smell toothpaste on her breath, close enough to see the concern in her eyes. Close enough to kiss her.
“Good morning, you two!” Jenny opened the screen door before Sam had even noticed her returning to the house.
“Morning,” Molly piped, suddenly aware that she was still the only one not fully clothed. She nipped momentarily into the studio in search of Jenny’s loaner jeans and short-sleeved sweater.
Jenny went into the kitchen and busied herself with a breakfast of bacon and eggs. In another moment, Sam followed her to refill his cup and looked for bread to make toast.
After the three had eaten their fill, Sam reiterated his instructions and admonishments, and out he went.
Chapter thirty
Ignoring a few random stares and snickers from officers realizing who he was under the blonde wig, Sam barreled into Chief Singleton’s office. Singleton was on the phone, his back to the door. His shoulders shuddered when Sam slammed it.
“I’ll call you back, Hon. Someone just barged in.” Singleton closed his cell phone and placed it on the desk before motioning Sam to sit, his poker face never flinching.
“And what’s up with you, Goldilocks?” A faint smile curled on his tight lips.
“Oh, the usual.” Sam slid into a chair away from the door. “Murder, mayhem, prostitution, drugs…for starters.” Sam’s voice dropped to a near whisper. “Once we get through that list, perhaps you’d like to tell me what you know about Lisa Owens.”
“Chuck’s wife. Stands about 5’4”. What about her?”
“Much more to her than that, don’t you think? Like her business, for starters. She travels a good bit, she says, in search of art for the gallery. You think she shops for something else along the way?”
“Wouldn’t know.” Chief looked at the files on his desk. “I don’t know art much.”
Sam pushed on. “Like I said, we’ll get back to her. In the meantime, I’ve got this idea rolling around in my head, and it keeps bumping into notions I’m not sure what to do with. You know—murder, mayhem, prostitution, drugs.” Sam prattled on, marveling at Chief’s unflinching face. “Let’s start with murder. Lee’s death. It’s really boggling me that we don’t have someone in hand at this point. Worse than that, actually. It’s pissing me off. And the further down I dig for answers, the more mayhem I find.”
“For instance?”
“For instance...” Sam leaned back, his fingers forming a triangle for effect. “There are some nice girls down Navassa way. Their bosses are gorilla-sized cops who protect their interests by chasing me all over town. Know anything about that?”
Chief was silent.
“Or we could talk about some friends of one of our very own here who sell more than fish. A lot more. Should I mention that I’ve found a link to the rent-a-cop killing on Bald Head? Or should we just focus on a particular fire set to get us off the trail?”
“You’ve been a busy boy, Sam. You’ve got my attention.”
“What I want is the truth, Chief.” Sam relaxed his hands to his lap.
“We know about Navassa. It’s about to go down, and the gorillas, as you call your brethren, are about to go down, too. It’s not our jurisdiction, so all we can do is wait that one out. As for what’s happening in Southport, I can’t help your buddies on the force to choose their friends any more than I can pick out for you your clothes—or choice of hair color. I can call whomever you like in here, and we can ask him what’s going on right now.”
Sam measured his words like they were candy being doled out to a child. “I didn’t mention that his friends were in Southport, Chief.”
Silence.
“Oh, of course, that’s out of our jurisdiction, too.” Sam leaned forward and repeatedly traced a triangle on Chief’s desk.
“It is.”
“But Lisa’s not, is she?”
“As in Chuck’s wife?”
“The very same.” Sam leaned back against the wall, then forward toward Chief. He noted the color of Chief’s ordinarily ruddy face was getting deeper. He waited for Chief to speak.
“Come on, Sam. Let’s take a walk.” Chief slowly got up from his chair.
“No, Chief. I think I feel safest right here in the police station, amid the best force in North Carolina.” Sam held his hand out in the “stop” position until Chief eased down again. Then Sam sat back, tipping his chair toward the wall, and stretching out his legs.
“Lisa is…well, she can be very persuasive,” Chief started. “I didn’t intend for it to all go this far.”
Sam rocked on his chair, setting a