“What do you mean?” Her eyes looked around the room as if something might suddenly animate and attack her.
“I told you I ran into that guy the other day.” I hadn’t gone into everything that Brock had said, but I did want to be as forthcoming as possible with her. She seemed to need that to keep the trust. “I think he did this.”
She shook her head and took a step back. “Why?”
“I think,” I cleared my tight throat and restarted, “He wants to take away my choices so I’ll work with him again.”
She reached out and cupped my face, stroking her thumb along my cheekbone. “How does this fit in?”
“He hinted that if I didn’t start back up with him, something incriminating might show up in my possession. I’m betting that he thought you’d find this alone and call the police. They’ll give the place a cursory search for fingerprints and find something from one of those jobs. They won’t suspect you, especially if the cop who responds is Cherise. She’ll think I stashed the take here.” I shook my head and swore.
“Jesus, Falyn. Who is this guy?” Her hand slid down my neck to grip my shoulder.
“He was the planner. We had three others, but we all listened to the planner. He wants to get us together again, and he’s trying to force me into it.”
She made another sound of disbelief. “This is the kind of guy you worked with?” Her arm waved around her place.
Guilt swamped me. This was exactly the kind of situation I never wanted to face again. Molly didn’t need to see this side of me because it no longer existed.
“We never left a place looking like this.” I stopped before I said anything more. She didn’t need to hear what I’d done or not done. Not now, not in the face of this. “I’m really sorry.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. A hand came up to wipe at them angrily. “Why didn’t you call the police the second you saw him?”
“Because I’m not in the same position as you. They’d believe you. They’ll just think I’m rolling on my conspirator for a deal on something I’ve already done. I told him to back off, that I wasn’t interested. I hoped he’d just leave.”
“But he didn’t. He broke into my house, went through my things, took my things.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re saying we can’t call the police now?”
“I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure how to handle this. “Let me look around first.”
She crossed her arms, gripping them tightly. She was afraid and angry and frustrated and facing something she’d never faced. And the only person with her was someone who’d caused these reactions for many others.
I turned away, afraid of the disappointed look I knew would soon develop. My eyes searched everywhere he touched. There wouldn’t be any fingerprints, or I should say, the only other fingerprints besides Molly’s would be mine.
If he wanted the police to find something, it would have to be fairly easy to find because they wouldn’t do a search. Yet it wouldn’t be out in the open because any thief would take whatever it was.
I went to her bedroom, a place I’d felt so comfortable. Molly followed slowly behind. I couldn’t blame her. She probably didn’t want to see what he’d done. I let out a sigh when I entered. A lamp from the nightstand and her alarm clock lay on the ground. The closet door was open, but otherwise, nothing was amiss. Big clue that something was wrong here.
“Do you have a safe?”
Her head shook. “I don’t have anything really valuable to safe keep.”
“Jewelry box?”
“No. I just keep some earrings and the one necklace I have in—”
“Your sock drawer?” I guessed.
Her eyes went wide. “Bad idea?”
“It’s actually smart to keep things in an innocuous place.” I looked around again and noticed a wood carved box on the top shelf in her closet. “What’s that?”
Her eyes flicked up. “A gift from my mom. She put some old photos and newspaper clippings from my high school soccer and softball days as a birthday present one year.”
“Will you look inside it, please?” It was the only place that a good officer would ask about when assessing the damage.
Molly stepped over and pulled the box down. She opened the lid and gasped. The box tilted in her hands and sitting right on top of the news clippings was a diamond bracelet. Retail, easily ten grand, fenced nothing more than one. It was from the second house. I’d seen the homeowner wearing it. The second house where I had an alibi.
“That isn’t mine.”
“I know.” I sighed, dropping onto Molly’s bed to gain my thoughts.
“How?”
“That was taken from the second place, the one where I have an alibi. He’s warning me. Even if the police found this, it’s still only circumstantial, which can be trumped with my alibi. If he’d left something from the first house, he’d be telling me he was pissed. He’s still trying to recruit me.”
Her eyes squinted in confused anger. “We have to do something, Falyn. This is awful.”
“I know, but I don’t know what to do. Short of hurting him, which was never my deal.”
“A lawyer?”
I let out a breath. “I think that’s the only option I’ve got. I can’t be seen with stolen property.”
“I’ll call Mei.”
I knew my neighbor was a lawyer but didn’t know what kind. “Does she do criminal work?”
“Not really, but she’ll know someone who does.”
I bit my lip and nodded. Molly gave me a small smile and pulled me up from the bed and into her. “I’m so sorry about this. I thought this was over for me.”
