Kerri finally spotted Jen. She waited at a table in the darkest corner of the establishment and appeared to be halfway through a Long Island Iced Tea. She threw up her hand in a half-hearted wave. No matter what else was happening around her, Jen always looked expertly put together. From her hair to the sexy green stilettoes she wore, she could be a celebrity right here in Birmingham.

As Kerri reached the table, Jen stood and leaned in for a hug. When they’d dropped into their chairs, Falco followed suit.

“Jen, this is my partner, Luke Falco. Falco, Jen Whitten.”

The woman who had been a part of her family for as long as Kerri could remember flashed one of her trademark bombshell smiles. “Very nice to meet you, Detective Falco.” She offered her hand.

Falco gave it a shake. “Back at you, Jen.”

“Kerri, there’s something . . .” Jen suddenly looked ready to crumble. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“What’s going on?” Kerri reached for her hand and held it tightly in hers. She was just about maxed out with trouble.

The waitress appeared, and Falco ordered a couple of beers.

“I’ve been struggling with this since yesterday morning. I’ve had a bad feeling for days now, but I didn’t know how to tell you. Now I have no choice.”

“Just tell me, Jen. Whatever’s going on, we’ll work it out.”

Jen moistened her lips and took a breath. “It’s about Theo Thompson.”

Kerri frowned. Of all the potential issues that had gone through her mind, that wasn’t one of them. “How do you know Thompson other than on the news? Is this something you overheard at work?”

Jen downed the last of her drink, then hugged her arms around her waist. “Theo and I have been involved for two years.”

Kerri drew back slightly at the idea. Jen? A woman Kerri knew as well as her own sister was somehow involved with the prime suspect in this investigation. She didn’t understand. “Involved how?”

Her gaze downcast, Jen said, “An affair.”

Kerri absorbed the impact of her words, the meaning quaking all the way through her. “Go on.”

“For the past week or two, he’s been acting strange. At first I thought it was just stress about the campaign, but then I overheard a couple of phone conversations that made me uncomfortable.”

“Were they from his wife?” Kerri tasted the bitterness of her sharply spoken words. Of all people, Jen understood what Kerri had gone through with her cheating ex. She mentally blocked the thought. She had to hear her out, for more reasons than one.

Jen shook her head, swiped at her eyes. “I don’t know who he was talking to, but there was trouble. Something bad.”

Disappointment pulsed through Kerri. “Unless you have something criminal to share, I’m not sure I’m the person you should be talking to.”

When she would have pushed out of her chair, Jen blurted, “He was at that house on Wednesday night. The one that burned.”

Kerri froze. “How do you know this?”

“I was with him.” Jen moistened her lips again, twiddled with the straw in her empty glass. “We were going out that night, and he got a call. He was extremely upset by the caller. He told me he had to meet someone to take care of a problem. When we got to the house”—she drew in a deep breath—“he told me to wait in the car.”

“Who was he meeting?” Kerri waited for her answer, the thundering in her chest refusing to quiet.

Jen stared directly at her then. “Lewis York.”

Son of a bitch. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before now?”

“I meant to,” Jen cried. “I started to call you a dozen times, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Kerri restrained the emotional words she wanted to hurl across the table. She reached deep inside herself and grabbed on to the training and experience that made her a damned good detective. “Tell me exactly what happened and every word you heard the two of them say.”

This could be crucial to their case.

Through bouts of tears and with the aid of another drink, Jen explained what she had seen and heard that night. When she stopped talking, she dropped her gaze to the table once more.

Deep, deep breath. Kerri looked to her partner. “We need to take this to the LT.”

“Like he’s going to listen, especially since it’s her word against theirs,” Falco pointed out. “Thompson would likely say she was a jilted lover trying to get back at him.”

“But he hasn’t dumped me,” Jen interjected. “I’m dumping him.”

“Your word against his. We need evidence, Jen. Something we can use to physically link them to that house on that night.”

Kerri rubbed her hands over her face. She was tired. So damned tired. “We have to find a way to use this. This could make all the difference.”

Falco looked at Jen a moment before turning back to Kerri. “She could confront Thompson about that night while wearing a wire.”

