While Josie hadn’t been on the job long, she recognized when someone had something on their mind, and Chloe Conrad was one of those people.
But what should she do? Bender had told her not to say anything regarding the case to either of the Conrads. Should she mention to Detective Ferrari she thought the girl might have information? What if she was wrong? She only had a few days on the job. What did she know? Better to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t want a reputation as being salty—a new officer who acted like they knew everything.
Both she and the teen jumped when the door opened and Tami appeared, followed by the detective.
His gaze scanned the room. “Where’s your partner?”
“He had to step out for a few minutes.” She was intentionally vague, trying to give the impression Bender was making a head call.
He nodded. His gaze shifted to Chloe. “You ready?”
Josie could see the fear in the teen’s eyes.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, rising from her chair.
Ferrari looked at Josie. “Get ahold of your partner and have him back here asap.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tami gave her daughter a hug, then sat at the table, as the girl was guided into the hallway.
Josie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and immediately texted Bender. Ferrari wants you back in the conference room Code 2.
"That detective seems quite nice," Tami said. “I’m not really sure what my daughter will be able to add. I mean, her car was stolen. Period. She had nothing to do with that poor policeman’s death.” Her expression hardened.
Josie shifted in her chair.
Obvious anxiety filled the other woman’s eyes.
She wasn’t sure how to respond. She wished her training officer was there. He’d have something to say.
“Well, they’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Do you know if they’re close to finding a suspect?”
She shrugged. “I’m sorry. I don’t. We don’t receive any information from detectives.” She had no idea if that was true or not, but she didn’t want Chloe’s mom to keep asking questions.
The door opened again. It was Bender. He motioned for her to go out into the hallway.
“What’s up? Where’s Ferrari?”
“He took Chloe away to interview her.”
“What did he want?”
“He didn’t say. He just told me to get you back here.”
Over his shoulder she saw the detective coming down the hall. “Here he comes now.”
Her partner turned around to look.
The detective joined them and glanced at Bender’s name tag. “Hey, Bender. If you don’t mind, I thought it might be good for your P-1 to watch and listen to us conduct this interview.”
She was excited and hoped he’d say yes.
“That means that you’ll have to sit with Mrs. Conrad,” Ferrari added.
Her partner’s gaze shot to her. He sighed. “Yeah, I guess that makes more sense than the both of us twiddling our thumbs.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at Bender.
“Follow me, Price,” said Ferrari.