The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite #4)(74)

“That was a different investigation,” Fields said. “It was a missing person case.”

“Except you said you thought all along the husband killed her,” Tracy said.

“There was no certainty Andrea Strickland had been murdered,” Fields said, voice rising.

“Yet you immediately operated under that premise, narrowing your investigation so much that you never spoke to Strickland’s best friend or her aunt, and you didn’t even know about Andrea Strickland’s counselor, or that her friend had also disappeared about the same time Strickland walked off Mount Rainier. Had you done your job, you would have obtained evidence that pointed your investigation in another direction, namely that Andrea Strickland had not been killed, but walked off the mountain and was still alive, possibly preventing the situation—”

Fields slapped the table with the palm of his hand and rose out of his chair. “Yeah, you’re great with twenty-twenty hindsight, Crosswhite.”

“Hindsight has nothing to do with it,” Tracy said, rising from her chair and speaking loud enough to be heard over the others who had jumped in. “Had you done your job, the next logical step would have been to look for Lynn Hoff.”

“That’s your opinion!” Fields shouted back.

“No, that’s good detective work.”

“It was no longer your call to determine how another organization conducts its investigation,” Jessup said, also standing, his face a red beacon. “Nor is it up to you to critique my department or to step in when you deem it appropriate. You never should have spoken to the aunt.”

“Exactly how did it interfere with your investigation?” Tracy asked.

Jessup froze for an instant. Without an answer, he resorted to the schoolyard equivalent of “It’s mine.”

“Because it was no longer your investigation.”

Tracy looked to Martinez. “I didn’t hide the fact that I spoke to anyone. In fact, I called Detective Fields on my day off and invited him to meet with me so I could immediately provide him with the information. I didn’t tell him what to do with it.”

Fields said, “I had every intention of speaking to the aunt and to the friend.”

“You didn’t even know the friend’s name. Your file made no mention of the friend or the aunt.”

“Enough,” Martinez said, quiet but deliberate. “Everyone sit down.” After a brief pause to allow everyone to catch their breath, he said, “Have you written up the reports of your conversations with the aunt and the counselor?”

“Yes. I was going to transmit them this morning.”

“We also want the information from the skip tracer,” Fields said.

Martinez looked to Tracy. “I can provide the information that person uncovered,” she said. “I can’t provide a name.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Jessup said.

Tracy was in a tough spot. If she said “can’t,” it could lead them to determine that Faz had actually spoken to the skip tracer. “The information was provided in confidence. It’s irrelevant who provided it. It’s the substance that matters.”

“We’ll decide what’s relevant,” Jessup said. He looked to Martinez. “We want the name.”

Tracy continued her appeal to Martinez, who had a reputation for having been a good cop and protecting those that worked for him. “I don’t want to burn a source for an investigation that is no longer ours.”

“We’ll talk more about it,” Martinez said. “Is there anything else?” No one in the room spoke. Martinez rose. “Then you’ll excuse us, gentlemen.”

Jessup and Fields pushed back their chairs. They shook hands across the table with Nolasco and Martinez. Tracy got glares from both men as they departed. Nolasco and Martinez retook their seats.

“I want both reports on Captain Nolasco’s desk by noon,” Martinez said. “And I want the report on the skip tracer to include a name. We’ll decide whether to provide it or not, take you out of it.”

“I’ll give them everything I have, but I can’t give them the name, sir.”

“That’s not a request, Detective, that’s an order. I also want you to verbally provide Captain Nolasco with a full report of your actions, including dates, times, and names with respect to everything you did after Pierce County reasserted jurisdiction.”

“Do I need to get the union lawyer involved?” Tracy said.

Martinez shrugged. “That’s up to you.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Personally, I think you did good police work, and I never have a problem with that.” He again showed the hint of a smile before it quickly faded and he left the room.

Nolasco didn’t get up. “You just can’t help stepping in the shit, can you?”

“All due respect, Captain, sometimes doing the right thing means stepping in the shit.”

Nolasco smirked. “Well, you sure have a knack for it.” He put on a pair of cheaters and lowered his gaze to a notepad on the table, pen in hand. “Who else knew about you continuing the investigation?”

Tracy shook her head. “No one.”

“No one?” he asked over the top of his cheaters.

“I did this all on a personal day. I don’t share what I do on my personal days with people in the office. Frankly, it’s no one’s business what I do.”