Kerri shook her head. “It’s too risky.” She looked at her lifelong friend. “As much as I want that bastard, I don’t want to put her in danger.”

“I’ll do it,” Jen asserted. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I swear. Anything.”

Kerri stared pointedly at her. “You feel guilty. You want to somehow make this right. What Falco is suggesting isn’t going—”

“I’ll do it.” Jen nodded frantically. “I’m so sorry. I’m an idiot, but I can do this.”

“No.” Kerri shook her head. “I will not let you get yourself hurt or maybe killed. I’m not sure you understand how ruthless these people are.”

Tears filled the other woman’s eyes again. “Please, let me help. For Amelia and her friend—that Sela Abbott.”

“This could make the chief and the LT see this case the way we need them to,” Falco reminded her.

As much as Kerri didn’t want to admit it, he was right. “When are you supposed to see him again?” Kerri’s tone was harsher than she’d intended. Calm and cool wasn’t exactly handy right now.

“We haven’t made plans, but I can call him.” Jen looked from Kerri to Falco and back. “I can do this. He trusts me.”

Kerri’s cell vibrated in her pocket. She checked the screen, couldn’t identify the caller. “Devlin.”

“Kerri Devlin?”

Kerri put a hand over her ear in an effort to hear the caller better above the noise in the pub. “Yes.”

“Ma’am, my name is Eleanor Gonzalez. I’m at the Delta counter here at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth. Your daughter, Victoria, is here.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Why is my daughter at the airport?” Uncertainty washed over Kerri.

“She’s attempting to exchange an airline ticket to New York from her scheduled flight on Monday to one today. Unfortunately, since she’s only thirteen and not the purchaser of the ticket, we can’t make the change for her. I called Nicholas Jackman, the purchaser of the ticket. He asked me to cancel the ticket and to call you to pick up Victoria.”

Outrage bolted through Kerri. “I’ll be right there.” She slid her phone into her pocket as she stood. “I have to pick up Tori.”

“Call him,” Falco said to Jen as he pushed back his chair. “Try to see him tonight if possible. As soon as you have a time and place, let us know. We’ll help you prepare.”

Jen nodded. “Okay. I can do this. I really can.”

Kerri still didn’t like this. Not one bit.

“Is Tori okay?” Jen asked, worry and fear and no small amount of pain etched on her face.

“I don’t know. She’s at the airport, trying to leave for New York.”

Jen’s hand went to her mouth.

“I have to go.” Kerri hesitated. “Do not do anything without talking to one of us first. Got it?”

Jen nodded. “Got it.”

Kerri hurried for the door. She had to get to Tori.

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport

Kerri stood just beyond the automatic doors for a long moment. Her daughter sat in a seat directly across from the airline desk. Her backpack and a small suitcase sat at her feet.

Kerri had no idea why the son of a bitch had canceled the hearing—though she was glad he had. But she had a feeling something more had gone down. Tori wouldn’t have come to the airport trying to use the ticket he’d emailed her otherwise. Something had happened to upset her.

Deep breath.

Kerri walked over to the row of chairs. “Tori, what’s going on?”

She wouldn’t look at Kerri; she kept her gaze glued to her phone and her scroll of Instagram.

Kerri moved around to the other side of her and sat down. “I’m really sorry, but your father canceled the tickets, so you’re going to need to come home with me now.”

“You’re not sorry. You’re glad. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.” She shoved her phone into a pocket on her backpack.

Kerri leaned forward and braced her forearms on her thighs. “It’s true I don’t want you to spend the entire summer away. I’ll admit that much, but I was okay with four weeks, remember? I would never have wanted anything to happen to hurt you. I’m sure we can call your father and work out a new schedule for you to visit. Whatever is going on—”

“She’s pregnant,” Tori cried. She swiped at her eyes. “She found out today she’s having a baby, and Dad said they would be too busy this summer for me to come.”

The dirty rotten bastard.

Kerri pulled her daughter into her arms. “Baby, I am so very sorry. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I thought if I just showed up, he would change his mind. I could help them get the baby’s room ready. I could do lots of things.”