a month from her due date.
Faith said, “I should take the lead with Lena.”
Will hadn’t considered a strategy, but he said, “That makes sense. She’s pregnant. You’ve got two kids.”
“I’m not bonding with that dingo over motherhood.” Faith scowled. “I hate pregnant women. Especially first-timers. They’re so smug, like something magical took place and suddenly, they’re growing life. You know how I magically grew Jeremy? I let a horny fifteen-year-old moron trick me into thinking I couldn’t get pregnant if it was only the tip.”
Will studied the GPS display on the dashboard.
Faith said, “I should take the lead with Lena because I’ve met your lying, duplicitous bitch of an ex-wife. And I’ve read your case notes from the last two times you investigated Lena.”
“Only the first time was an investigation. And she was cleared of wrongdoing. At least any wrongdoing I could prove.” Will realized he wasn’t exactly defending himself. “The second time was happenstance. Lena just happened to be caught up with some guys who—”
“‘Just happened to be caught up.’” Faith gave him a pointed look. “You don’t step in dog shit unless you’re following a dog.”
Will was no stranger to a dog park. “All you have to do is look down.”
Faith groaned. “You don’t see the bad in Lena. You don’t see the bad in anybody who’s like her.”
Will had to concede, silently, that she could perhaps, possibly, be right. He had always had a soft spot for angry, damaged women. More often than not, the person they hurt the most was themselves.
He also had to concede that they hadn’t driven to Macon for a therapy session. They were trying to get information from Lena, and Will of all people knew how difficult that was going to be.
He told Faith, “She’s changeable.”
“Like a demon?”
“Like a person you trust until you don’t trust them,” Will said. “You’re talking to her, and what she’s saying makes sense, but then, suddenly, without you seeing why or when it happened, she’s angry or she’s hurt or she’s paranoid and you’re dealing with an angry, hurt, paranoid person.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“The hard part is, sometimes she can be a really good cop.” He caught Faith’s snort of disbelief. “She has the instinct. She knows how to talk to people. She doesn’t cheat all of the time. Just some of the time.”
“Being a little corrupt is like being a little pregnant,” Faith said. “What I really want to get my hands on is Lena’s notebooks. This was one of her first big cases. Amanda’s right—when you’re just starting out, you write down every fart in the wind. That’s where Lena would’ve made her mistakes. We can hang her with her own words.”
Will knew she was right. Those first few years on the job, your spiral-bound notebook felt like a diary. Your boss didn’t check it over. It wasn’t an official, sworn report. It wasn’t a statement of fact. It was where you put down stray thoughts and niggling details that you wanted to follow up on. And then a defense attorney subpoenaed it and a judge agreed and the next thing you knew, you were sweating it out on the witness stand trying to explain that DQ was where you’d gone to lunch, not the initials of an alternate suspect who could be the real murderer.
Will said, “Lena’s cunning. The second we ask for her notebooks, she’s going to know we’re trying to jam her up. And she’s had plenty of time to think about it. Tons of people saw us at the station. There’s no way she didn’t get a call that the GBI asked for her location.”
“Cops are such bitchy little gossips,” Faith complained. “But we didn’t tell anybody which case we’re looking into. Lena’s probably got a lot of cases she’s worried about. Her luck is going to run out eventually, and I’m going to be there with the handcuffs.”
Will was surprised by her vehemence. “When did you get such a hard-on for her?”
“She’s thirty-two years old. She’s got fifteen years of policing under her belt. She doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore. Plus,” Faith held up her finger, as if to signify this was the important part, “I’m Sara’s friend. The enemy of my friend is my nemesis.”
“I don’t think that’s what Churchill said.”
“He was only fighting Nazis. We’re talking about Lena Adams here.”
Will let the comparison slide. And he did not admit that Faith’s diatribe was reinforcing her earlier point. The more she attacked Lena, the more Will wanted