“I’m not unhappy. Just concerned.” Reid took a breath. “We need to be sure we avoid any possibility of jail time for anyone and also that wedo notlie to the police.”
“I don’t see how we can avoid it,” Micha said.
“Stay with me here.” Reid leaned back in his chair. “You go back to the house. Park where you did when you first arrived. Call the police. Your story will remain the same. The truth. You went to Jamal’s house to question him, but you’ll be vague if they ask for times.”
Micha looked at his teammate. “We can do that, right, Colin?”
“Absolutely.”
“But then they’ll ask why you wanted to question Jamal,” Reid said.
Ava swallowed hard. “Which means bringing me into the discussion.”
Reid gave a sharp nod. “We’ll have to tell them how we came to meet you and that we brought you back to Portland, hoping to confirm your story. All that is true.”
“That’s when they’ll come to arrest me.” She shifted on the sofa, looking like she needed to pace again.
“Yes,” Reid said, but sounded as if he didn’t like having to say it. “Micha and Colin will have to tell them that the last place they saw you was at the apartment and that they instructed you to stay put. But while they were at Jamal’s place, they wouldn’t know if you decided to leave.”
“And if you did go, we wouldn’t know where you went,” Micha said, not liking the sound of not knowing where she was located but also knowing it was the right solution.
“Hypothetically,” Reid continued, “if anyone remained at the apartment with you with Colin and Micha gone, and that someone left with you, that person would be able to talk with Micha after he finishes his interview with the police. That person might request for Micha and Colin to meet up with him.”
“Okay, I get it, but won’t clarify details and put you all in an impossible situation.” Ava feigned zipping her lips. “What happens from there?”
“Well, since I don’t know what we’ll decide to do once Colin and Micha depart the apartment, I couldn’t even begin to speculate. Not even hypothetically.”
She frowned.
Micha wanted to take her hand but resisted in front of Reid. If his supervisor caught how much he had fallen for Ava, he might pull him back to the compound and let others handle keeping her safe.
He did look deep into her eyes to reassure her. “He’s distancing himself and us from any legal repercussions, but I assure you, we’ll make sure you’re safe.”
“I suppose I could?—”
“No.” Micha flipped up a hand. “No details at all.”
“Exactly,” Reid said. “Russ did say a good detective will think of this same scenario and know you are in essence lying to them without lying to them. So don’t expect the detective to be happy with you. And we better pray that you weren’t caught on CCTV anywhere on your arrival back at the apartment just now.”
“We knew the location of this building’s cameras, so we were able to avoid them.” Micha met his boss’s gaze. “Besides, all I care about right now is making sure Ava is safe and finding this killer before he strikes again.”
Ava sat forward, her leg falling away from his. “So you’ll leave now? Go back to Jamal’s place?”
“First we’ll get pictures of the music room at your house. Hopefully that will clarify things, and we’ll know how to proceed in apprehending this killer.”
They were still on the call with Reid when Micha’s phone dinged. He grabbed it while Ava held her breath. She couldn’t handle any more bad news, could she?
Just breathe. Believe. The right place for right now.
Micha leaned over Colin and held out his phone to her. “Photos of your bocal case.”
Yeah, it could be bad news all right. The final straw to ensure she spent her life in prison.
She studied the photo. Micha, Colin, and Devan looked on in person, and Reid over the computer. Three bocals lay in the case. She let out a breath but looked at the close-up pictures holding details to confirm the shapes, lengths, and manufacturers were right.
She glanced up. “My case is fine. Nothing missing. If the bocal is mine, it had to have come from my house.”
“Then we definitely stop at your house before we return to Jamal’s place.”
