The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite #4)(75)

“I guess OPA will decide that,” Nolasco said. “What about the skip tracer?”

“What about him?”

“That sounds like something Faz would be more inclined to know about than you.”

She shrugged. “Not this time. My investigation. My call.”

“I’m going to need his name.”

“I’m not going to provide it without some assurance Pierce County isn’t going to broadcast it and burn a perfectly good source because of their incompetence.”

“That’s not your call.” Nolasco set down his pen and leaned away from the table. “Can I ask you a question, off the record?”

Tracy shrugged.

“Why do it?”

Tracy thought of Penny Orr’s statement. “Because Andrea Strickland mattered, and just because the world crapped on her while she was living doesn’t mean she should be crapped on in death. Someone killed her and stuffed her body in a crab pot, and the two buffoons who just walked out of here will never figure it out.”

“You want my opinion?”

“Not really, no.”

Nolasco smiled. “Then I’ll give you my professional advice as your captain, because I’m going to put it in the report to OPA.” He paused a second. “This job is hard enough to do without making it personal. You make it personal, and it will impact not only you but those around you. Why do you think I’m divorced twice?”

The better question Tracy always wondered was why anyone had married him.

“Why do you think so many of us in this profession are divorced? You don’t think I had occasion in my career when a case became personal, when I got too close and paid the price with my marriages and my relationships with my kids? You’re not the only one who cares. You think you are, but you’re not. The rest of us have just found a way to shut it off. If you don’t learn how to do that, eventually you’ll hurt yourself and those around you.”

Tracy didn’t immediately respond because, for once, Nolasco made sense. For once, she couldn’t dispute what he was saying. She thought of Dan, and the ring on her finger. She thought of a baby, in a stroller, maybe a little girl.

She spoke softly. “When it’s my case, it is my responsibility.”

“But this wasn’t your case,” Nolasco said, his voice also measured. “Not anymore.”

“It was my case. It should have remained our case. The body was found in our county, in our jurisdiction. We never should have given it up.”

“I know you don’t think I went to bat for you, and I’m not going to waste my time trying to convince you otherwise. That is not your—or my—decision to make. Sometimes we just have to bite our tongues and follow orders.”

“Why do you think Pierce County fought so hard to get this case back?” she asked.

Nolasco looked confused by the question. “They had it originally; they had time and manpower invested in it.”

“Or maybe they realize this case is going to continue to generate a lot of interest, and it could bring their entire department some much-needed positive publicity.”

From the blank expression on Nolasco’s face, he clearly hadn’t considered this and now wished he had.

“But that doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “It’s Pierce County’s opportunity now.”



Tracy provided Nolasco with the additional information Martinez had requested. By the time she got back to her cubicle, it was clear word had spread around the section fishbowl that something was up. Tracy said the meeting was to ensure a smooth transition of the investigation to Pierce County. No one was buying her explanation, though most took the hint she wasn’t going to say anything more.

As for Kins, Faz, and Del, she suggested they step outside. Tracy led them around the corner of the building to a patio partially shaded by an overhang. A fountain trickled water over marble levels, like a river. Tracy filled them in on the meeting in the conference room.

“I don’t want you taking the blame for something I did,” Faz said.

“Something we did,” Del said.

“I asked you guys to do it.”

“Bullshit,” Faz said. “Nobody tells me to do nothing I don’t want to do.”

“We’re big boys,” Del said. “And we’ve been at this longer than you. They can’t suspend us all.”

“Look, I appreciate the support, but I made the decision to go and talk to the aunt and I understood the potential consequences.”

“What the hell is Fields’s problem?” Kins asked.

“I told you I didn’t like that guy,” Tracy said.

“I’m going to call Nik and tell him the situation. He’ll get the name of the skip tracer he spoke with,” Faz said. “You don’t want to get in trouble for refusing an order from a superior officer. They’ll charge you with insubordination, and they take that shit seriously. The other stuff is all bullshit. OPA will slap you on the wrist and it’ll blow over—if they go to OPA at all. I doubt they will.”

“I appreciate that, Faz,” Tracy said.

“What the hell?” Kins said. He took a step closer. “Is that a ring on your finger?” He reached for her hand. “That’s a diamond.”