Page 85 of M for Murder

‘It’s looking likely.’

There was a brief silence.

‘So what happens now?’ Rebecca asked, noticing that neither agent seemed prepared to give much away.

Hickok glanced at his partner. ‘Max is going down to San Palimo tomorrow to talk with Agnes Barnes.’

‘Really?’ Rebecca asked, pleased that all her hard work from Saturday wasn’t going to waste. Now they believed it more likely that Boone was alive, it seemed they were prepared to check out her theory about Boone’s brothers.

‘He and Boaz are leaving in the morning.’

Boaz?

‘What?’ Rebecca fought hard to keep the look of surprise from her face. She lost. ‘Vic’s going? Why?’

Sutton came over and squeezed her shoulder in a gesture that reminded her of Uncle Lou. ‘Don’t take it personally. You’ve done a really good job, and I intend to recommend you to your Captain. Officer Boaz, though, has seniority and he tells us that he’s familiar with the area. It makes sense to take him along.’

‘Sure, I understand,’ Rebecca said, trying her hardest not to sound disappointed.

Truth was she didn’t understand, and she didn’t think it was fair either. Vic might have seniority, but that didn’t change the fact that he was lazy and couldn’t care less. What the hell had he done to help this investigation, except whine like a baby and try to make out in front of anyone stupid enough to listen that he was some kind of hero?

It wasn’t fair, and it pissed her off.

She watched her partner get up from behind the desk and yawn loudly.

‘Guess I ought to go home and get some shut-eye,’ he said, talking to Sutton, but grinning at Rebecca. He slapped her on the back as he passed her. ‘You did a good job, sweetheart,’ he muttered, his tone patronising. ‘But it’s time now to step back and let the professionals take over.’

Rebecca clenched her fists together, fighting to keep them by her side. She wasn’t going to let Vic Boaz see that she was upset by the decision.

‘Have a good trip, Vic,’ she told him, forcing a smile.

She glanced at Hickok, meeting his eyes, expecting a sarcastic comment. He didn’t make one though, and she got the impression from the way he gave her a half shrug, and what appeared to be a sympathetic smile, that the decision to send Vic hadn’t been his.

Maybe he wasn’t such a jerk after all.

Watching Vic slip his jacket on over his uniform, whistling loudly as he fished out his car keys and headed out of the door, Rebecca half wished something would happen to him so he couldn’t go with Sutton.

Nothing serious. Just a little accident. Perhaps he could break a leg.

Perhaps break both legs!

She smiled to herself, knowing her wish was unlikely to be granted and knowing that her parents would be appalled if they ever found out about the devious thoughts that sometimes went on in her mind. She guessed that at least it proved one thing. Maybe she wasn’t so much like her mother after all.

32

SAN PALIMO, CALIFORNIA. WEDNESDAY 7TH MAY 1997

V ic couldn’t believe his luck. So far, it had been Rebecca Angell, his rookie partner, who had been allowed to do all of the good stuff like the college interviews and, while he didn’t doubt that it was because Hickok fancied her, it was still about time that he got to see some of the perks of the job. A trip down to California would do very nicely.

He was familiar with the area. His parents had raised him and his sisters in a town less than thirty miles from San Palimo and he had served ten years with the San Francisco Police Department before being transferred up to Juniper. Driving through the familiar hilly districts, a heavy fog rolling in from the ocean, he realised just how much he’d missed it.

His family no longer lived locally. Cynthia, his oldest sister, had moved to Phoenix years ago with her husband, Drake, and the twins, Annie and Shelley, were both working down in Los Angeles. His parents had sold up two years back, claiming the house was too big and empty for just the two of them, and bought a retirement home down in Florida. Vic had visited them a few times since they’d been there, though it was usually because he wanted a vacation rather than to check on their well-being.

A little like now, he guessed. Although they were supposed to be down here on work, he couldn’t help thinking of it as more of a vacation. Sutton wasn’t going to uncover anything. Rebecca Angell might have thought she’d found all the answers, but she was wrong. San Palimo would provide nothing more than a pleasant distraction.

The words pleasant and distraction sprang to mind again as he laid eyes on Karen Harris, the librarian with the husky voice whom he had spoken to earlier that morning to let her know they were coming. Although he had hoped she would have a body to match her voice, Vic knew his chances weren’t good, especially since she worked in a library. So, his face lit up like a Christmas tree when on arrival at the library they were greeted by a tall, vibrant redhead with a curvaceous figure and startling blue eyes. Karen Harris didn’t seem too disappointed when she laid eyes on him either.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, Officer Boaz,’ she said, smiling at him warmly.