LUKE LISTENED to the press conference on the radio as he and Madison drove home from the park. Neither Hart nor Bill spoke; it was all Deputy Chief Cox and Governor Rollins.
Hot air, Luke thought. The gritty details of the investigation wouldn’t be made public; he knew that. Cox sounded as if she were preening for the cameras and was probably bucking for an appointment somewhere. She and the governor said a lot without saying a lot.
When it ended and the station resumed its regularly scheduled programming, he wondered if he’d have any chance to get to Rollins before the governor returned to Sacramento.
“Earth to Papa, earth to Papa.”
“Uh, sorry. What?” Luke glanced at his daughter in the backseat.
“I thought we were getting smoothies. You missed the turn.”
“I did, didn’t I? I guess my mind was elsewhere,” Luke said sheepishly as he pulled into the left turn lane to make a U-turn.
Madison gave him a silly grin, and he realized he needed to concentrate on what was most important now. Sighing, he prayed he’d get the chance to talk to Rollins but also reminded himself that Maddie came first, followed by his work and most pressing case, and that was finding Nadine. Madison loved smoothies, and while Luke would rather have a triple shot espresso, he loved spending this kind of time with his daughter. He settled for a Caribbean blast and listened as she told him about her day.
Bill called while he and Madison were enjoying their smoothies.
“Got some good news for you, buddy.”
“You talked to the governor.”
Bill chuckled. “Not quite. But the governor had his chief of staff deliver an odd request for you and my partner.”
“Both of us? Don’t leave me in suspense. What was it?”
“He wants Hart to meet him at his aunt’s house and let him do a walk-through.”
“That doesn’t sound so odd. What does it have to do with me?”
“I’ll explain tomorrow night. Got to go.”
Luke protested to dead air.
Throwing his hands up, he made a face in the rearview mirror at Madison, who giggled.
“I’m getting my chance.” Abby heard breathing, but Woody said nothing for a long moment.
“I saw the press conference,” he said finally. “He’s gonna talk to you about the Triple Seven?”
“Not yet, but he wants to meet me at Cora’s house for a walk-through.”
“One-on-one?” He let out a long, low whistle. “You lucked out. Just be careful once who you are gets out.”
“Of course. You trained me; how can you not trust me to take care of myself?”
“It’s not that. It’s just . . .” He paused. “I guess sometimes in my mind’s eye you’re still that little girl wrapped in a wet towel. Even after all these years I can’t get my mind around the fact that someone wanted you to burn to death.”
“It’s past time they paid.”
He sighed —with resignation, Abby thought.
“Be ready for the attention. You’ll be a story for a bit.”
“I’ve been ready, Woody, since the day I pinned on the badge.”
Abby worked to quell her rising excitement as she ended the call. Rollins had been interviewed three times by Puff and Puff More right after the murders. She’d memorized every word of every interview. He knew nothing, was shocked that such a horrific crime could happen. The two Puffs believed his shock and grief to be genuine.
Her burning question had also been asked by the Puffs, but she needed to ask it again. Who hated my parents so much that they would murder them and then incinerate everything about them?
When she’d promoted to homicide, she tried to talk Asa into reactivating the investigation. He told her they’d need something big.
“Be patient,” he’d growled, killing her optimism.
As her optimism resurrected, she could see a light, a reason to believe her patience had paid off. It didn’t even bother her that she’d have to call Murphy.
It had amused her to see Cox’s face change colors when Rollins specifically requested her and a civilian for the walk-through. But Abby didn’t like that someone else was calling the shots in her investigation. And it bugged her that all the requests were made by Kent as if the governor himself were speaking. Maybe it was protocol, but to Abby, it was weird.