What She Found (Tracy Crosswhite #9)(81)

“What? Why?”

“I refused a direct order to read a prepared statement.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does, actually. She gave me an order to not pursue the case and to focus on cases with DNA evidence. I didn’t advise her of the lead I received about Lisa Childress maybe being alive in Escondido.”

“So what? This is positive publicity.”

“You haven’t seen the news.”

“I’ve seen some of it.”

“Then you haven’t seen the part where the husband rips the Seattle Police Department for rushing to judgment twenty-five years ago, thereby causing him and his child to be scorned and ostracized for decades.”

“He didn’t. Why would he do that?”

“Because it’s true, and he’s bitter and angry. That’s exactly what Moss Gunderson and Keith Ellis did. They made him the only suspect to divert any investigation into Lisa Childress pursuing a story on the Last Line and going that morning to meet with her source, the harbormaster, David Slocum. But I don’t have solid evidence to prove that, and I don’t want anyone outside of Del and Faz, whom I trust, to know.”

“Why exactly were you suspended?” Dan said, quickly shifting into his lawyer tone.

“She believes I went around her direct order not to pursue the case and because I refused to break my word to Anita Childress and Melissa Childs that I wouldn’t make a statement or respond to media questions without their blessing. The latter is true. The former I can dispute. She told me to pursue cases with evidence that might lead to a resolution. I received a solid tip. It wasn’t DNA, but it was solid and it led to a resolution.”

“Weber wants you to be the department’s sacrificial lamb.”

“Maybe.”

“Why not read the statement? The family clearly has gone public.” Dan pointed to the television.

“That was her argument, but she’s wrong. That was just an angry little man seeking his revenge. I’m certain it wasn’t Anita’s or Melissa’s decision, and Lisa didn’t walk away, not deliberately. I want no part of it.”

“Call them up. Ask them—”

“Do you know what it took for Melissa to return to Seattle? She’s never traveled. She’s spent all that time in Escondido because it was safe. Now she arrives to news trucks and reporters? I’m not going to put her through more of that, Dan. The brass can take matters up with Larry Childress as they see fit.”

“You need to get ahold of the union. Tell them what transpired, that you pursued a case with a solid lead. Get legal counsel.”

“I don’t know, Dan. This job has become politicized with everything going on now. You can’t do or say anything without the far left or the far right attacking. I feel damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Maybe it’s time I retired. A lot of my colleagues have already come to that conclusion. I’ll stay home and raise Daniella and think of what I might do next. I can always teach. If there’s one thing this case has taught me, it’s life is precious and the people in it even more precious. I’m sacrificing my time with Daniella for what?”

“So that people like Anita Childress can reunite with her mother, Tracy,” Dan said softly. “So all those families of all those victims in North Seattle and Curry Canyon can find some form of closure.” His words hit home. “Screw Weber. You do good work. You do damn good work. You never let Nolasco take that away from you. Why are you going to let her take it away?”

“I’m tired of the fight,” she said, but she knew she was only feeling sorry for herself.

“Where’s the person who told me I couldn’t blame myself for what happened to Ted Simmons, who said that I did my job and I did it well?”

“Don’t throw that in my face, Dan.”

“You threw it in mine . . . And it worked, Tracy. We can’t always control the outcomes, but we can control what we do. You didn’t do anything wrong. You did your job. Weber is the one failing to see the forest for the trees. She could spin this into a positive news story.”

Dan sounded like Mike Melton. He made sense. Tracy calmed.

“Maybe. But I’m not going to read that statement, and I’m not going to answer the media’s questions just to get my job back.”

“I’m not telling you to read the statement. I’m telling you to fight for what you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Fight for yourself as hard as you fight for all those victims you help. If you lose, then go down swinging and get in a few licks.”

Tracy couldn’t match Dan’s level of combativeness, at least not at the moment. She was tired of the fighting—with Nolasco and now with Weber. Seemed as though no matter how successful she was, there was always another obstacle in her path. Her personal cell phone rang. She checked caller ID. Del Castigliano.

“Saved by the bell,” Dan said.

Tracy answered her phone and put Del on the speaker. “Is the rumor going around true?” Del asked.

“Depends on the rumor,” Tracy said.

“I heard Weber suspended you pending an internal investigation for insubordination and refusing multiple direct orders.”

“That would be true.”

“Is this related to Lisa Childress?” Del asked.