back two. Even with the help of my top investigator, Neal Ramsey, I’m no closer to the truth than I was the day Ben came to my office. It was the woman’s sudden death, however, that convinced me Sela was onto something.”

“You trust Ramsey?” Kerri asked without giving away what she knew of the investigator’s activities.

“Implicitly.”