“I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
I gripped her tight, not wanting to let go. I should be distancing myself from her. Brock had no qualms about using her against me. Things could turn wrong for her on his next attempt, whatever it was.
Once again, I found myself in a situation that didn’t make me comfortable or happy. The last time I gave up seven years because of it. I really didn’t know if this time would end any better.
My neighbor scheduled the appointment with the criminal defense attorney for me. Mei even managed to get me a free consultation. That never happened with criminal attorneys.
The attorney didn’t mince words. She shared a practice with another defense attorney, who seemed to trade on his sharp looks and even sharper suits. She dressed nicely, but not designer custom. Her jewelry was minimal, and she took notes with a disposable pen not a Cartier. It was an interesting juxtaposition. Her hourly rate scared me, but she didn’t flaunt the hourly rate in her office or, I would guess, the courtroom.
“When they get here, let me do all the talking unless I nod at you,” Yolanda said as we sat around her conference room table for our second appointment.
“How did you get them to come here?” We were waiting for the detective in charge of the burglary investigation. The police always preferred to question people in their interrogation room, yet here we were in her office.
“I told them I had a client with information about an ongoing case. If they wanted it, they’d have to come get it.” Her smile was made up of what looked like a million sparkly white teeth. The image of a shark came to mind.
I took a cleansing breath. My chest felt tight and I was perspiring again. I wanted this over, and yet, I didn’t want to be involved. What Yolanda was proposing wasn’t much better than what had happened to me the first time, but something had to be done. I couldn’t let Brock coerce me into illegal activities.
Cherise was the first one through the outer doors of the office. My stomach sank at the sight of her. A guy nearing retirement followed her in. He was in plain clothes and looked like someone who sold vacuums rather than busted criminals.
They were shown into the conference room, each shaking Yolanda’s hand and ignoring me. Cherise couldn’t keep up the act for long. Her brown eyes kept shifting to me with accusation.
“It’s not like you to be so vague, Yolanda,” the man who’d introduced himself as Detective Tanner said. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“My client has information about two burglaries you’ve been investigating.”
“I knew it!” Cherise exclaimed.
“Officer.” Tanner cut her a look.
“She’s trying to cut a deal. I knew she would,” Cherise explained.
“She doesn’t need to cut a deal.” Yolanda spoke only to Tanner now. “Let me say this up front. She has no direct proof, but she is in a position of knowledge based on experience.”
“In other words, she has nothing solid,” Tanner countered.
“She has more than you.”
He blinked. In another setting he would have flinched. Yolanda knew how to push all the right buttons. “She expects immunity for her involvement?”
“She’s not involved.”
“Then how does she know anything?”
“Your perpetrator contacted her.”
“She’s associating with him.”
“He contacted her to work with him.”
“I knew you weren’t working alone,” Cherise said directly to me.
“Officer, my client will not respond to you,” Yolanda said in a chilly voice. “And you’ll take care in your accusations. From what she’s described, I have enough for a harassment claim against you.”
Cherise leaned forward in her chair, fingers gripping the arms. “I haven’t—”
“She does not want to pursue that course right now, but we’re keeping her options open.” Yolanda spoke as if Cherise hadn’t said anything.
Cherise slanted a murderous look at me. I kept my eyes trained on Yolanda.
“Go on,” Tanner said.
“My client was confronted on the street by the man responsible for the two burglaries you questioned her about. He did not admit to them directly, but he did reference them in his recruitment chat. He also mentioned that if my client didn’t comply, he would make sure his next action would lead directly to her.”
“There hasn’t been another burglary,” Tanner said, glancing at Cherise for confirmation.
“Yes, there has.” Yolanda paused, letting that sink in. “The apartment of Ms. Shaw’s girlfriend was broken into last night.”
“Girlfriend?” Cherise turned fully toward me. “You’re with Molly now? Oh, no. Not once I have a talk with her, you won’t be.”
“Officer.” Yolanda waited until Cherise brought her attention back. “That is exactly the kind of harassment I’m talking about. You will not abuse your authority to affect my client’s quality of life. Am I understood?”
Cherise huffed, knocking her hand against her partner’s shoulder and gesturing to me. When Tanner didn’t immediately back her up, she slumped down in her seat.
“Now, as I was saying, my client and her girlfriend entered the apartment after being away most of the evening and found it burgled. Here is a list of the items missing from the apartment. Ms. Sokol is available for a statement. You are free to investigate the premises.”
“What does that have to do with this guy you’re saying your client thinks did the others?” Tanner asked.
“Ms. Sokol is a direct link to my client, and there’s this.” She produced the stolen bracelet. “This was left in a place that Ms. Sokol would have checked in front of responding officers. We assume this is a missing item from one of the two burglaries?”