A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,139
asked Sun.
“More like, to whom,” Sun said. “Two names. Wynn. Ravinder.”
Nancy pulled her lips tight through her teeth as she studied her wine. “The man whose DNA was on that jacket?”
“The very one.”
She shook out of her thoughts. “I don’t have the file here. What did you need to know?”
“How he did it.”
“I only run the tests, Sun. You know that.”
“No, right. I know. I’m just wondering how he got you to alter it for him.”
She said nothing for a very long time, then downed the drink in one gulp before pouring another one.
Sun took that as a sign of guilt. “I believe the words you’re searching for are, ‘He blackmailed me.’ Or ‘He threatened me.’ Or, hell, even, ‘He coerced me to do his bidding by discovering my weakness for Oreos and offering me a year’s supply.’ Anything but, ‘I did it because I love him.’ That’s just a little too cliché.”
She kept her gaze downcast. “I do love him.”
“Oh, my God, Nancy.” Sun scrubbed her face with her fingertips and stood to look out a plate glass window, the stunning view of Santa Fe at night lost on her, her fury too great to appreciate it.
Her friend had always been a hot mess, but altering DNA evidence? Every single test she’d ever run would now be questioned. Every person convicted on evidence she processed would be thrown out. People guilty of murder and rape and molestation and trafficking … any number of felons would now have to be retried or released altogether.
What Sun was about to do was beyond unethical, but she could not allow that to happen. Not if she could help it. She had to know.
“Don’t worry, Sun,” Nancy said, her voice breaking. “He doesn’t love me back.”
“How many?”
“You don’t understand. He saved my brother’s life in Arizona. They were going to kill him.”
“How many cases, Nance? How many did you tamper with?”
“Just this one, I swear. You’ve met my brother. Kevin wouldn’t be alive today if not for Wynn.”
“He’s a shot caller, Nance. Your brother probably wasn’t even in any real danger. It was most likely a setup to get you under his thumb. To save you for a rainy day.”
“No, this happened years ago. And then we started writing.” She looked away. “Well, I wrote him mostly. He never asked me for anything until now.”
“That’s how they work. C’mon, Nancy. You can’t be this naïve.”
When she didn’t respond, Sun did the only thing she could do in this situation. “Tomorrow morning, you’re going to resign.”
A look of absolute panic hijacked her face. “I—I can’t.”
“You will or I’ll turn you over to SFPD. All of your cases … It’ll be a mess, and you know it.”
She raised her chin. “It’ll be your word against mine.”
“Nancy, don’t make me do this.” She brought out her phone. “I’ve recorded this whole conversation. You’ll be arrested.”
“Then arrest me. I can’t quit.” Her expression was one of both fear and desperation. It suddenly made sense.
“Who else has you in their pocket?”
Her fingers tightened around her glass. “Someone a lot scarier than you.”
“You just told me you hadn’t altered any other tests.”
“I haven’t.” She stepped closer, pleading. “I swear to God, Sun. He just—I just do a couple of side jobs for him from time to time. Off the books. That’s all.”
What kind of side jobs would a lab rat in forensics do? “Who?”
Wetness gathered between her lashes. “If I tell you, I’ll be dead by morning.”
“I can protect you.”
She scoffed. “You can’t even protect yourself.”
“Nancy, you’re putting me in a very bad position.”
She put her glass down. “You do what you have to do, Sunshine.”
One thing was for certain. She was going to have to look into Nancy’s situation further. But for now … “I want the analysis you falsified destroyed immediately.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“Then you and I are going to talk.” Sun walked up to her and lowered her voice, hopefully hampering anyone who might be listening. “And just for the record, I can be scary, too.”
Nancy nodded again, her hands twisting into knots.
Sun texted her parents to let them know she would be late getting to the hospital the next morning. Auri was getting out and she needed them there. They wanted to keep Cruz another couple of days, much to Auri’s distress.
She stepped out of her cruiser into the blinding light of the New Mexico sun. She’d gotten exactly three seconds of sleep, which could explain her vampiric aversion to the bright orb in the sky.