when the door did not close all the way—Emily had stuck the toe of her pointy black boot there so they could listen.
“What the—”
“Sorry, it’s just me again, Jerry.” Isabel moved to the foot of his bed once more.
“I thought we were done. You got your confession. What else do you want?”
“There was something else I need to tell you.”
“What’s that?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Like I told you before, the ballistics verified the gun that was found by the river was the one that killed David Gerard. Unfortunately, the lab says there were no usable fingerprints on it. It had been in the mud too long.”
“So you’re saying I confessed for nothing?”
“As luck would have it, there was a bullet still in the gun and the lab was able to pull a beautiful print off of it.”
“No kidding.” Jerry crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.
Isabel wasn’t sure if he was really interested or simply being sarcastic. “Want to take a wild guess who the print belongs to?”
He pinched his lips together and waited, turning his head and staring out the window at the cloudless blue sky. Did he have an idea who it belonged to but didn’t want to say?
“The print belongs to Ricardo Vega.” For a millisecond Isabel thought she saw a look of surprise flash in his eyes before his expression went flat again.
“Delia’s late husband?”
~*~
Isabel grabbed a thumb drive from Buzz in the hospital’s parking lot. It had the video confession recorded on it. She handed it over to Colin. “The ball’s in your court now, Detective.”
Emily rode with Colin back to the police station, and Isabel followed in her own car.
“I can’t wait to question Delia,” Emily said, excitedly squirming in her seat. She rolled the window down and let the cool fall breeze whip through her hair.
“You can’t officially question her, Emily. You’re not law enforcement.”
“Can’t I at least be in the room while you interrogate her?” She sat up straight in the seat and twisted her shoulders, leaning toward Colin. “You know how important this is to me.”
“I don’t know.” He paused and shook his head. “It’s a pretty small room,” he teased.
She playfully smacked his arm and grimaced.
“Okay, since the Chief wants you on board as a consultant, I’ll let you be in the room, but you can’t ask any of the questions. I mean it.” He down-shifted the red jeep and came to a stop at the light. He looked over at her, waiting for a response.
She leaned back in her seat and looked away from him, out the open window.
“Emily…”
“I’m thinking.” She gazed back at him and grinned. “Okay, I promise I’ll be as quiet as a church mouse.”
“Where have I heard that before?” Colin rolled his eyes. That’s what she had promised him in the interrogation he had conducted in New York City on the first case they ever worked together.
He was questioning a Russian mobster about his role in Ricardo Vega’s murder, and it was more than she could do to keep her mouth shut. He chuckled to himself as he thought of it. She couldn’t keep that promise then and she likely wouldn’t keep it now. Although, he did have to admit that in the New York interrogation she had asked a pivotal question, so he had quickly forgiven her.
Yes, that was his Emily—pretty as a peach and as hot and hard to handle as a firecracker.
~*~
“Hey, Stella,” Emily greeted as she strolled through the front doors of the Paradise Valley police station with Colin.
Stella stood up behind her desk and smiled. “Hello, Emily. Good to see you, dear. We’re all so pleased Colin is back.”
“Me too.” Emily gave Colin’s hand a squeeze.
“Isabel Martínez should be coming right behind us. Send her back to the interrogation room as soon as she gets here.” Colin and Emily walked to the door leading to the back offices and he swiped his security pass to let them in. “Oh, and Delia McCall will be here soon. Have her wait out here and I’ll come and get her when you announce her.”
“Yes, sir, Detective,” Stella replied with a hand salute.
He grinned at her. “Cut the formalities, Stella. Yes, Colin, will do just fine.”
At the sound of the buzz-click, Colin pushed the door open for Emily and followed her through it. He led her back to his office and went directly to his laptop which sat open on his desk. He pushed the on button and sank down