Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,27
Lucy, but maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. Dillon admired strong, independent personalities—his wife, Kate, was as strong and independent as they came.
She was nearly done with her ice cream when Sean returned. He sat next to her and said, “Don’t be angry with me.”
“I’m not.”
He didn’t comment.
“Okay, a little. You could have told her I’m not in a position to do what she wants.”
“I did. But also agreed that she could try to convince you.”
“Do you think I should?” she asked. She wasn’t torn—she would bend rules as needed for justice, but in a situation like this she couldn’t imagine stomping all over SAPD on the small chance that a guy who confessed to murder might be innocent. It wasn’t even close to being a federal case.
“No, because we can get the information—legally—in other ways. It’ll just take more time. It’s an interesting case, and I guess I’ve been a bit bored lately. I mean, not bored—I love spending time with Jess. But RCK hasn’t sent me anything fun to work on because I’m not traveling right now, and while I can work from my desk on some projects, I’m getting cabin fever. I’ve been able to get out and do what I’m really good at, and that feels … well, a lot better than sitting around here all day.”
She took his hand. She’d known that some of the decisions he’d made—mostly for Jesse’s well-being—had been difficult. Not hard to make, but sometimes hard to live with. For a guy as smart and active as Sean, no matter how willing he was to stay home and take care of the house and the people in it, he needed an outlet.
“Max couldn’t have hired anyone better,” she said.
“I know.” He smiled and kissed her.
“Be careful. Max doesn’t always follow the law—and I don’t want you caught up in her trespasses.”
“I’ll stay on the right side of the legal line—at least, I promise not to cross it.”
“You’re meeting her tomorrow?”
“Most likely—depends what she gets out of the lawyer tonight. But I suspect he’ll help. Publicity will most likely help his client. And he’s new and green behind the ears.”
“He’ll be no match for Max.”
“Perhaps. Plus, I’m doing a deeper background on Victoria Mills. For what it’s worth, I think the police did a great job up until Grant confessed. Then the investigation just shut down. On the surface, it looked good, but dig a little and there are a lot of questions that the police haven’t answered.”
“Or they haven’t publicized the answers.”
Sean kissed her neck. “You had a long day.”
“I’m tired,” she admitted.
“Swim?”
“Too tired to swim.”
“Hot tub?”
It was tempting … “I may fall asleep.”
“I’ll carry you to bed.”
She almost laughed. “Actually, the hot tub sounds like just what I need.”
Chapter Seven
Max returned to her hotel and checked her email. When she first arrived that afternoon she’d unpacked and set up her temporary office. She detested living out of suitcases and made a point of getting comfortable in any hotel, even if she was staying for a short time. She hoped this trip was short but feared she’d be here all week, or longer.
Her life had certainly changed over the last seven months; last year she wouldn’t have thought twice about being away from New York for a couple weeks. Now even two days felt like an inconvenience.
In April, she learned the truth about her mother’s death and discovered she had a sixteen-year-old half sister, Eve Truman. Eve now lived with Max in New York and after the upheaval in Eve’s life—not to mention her first meeting with the entire Revere-Sterling clan over the summer—Max didn’t want to travel. She focused on crime in New York City and the surrounding area, which provided enough content to keep her monthly cable crime show filled. She now hosted a weekly interview program on crime-related issues for another show that NET aired, and her producer, Ben, said he wanted more. She’d already put her foot down on a daily segment, but she was seriously considering moving to a weekly crime magazine format. It could mean more time in the studio—and thus more time in New York—but she was also in the middle of writing her fifth true crime book, which was a series of chapters about mothers who kill, starting with Blair Donovan. Dr. Dillon Kincaid, Lucy’s brother, had already agreed to write the foreword for the book and was collaborating on some of the cases she’d selected.