way to know unless we follow through on our visits,” Chris said.
“After I go, it’s your turn.”
Chris sighed. “Don’t remind me. I’m not looking forward to talking to that man any more than you are, but I’ll do it. I want Mom to have a real burial.”
“We’ll get through this,” Annabel said, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder. “Coltons can withstand anything, especially when we stand together.”
* * *
“Even for a small town, you and I seem to land the most boring assignments in America,” Luis said, sliding his gun into its holster at his hip and closing his locker.
Annabel agreed with him, but she had been trying not to focus on it. Talking about it fed into her anger and frustration.
“It wasn’t like this before I was your partner. I actually apprehended criminals in the process of committing crimes. I responded to home invasions.”
Guilt hit her, and she tried not to turn that guilt into more anger at Sam. He had something to do with her crappy assignments, and it scorched her. Shouldn’t he want to help her in her career, not hold her back?
“Then again, my wife is happier with you as my partner. She doesn’t need to worry as much. I’m not in danger tracking a culprit who trampled a flower garden. Especially when that culprit turns out to be two-year-old twins who were chasing their ball into a grouchy neighbor’s yard.”
Annabel pictured Zoe looking at Sam, and her anger flamed hotter. Her and Luis’s dull assignments were intentional and unfair. Other rookies weren’t assigned only boring tasks. Sure, she should pay her dues, and she understood it was more than her rookie status keeping her away from the most interesting and dangerous case in the GGPD, the Alphabet Killer murders. She was tangentially related to the case because of her connection, no matter how severed, to Matthew Colton, and Chief Murray wouldn’t involve her directly because he was worried about a slick-talking defense lawyer twisting the facts of the case and pointing to prejudicial handling and analysis of evidence by a Colton.
But another day of missing pies and cats, and Annabel would lose it.
“Give me a minute. I need to talk to the chief before we head out,” Annabel said.
“I’ll grab some coffees,” Luis said.
Annabel strode to Chief Murray’s office. She reached for the door handle and took a deep breath. Getting this off her chest would save her sanity. Even if Chief Murray told her to suck it up and deal with it, at least he’d be aware she knew she was being treated unfairly. It wasn’t just about her. Luis was bored to tears, too.
Annabel almost lost her nerve when she saw Sam speaking with him. Sam was seated across from Chief Murray’s desk, slightly reclined in the chair, looking relaxed and buddy-buddy with the chief. Maybe it was better Sam was in the room. Both needed to hear what she had to say, and this would save her from repeating herself. Sam might be dismissive with her, but Chief Murray was a fair man and would hear her out.
She knocked once on the door and then opened it, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. She’d had enough conflicts in her life to know rushing in with guns blazing, firing accusations around the room, wasn’t the best technique with men who liked to be right.
The chief prided himself on making levelheaded and fair decisions. Sam believed he was above reproach.
“’Morning, Annabel. What can I do for you?” Chief Murray asked.
Annabel glanced at Sam. He didn’t seem annoyed, only curious. To this point, Annabel had kept her head down and worked. She didn’t complain to her bosses, and she didn’t bad-mouth her work assignments to anyone on the force. Her dear friend Mia had heard an earful about her terrible assignments, but that was what great friends were for.
“Yesterday, I handed out five parking tickets, looked for a missing cat, which turned out to be sleeping in the owner’s upstairs windowsill, and took a report for a missing blueberry pie. My prime suspects in that case are the baker’s children, whose faces were smeared with cinnamon and blue jam, but who swore they had nothing to do with the pie’s disappearance.” She took a deep breath. “I graduated at the top of my class from the police academy. I’m not above the simple assignments, but why am I assigned all the dull assignments in the department?”
Chief Murray looked at her and said nothing for a long moment. “Anything else?”
“My partner is an experienced police officer. He has a lot to teach me and can offer much more to the town, but not when he’s shackled to me, the magnet for boring.”
She had made her point, and she waited for Chief Murray to respond.
Sam looked part worried and part admiring.
Chief Murray leaned back in his chair, folding his hands across his stomach. “You’ve excelled at the tasks you’ve been assigned.”
How hard was writing parking tickets and taking reports? “Yes, sir.”
“I’ve noted the contributions you’ve made to other cases. The Alphabet Killer case in particular.”
She was surprised he had remembered she had worked with the letters on that case. “Yes, sir.”
He leaned forward. “Luis is on vacation the next two days, and I had planned for you to work the information phone—”
Annabel could have fallen asleep at the idea of sitting at the information desk for two full shifts. When Luis had mentioned he was taking a couple of days off to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife, Annabel had hoped she would be given a temporary partner. The information phone was the worst fate in work tasks.
“But I have an assignment for you, something you might find more enjoyable.”
Her interest piqued.
“A stakeout at Willard’s Farm, the farm owned and operated by Jesse Willard, Regina Willard’s half brother.”
At the mention of Jesse’s name, heat spiraled through her. An exciting assignment for sure, putting her closer to the Alphabet Killer case.
“We don’t have evidence connecting Jesse to the crimes, but he could be aiding his sister in some way, providing her shelter or lying for her. We’ve spoken to him several times, and he’s been questioned by the FBI. Since we don’t have anything on him, we can’t lean on him. Watch his place for signs of Regina, or anything that connects him to the Alphabet Killer murders. You have an eye for detail, you’re hungry and you might notice something others have missed.”
Annabel was thrilled with both the assignment and the chief’s recognition of her abilities.
“Chief—” Sam protested, but the chief held up his hand, silencing him.
The chief didn’t like to be argued with, and given that much of his control had been taken by the FBI leading the investigation, he wanted absolute control over other decisions in his precinct.
“Familiarize yourself with Regina Willard’s file. She is likely in disguise. Take the department’s high-powered camera and snap pictures of anything that looks suspicious. Even if it
