At six that evening, Matt knocked on Kara’s door, then entered without her saying anything.
“Everyone’s ready,” he said.
She didn’t budge. She was sitting at the window, staring out into the city she once loved, wondering when and how everything had gone wrong.
He stepped inside and closed the door.
“You’re not alone,” he said. “Michael and I will be with you the entire interview. You didn’t kill Chen, and the faster we get through this bullshit, the better.”
“They want to interview me about everything,” she said. “The investigation, the arrest, shooting Chen’s bodyguard, the whole nine yards.”
“You don’t have to answer those questions,” Matt said. “Elena Gomez is here as your LAPD representative in case they stray too far off course.”
“But if I’m adversarial, they’ll just dig deeper. Taking up my time—and yours—when we could be out looking for Violet.”
“Thirty minutes. That’s all we’ll give them.”
“I have nothing to hide, but you damn well know that Chavez is doing this because Thornton pushed her to.”
“Chavez may be in trouble herself,” Matt said cryptically.
“Oh?”
“Sloane called me earlier. Chavez is leading this investigation into Chen’s murder. In the four months Sloane has been in the office, she has never seen Chavez get so passionate about any case she was involved with, and she’s rarely taken the lead.”
Odd, Kara thought. “What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know, but I have Ryder digging deep on her, deep and broad. Family, associates, old cases.”
“Maybe she just doesn’t like me.”
Matt walked over to where she sat, held out his hand. “We need to get this over with. Sloane’s here, too.”
“And no one else knows she’s working for you.”
“Correct.”
She took his hand and he pulled her up, kissed her lightly. “It’s going to be fine,” he said. Then he frowned, rubbed her shoulders. “Why are you so tense?”
She’d already told Matt about confronting Elena that afternoon. “Elena and Lex have been lying to me for months,” she said. “And I think they lied to me today, but I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong. It was... Damn, it just keeps slipping away. But I’ll figure it out.”
“Promise me one thing, that when you do, you’ll come to me before you do anything. I’m your partner in more ways than one—never forget that.”
“I won’t,” she whispered. “Okay, I’m ready.”
They walked out and Kara stared at the group assembled at the small conference table in the hotel suite. Elena was sitting at the head of the table. Matt motioned for Kara to take a seat in the center, next to Michael. Then Matt sat, flanking her, and she felt emboldened by her team. She’d get through this. Even though it was an “informal” interview, it was being recorded. Kara didn’t like that. She didn’t like anything about this interview, but Matt said it was in her best interest to cooperate, and he would protect her.
She trusted him. He slid her a cup of coffee and she smiled her thanks.
“Detective.” A trim, attractive woman with flawless brown skin and sleek hair styled into a chic bob started the meeting. “I’m Assistant US Attorney Nina Radinovich. This is Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Chavez—” she gestured to the woman on her right—late forties, dressed just as impeccably as the AUSA “—and Special Agent Sloane Wagner, both from the Los Angeles field office. You of course know Lieutenant Gomez. We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.”
Nina Radinovich was straightforward and to the point. Kara noted the bright red four-inch spike heels she wore. She hadn’t even kicked them off under the table, which Kara would have done if forced to wear the ankle-breakers.
Even though she was petite, Nina Radinovich commanded the room. “First, I want to share my condolences about the murder of Craig Dyson. Craig was a good man, an outstanding lawyer. I had great respect for him.”
“Thank you,” Elena said. “He was a good friend.”
Kara glanced at Elena. It was true, but Kara hadn’t acknowledged it when she spoke to Elena last night or today in her office. Elena kept her emotions even closer to the vest than Kara.
“As you know,” Nina said, “my office has been looking into one aspect of Mr. Chen’s alleged crimes. We have been working to find evidence of his trafficking. And we’ve made, thanks to ASAC Chavez and her team, some inroads there. I have witness statements that are compelling, but unfortunately—as I know you have encountered in your investigation—some people remain silent out of fear. These cases are difficult to prosecute because of that.
“However, we’ve traced much of Mr. Chen’s finances. We have payments to dockworkers and after some negotiations, we may have an eyewitness willing to go on record.”
“Isn’t that a moot point because he’s dead?” Kara said. She didn’t need to know what might have happened should Chen have lived.
“No, because there were other people involved. Craig and I spoke briefly about this, and we had a meeting scheduled for today—to fill me in on the grand jury investigation he intended to launch, and he wanted some legal advice.”
“About what?” Elena asked.
“He didn’t say.”
Motive, Kara thought. It had eluded her, but it all came back to the grand jury investigation. He was killed because someone—whoever was going to be exposed because of the investigation—didn’t want the jury looking into them. And the only way to stop it was to kill Craig. Even Elena said he was keeping information from her and Lex. Why would he do that? Because he didn’t trust someone? Because he didn’t trust Elena? Someone close to her? Was it another dirty cop?
According to Nina Radinovich, Craig wanted to talk to her.
“How long have you known Craig?” Kara asked Nina.
The question surprised Nina. “Eleven, close to twelve years. I came here from the Seattle office when my husband took a teaching position at UCLA. Craig and I had a case that intersected, and we became friendly. He was very easy to work with, tough but fair. That particular case was a fraud investigation—a contractor had defrauded both the federal government and the City of Los Angeles related to inflated bids. We both wanted the case, and he turned it over to me because he felt the federal case was stronger than the state case.”
“Was it?” Kara asked.
