“Don’t know yet,” she said. “I plan to reach out to him today to strike up a conversation, but there’s about adozen people at both the local PD and here at the ISB who knew about it, so a leak isn’t entirely out of the question.”
“Iris knows, and I also told two of my highest-serving rangers—Diden and Jennings—since they’ve been on this case since the beginning,” I told her so she knew there were a few more.
“I figured,” she said. “Do me a favor, though, and start keeping info close to your chest from now on.”
“You got it,” I told her.
“Alright, have a good one. I’ll be in touch,” she said and then ended the call.
Great. The last thing I needed was this nut making this case more complicated than it already was.
Going back to my sandwich, I took a big bite…just in time for the phone to ring again.
Dammit.
This time it was my cell, so at least I could see it was Archer, Iris’s brother-in-law, calling.
“Hector,” I answered.
“Hey, man. Got a heads-up from a buddy still workin’ at LVPD letting me know my Iris had her apartment broken into. The report also says you showed up because it might be related to a case you were workin’ on. Anything I need to be worried about?”
I knew Iris said she had mentioned the body to her sister, but I wasn’t sure if she had mentioned the break-in. I also didn’t know how much Anna had shared with her husband.
“How much do you know about the dead body?” Iasked, deciding I better figure that out so I didn’t repeat anything.
After a brief pause, Archer spoke. “Did you say a dead body?” He’d asked in a way that I knew this was brand-new news to him.
Well, shit.
I started from the beginning, filling him in on the discovery at Lake Echo all the way up through the break-in. However, after my conversation with Agent Andrews, I opted to leave out the cotton ball part.
“How bad was the break-in?”
“Nothing was taken,” I told him, deciding to go with the truth but not the whole truth. “Police still aren’t sure if it was a random break-in or related to the body from the lake.”
“What do you think?” he asked, because he knew that even if the evidence wasn’t always clear, someone in law enforcement usually had hunches about these kinds of things. “Do I need to get her moved to another apartment?”
“She’s stayed with me the last few nights. Partly because her landlord took his sweet time getting her locks changed, and partly because I’m leanin’ toward it not being a random break-in.”
There were a few moments of silence as he took all of that information in.
“She’s staying with you?”
This was where the conversation could go one of two ways.I could play it off as no big deal—just me doing a favor for my friend’s sister-in-law. Or I could tell him that I planned to make her mine, and while she wasn’t sleeping at my place tonight, she would be back at my place soon enough, and I planned to figure out a way to keep her there.
As much as I knew he would understand, it felt weird having that conversation with Archer before I had it with Iris, so I opted for the first option…for now.
“She called me right after it happened because she was concerned about the connection to the case,” I said. “After talking with the cops—one of whom I had worked with back at the LVPD—they suggested she not sleep there that first night so they could get everything they needed. So, I offered my guest room, and she took it. It was that or staying with her eighty-year-old neighbor next door.”
“She called you right after it happened?” he questioned. “Didn’t know you guys were that close.”
I heard the accusatory tone in his voice.
“She had my number from the incident at the lake and thought this might be related, so she called,” I repeated. “She’s staying at her place tonight with her sister Cora, but if I get word of something else going down, I’ll let you know, and I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her.”
“Appreciate it,” he said, and I could hear a little bit of relief in his voice. “Thanks, man.”
I hung up with the promise to keep him informed of any new updates.
