KELSEY GRABBED the bottle of Advil and shook out four tablets, hoping they’d be enough to stop the pounding in her head. Nothing right now could help the feeling that she was losing her grip, she was hanging by one weak finger. She swallowed the pills without water and walked to the window of her hotel room. Years ago she’d learned the hard way that if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. That had, in fact, been Gavin Kent’s motto.

If only I had made it my motto and lived by it, she thought, opening the wet bar refrigerator to get a bottle of water. The Advil was stuck in her throat.

After a swallow of water, the pills went down, and she worked hard to develop a plan to dig herself out of the pit Alonzo Ruiz had dug for her. All he was supposed to do was keep track of Hart and Murphy, make sure they weren’t opening doors they shouldn’t. His interpretation of that order not only got him killed, it threatened to expose everything. She hoped against hope that there was nothing in his possessions to connect them. She’d already disposed of the phone she’d used to speak to him. The only bright spot in the situation was that her employer was too involved in scheduling fund-raising events and kissing up to prospective donors to have heard what had happened.

Kelsey hoped, as she always did when Rollins made appearances and took questions from the press, that no one would ask about the Triple Seven. She knew the opposition was already considering running ads about the cold case and Gavin Kent’s involvement to hint at some shadow over Lowell Rollins. So far, he’d been able to deflect, and it hadn’t affected his approval numbers. If the subject came up in any interview, the governor always dodged, but it set Kelsey’s boss off like a cherry bomb. The boss had even threatened to send a personal aide, Quinn, a man Kelsey hated, to help her keep a lid on the Hart problem.

I don’t need anyone breathing down my neck about this, she thought, rubbing her shoulder. Especially not a gorilla like Quinn.

Kelsey believed she had time to clean up Ruiz’s mess, but was loath to look for someone else to take his place. Ruiz had been Gavin’s friend and contact. Gavin loved him because of his wizardry with electronics. There was no time to vet someone else. She had a short list of trustworthy people but hesitated to use it. After all, Ruiz had been the best as far as Gavin was concerned and he’d messed up. What if the next guy was worse?

She did what she learned to do as a cop: she organized all the information available to her and tried to map out her next move, always with the objective in mind to stop Hart and Murphy from opening any doors that needed to stay closed and keeping her boss placated and Quinn away.

If Hart weren’t already back in Long Beach, Kelsey was certain the shooting would bring her back. Ruiz’s bonehead move gave Kelsey a major migraine. She’d heard from her contact on the PD that Woods and Murphy would be heading to the Antelope Valley, and eventually as far as Tehachapi, on some cold case. She still didn’t believe Murphy posed any threat at all to her employer, particularly out in the high desert, but she knew better than to say that, especially in light of what happened with Ruiz.

As much as Kelsey hated to admit it, she wasn’t able to handle the situation herself. She needed eyes on Murphy, and she needed eyes on Hart. She couldn’t be two places at once. She had to find someone she could trust. A name came to mind. He wasn’t on her list, but he’d retired to the high desert and he liked cash. She knew him because he’d been a sheriff’s deputy. He’d gotten into serious trouble in Long Beach a long time ago, when sheriff’s deputies had been assigned to patrol North Long Beach during a budget crisis in the city, and she’d done him a favor. That favor had helped him keep his job and eventually his retirement. Kelsey made a point of keeping track of people who owed her. She was certain she could persuade him to do a little freelance surveillance. He didn’t strike her as someone who would be careless like Ruiz had been.

The Advil finally kicked in. Kelsey found the man’s number in her book and punched it in on her new burner phone.

“Jerry, I need a favor,” she said after they caught up on old times.

“I figured. There’s no reason for you to be talking to me unless you were calling in a marker.”

His voice was not bitter; rather there was resignation there. Kelsey was certain she’d made the right choice.

“I need some surveillance out your way, discreet, with regular reports about what’s happening.” She detailed the situation for him.

“Hmm,” Jerry said, then went quiet.

After a long minute while Kelsey held her breath, he said, “I can do that for the right price.”

Kelsey exhaled and relaxed. Money wasn’t an issue. They decided on a price and a method to connect with one another. He’d get a burner and text her. Headache gone, she disconnected and collapsed on the bed.

I can and have handled this. It will all work out in the end.