“You know the cops in the station, but this chick I’m not sure about.”
I scratch the back of my head. “What’s she doin’?”
“Well, she broke into the lab after hours. Could be tamperin’ with evidence.” Trust Sawyer to go above and beyond. “Just looked kinda off.”
My eyes widen. “What the fuck?”
“So, I hacked into the mainframe computer she was usin’ and planted a bug the other day — you can thank me later.”
“If you get caught, you’ll face a minimum penalty of twenty-five years,” I remind him
“I’ll take my chances.”
“And?”
“She typed some names into the database.”
“Who were they?”
“Nobody we know. Maybe she’s workin’ a cold case for all we know, could be nothin’, except?—”
“Except what? Spit it out, asshole.”
“She looked up Max Sinclair.”
“Max?” I frown.
I think back for a second. “Wait, is she cute, blonde hair, short in stature, and wears a long ponytail?”
“Didn’t see much of her face, but she has a nice ass,” he says.
“There’s a cop there called Hally Baltmore,” I say. “She’s the one who arrested Max in Mississippi a couple of years ago. What the fuck is she up to?”
Sawyer sighs. “It’s always the quiet, hot ones.”
“She hasn’t done anythin’ yet,” I say, trying to fathom how this seemingly sweet woman could be doing anything underhanded. She came across as genuine, if not a little naive. “Oh, and Bolt is dead.”
“What the fuck?”
“Lookin’ at his death certificate, so we need to start barkin’ up another tree because he ain’t breathin’.”
“I’ll look her up. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Roger that.”
We hang up. Huh. Well, today is sure as shit turning out to be a day of reckoning.
“Sorry about that,” I say to Star. “Gotta head back to the office.”
“No problems. I’ll keep working on the names, and I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”
“Appreciate it.” I stand, letting myself out as I wave goodbye to Laurel, who’s taking a phone call.
Hally Baltmore.
Maybe she’s looking up Max because she wants to connect with him. I know she felt bad about arresting him, and that he was Willow’s brother. In my haste to get to Willow the other day, I had forgotten to tell her about our conversation, and for putting in a good word for Hally, not that I know this woman from Adam.
