Thrill Kill (Matt Sinclair #2) - Brian Thiem Page 0,50

bucks supporting these liberal causes.”

“That’s not the politically correct way of looking at it, but she must do more than merely earn her keep doing it or else she wouldn’t have made partner. She’s listed as legal counsel for EHT, that’s Ending Human Trafficking, an international nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco, and some other organizations.”

“So she works for outfits that are against sex trafficking of women and defends a woman who, many would say, exploits them.”

“Lawyers say everyone is entitled to a good defense,” Braddock replied.

Sinclair went back to typing his report. At four o’clock, the other homicide investigators left for the day. But Sinclair had a mile-long task list on Dawn’s case. At the top of the list—the task most likely to produce results with the least expenditure of time—was to look into her former clients. But to do that meant waiting for Bianca to come through, which probably wouldn’t occur until tomorrow afternoon. Waiting wasn’t something he did well, but the alternative often meant spinning his wheels on tangents that weren’t likely to pan out. He returned to the report he was writing. At least he’d get that out of the way in case a new lead materialized tomorrow while he waited for the call from Bianca.

Chapter 19

The following morning, Sinclair carried his empty coffee mug to the intelligence unit, set it on Robert’s desk, and sat on his sofa. Roberts took his cup into the outer office, returned, and handed Sinclair a full cup of coffee and then settled in behind his desk. They glared at each other for a few moments in silence.

Finally, Sinclair spoke. “We used to be partners. I feel like one of our street whores, the way you’ve used me.”

Roberts took a drink from his cup. “This is bigger than your murder.”

“If you told me that two days ago, I doubt I would’ve gotten involved in this.”

“You were looking for an inroad into the escort service,” Roberts said. “This was it.”

“We used to be honest with each other. I sense there’s a whole lot you’re still not telling me.”

“My job’s different now,” Roberts said. “There’s a whole lot I can’t tell many people.”

“Will I ever get a list of the escorts and their clients?”

Roberts looked at him for several beats. “I don’t know.”

Sinclair couldn’t tell if Roberts really didn’t know or that was his way of saying no. “What unit do those FBI agents work in? They aren’t out of the Oakland office.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I reached out to my friends over there,” Sinclair said. “They knew nothing of the op.”

“Are you referring to Archard?”

“Her and the two who were in the hotel bar and later lurking around the design center.”

“She’s assigned to organized crime out of the San Francisco office.”

“The other two?”

Roberts said nothing.

Sinclair drank some coffee. “You can tell by looking at them they’re not field agents. They were too clean, too bookish to put handcuffs on an actual bad guy.”

Roberts said nothing.

Sinclair continued, “I wrote a crime report covering the prostitution solicitation by Danielle Rhodes and the pimping exchange by Helena Decker. I listed Cummings, Archard, and you as witnesses. Under normal circumstances, you each would have to provide a supplemental report.”

“You know we in Intel don’t like to be listed as witnesses.”

“You know we in homicide don’t like to be punked out.”

“You wouldn’t have Decker if it wasn’t for the FBI and IRS,” Roberts said.

“You didn’t level with me from the beginning. In our world, nothing’s more important than a homicide, but you guys are withholding evidence that I need to solve it.”

“Have you turned in the report?”

“I’m still holding it,” Sinclair said. “I don’t need to turn it in until I see the DA to get Decker charged.”

“Is that your plan?”

“Why should I tell you my plan when you won’t share yours with me?”

“Because if I know your plan, I might be able to help.”

“Ya know, Phil, all the dealings I had with Intel in years past were just like this. We peon cops pass on everything we know to Intel. They listen, sometimes say, ‘Oh, yeah, we knew that,’ and then write it down and stick it in a file. The only time they ever passed on anything to us is when they throw us little tidbits because they need something. I thought it would be different when you came up here.”

“Sorry, Matt. It’s the nature of the job.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll get my info from Decker and her lawyer. At least they deal with me honestly