A rather foreboding beat of silence followed. “So…” Finn finally spoke. “What’s up with you and Dani?”
Michael’s spine snapped straight. “What are you talking about?”
“See? That. You practically jumped to attention. What is going on?”
“Absolutely nothing. She’s Josh’s little sister. She’s practically my little sister, given how much time she spent with Maria at our house when we were growing up.”
“I know ‘best friend’s sister’ is a whole thing, but I’ve never understood it. If you like Dani, why don’t you ask her out? You guys seem to hit it off. And you’re not in any way related.”
“Obviously you do not have little sisters.” Yes, he was grumbling. But this was warranted. He was trying very hard not to think about Dani Kim.
She was off-limits.
She was Josh’s sister.
She was probably gonna leave Renegade as soon as she could be reassigned.
She was a really good kisser?—
No!
Michael reached over and turned the radio on. “I’m gonna see if I can find the Rockies game. They’ve got a real shot at the Series.”
Finn wisely remained quiet, and Michael ignored the smug look on his face the rest of the ride.
As soon as they walked into the precinct, though, Captain Salvador called them into his office again.
“This can’t be good news,” Finn said under his breath as they took their seats.
Finn was right. Michael braced himself.
The captain looked up from his computer screen. “I’ll get right to it.” He swiveled in his chair to face them directly. “Got a call from the Southwold precinct. Gary Donner was found this morning.”
“Dead?” Finn asked.
Michael was glad his partner had asked. His own mouth had gone bone dry.
“Yes. Beaten and shot. They’ll send over the preliminary report, as it pertains to our investigation as well, but the other details will have to wait for the autopsy. He was found, however, with a stash of jewelry from the burglary case at the mall.”
“That doesn’t mean he was guilty.” Michael fisted his hands in his lap. Donner could’ve been framed. Someone could’ve easily planted the jewelry after the fact. This wasn’t adding up.
“I didn’t say it did. I’m merely passing on the information. You need to follow up. The rest of the info is here.” He handed a folder across the desk. “That’s all.”
Finn took it, then they stood and left.
Once they were back at their own desks, Finn placed the folder in Michael’s hand. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I just don’t want to jump to conclusions about Donner. He was a good cop.”
“That may be, but we both know even good cops can find themselves in circumstances that might lead to making bad decisions. We’ll fight to find the truth no matter how dark it is or how well it’s hidden. That’s all we can do.”
Michael might not like it, but Finn was right. He needed to uncover the whole truth and not make hasty conclusions. But this was too much like déjà vu, and now his last lead on his mom’s murder was lying in the morgue.
Dani crunched numbers all morning, but her mind drifted. If it wasn’t reliving the game last night and the warm, fuzzy feeling that she was one of the Martinellis, she was wondering what was going on in the garage of the trucking company, or where she might find Colter McCord.
She’d reached out to old high school acquaintances, but no one was getting back to her.
As she looked over the reports in her solitary confinement, the numbers were frustratingly fitting into the categories they were supposed to. The only weird thing was the two different accounts for the waste management, but once she’d accounted for the old code being used, it cleared up the problem right away. So she was back to square one. And the thought of six months of this was already sucking her soul dry.