“No—but it was clearer, if that makes sense. Both cases were good, but the federal case was straightforward, and the state would have had to prove multiple points. Craig’s primary concern was for the individual affected in the state case, so we worked together to ensure they were included as part of the restitution award in my case. A win-win.”
Elena turned to Rebecca. “How’s your family, Rebecca? If I remember, you have a son and daughter, right? Grown now?”
Rebecca blinked. “Yes, they’re fine, thank you.” She turned to Nina and said, “I know your time is valuable, Nina, so maybe we should continue?”
Kara looked at her pointedly. “I would say my time is also valuable, Rebecca.”
Chavez bristled and shot Kara a narrowed glare before hiding her irritation. Kara bit back a smile, then added, “So is Elena’s time, and Matt’s, and everyone else at this table. So let’s get to it.”
Nina looked momentarily confused at the tension, then said, “According to your statement, Detective, you were in the courthouse with DDA Dyson and FBI Agent Michael Harris at the time of the shooting, correct?”
“Yes.”
“What time did you arrive?”
“Approximately 11:30 a.m.”
“Do you concur, Agent Harris?” Nina asked Michael.
“Yes.”
She made a note.
“Were you both together the entire time you were in the building?”
“No,” Kara said.
“When did you separate?”
“About twenty minutes after the shooting. While we were in lockdown in Craig’s office, Matt called and asked Michael to meet him in the lobby.”
Nina made a note.
“Are we done?” Kara said. “It’s been a long day and I’m really hungry.”
Rebecca cleared her throat. “We’re in the process of getting warrants for your banking records, Ms. Quinn—”
“Detective Quinn,” Kara said. “And you have no cause for my bank records.”
“On the contrary, you threatened Mr. Chen and have the contacts and expertise to hire a professional.”
Nina cleared her throat.
“You are accusing my detective of a serious crime,” Elena said. “As her advocate, I’m going to recommend that she stop this interview and you can talk to her with her lawyer present.”
“We are not accusing Detective Quinn of any crime,” Nina said diplomatically.
“Ask me,” Kara said.
“This doesn’t need to be adversarial,” Nina said.
“Tell that to your fed there.”
Rebecca reddened.
“Detective Quinn,” Nina said, “did you hire anyone to kill David Chen?”
“No.”
“Would you be willing to voluntarily turn over your banking records?”
“No.”
“If you have nothing to hide...” Rebecca said, holding her hands palms up, “you should cooperate.”
Kara didn’t say anything. She wasn’t taking the bait. Rebecca Chavez was just like Bryce Thornton, only with a prettier face and higher rank.
“There is no need for this,” Matt said. “Lieutenant Gomez already verified Kara’s alibi, and jumping through these hoops is only further damaging the already tense relationship between the FBI and LAPD.”
“I apologize,” Nina said and sounded like she meant it, “but if the FBI is investigating Mr. Chen’s murder, we need to interview all witnesses and verify alibis for the record.”
“You don’t have this investigation,” Elena said. “This is an LAPD homicide investigation. Out of the kindness of my heart, I agreed to share information with Agent Chavez, but that’s it.”
Now Nina looked confused, and a bit irritated. “I apologize. I was under the impression that Agent Chavez was building a case and I needed to be present for the interviews.”
“I am building a case,” Agent Chavez said. “This is a joint investigation.”
“Take that up with my boss,” Elena said, “because this is not a joint investigation. Senior Detective Caprese is lead, under my command. I will give you a copy of all his reports because of your interest in the case, but if you interfere with our process, I will have my commander take it up with your director. We’re done here.”
Elena reached over and shut off the recorder. “You’re a piece of work, Chavez. You think you can just muscle your way in and take over a legitimate LAPD investigation?”
“That wasn’t the intent,” Agent Chavez said, jaw tight.
“Bullshit,” Elena said.
Kara enjoyed watching her lieutenant go off on the fed.
Matt rose and said, “I think we’re done here tonight. Nina, nice to meet you. Agent Chavez, we’ll talk tomorrow. Agent Wagner,” he acknowledged with a nod. He walked to the door and waited for the three women to rise, gather their notes and exit.
Nina looked like she wanted to say something, but simply said good-night to the group and followed Chavez and Sloane out.
Matt closed the door and came back to the table.
“Wow,” Michael said. “You really know how to make friends and influence people, Kara.”
“She’s taking direction from Thornton,” Kara said.
“Maybe,” Matt said, “but we don’t know for certain. I’ll go over there tomorrow and demand some answers. She already doesn’t like me.”
“Join the club,” Elena mumbled. “That was a fucking waste of time. What is her game? I sent her everything we had. But we didn’t give the feds the case. My boss said play nice, share information, don’t budge on jurisdiction.” She frowned. “Why did Craig want to meet with the federal lawyer?” The abrupt change of subject had Kara’s instincts twitching.
“Maybe there was a federal component to his grand jury investigation,” Michael offered.
“Or maybe he wanted advice,” Kara said. “Like when you go to a colleague and bounce ideas around as you work through things. I think the question is, why didn’t he tell you, Elena? Is there another bad cop in LAPD?”
Elena stared at her, but Kara didn’t back down. Elena must have thought the same thing. Why was Craig keeping information from the already small investigative team?
“I gotta go,” Elena said. “Let me know if there is any fallout from this, and if they want to talk again, don’t do it without your department rep or a lawyer. I don’t like the look of this. It’s as if Chavez wants you to be guilty.”
“I’m sure she does, but I’m not, so I’m not worried.”
Elena left, and Kara stared at the door when she was gone. Something was bugging her about Elena, had been all day, and Kara would damn well figure out what it was.