Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1)(94)

“Yeah, him. Hey, I saw on the news about him—”

“Thank you, Detective. I appreciate your help.”

Brynn hung up. Her heart was racing. Her legs felt noodly. She sank into a chair and stared at her phone. With trembling fingers, she called Lindsey.

“Hi, it’s Brynn.” Her quiet voice sounded strangely disconnected from her screaming thoughts. “I need a favor.”

“Sure. What do you need?” Lindsey asked.

“Did you ever get the evidence-room logs? From the day after Corby was arrested?”

Lindsey grabbed an empty cubicle in the squad room and set her files down. This wasn’t her department, but she’d been at Dallas PD all morning, meeting with detectives and filling out paperwork related to the Corby case.

“You mean the first arrest? Yeah, one of my contacts sent them over.”

“I need you to check something for me.”

Lindsey flipped open a file and found the papers. “This log’s pretty lengthy. What name are you looking for?”

Silence.

“Brynn? You there?”

“Ross Foley.”

She paused. “Ross?”

“That’s right.”

Lindsey frowned as she skimmed the list. “Yeah, he’s on here.”

“What’s the date?”

“June tenth. The day after Corby’s arrest. He was in the evidence room at ten fifteen a.m., signed out at ten twenty-five.” Lindsey paused. “What’s this about? Are you thinking Ross might have planted evidence?”

More silence.

“Brynn?”’

“Ross had an interest in Corby being convicted.”

“Okay,” Lindsey said. That wasn’t surprising—everyone at the DA’s office wanted a conviction. “But what you’re suggesting doesn’t make sense. How would Ross know that Corby collected souvenirs? And where would Ross get the necklace?”

Brynn clutched her phone in her hand. Her heart was sprinting now, and she felt light-headed.

“People from the prosecutor’s office weren’t at Lauren Tull’s crime scene,” Lindsey continued. “I checked into that already. Detectives were at the scene, several patrol cops, the ME’s people.”

The killer. Brynn couldn’t bring herself to point out the obvious. “I need to talk to you,” she said instead. “It’s important.”

“Where are you?” Lindsey asked. “I’m at DPD downtown.”

“Can you come to my apartment? I don’t have a car. It’s not far from you.”

“I know. I’ve been there, remember?”

Of course, she had. Brynn’s brain was muddled.

“It’s important,” she repeated.

“I’m on my way.”

Lindsey left the police station and spotted Erik pulling into the lot. She rushed to intercept him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you were with Brynn.”

“I’m meeting with the task force. Brynn’s in court all day.”

“No, she’s not. I just talked to her. She asked me all sorts of questions about Ross.”

Erik’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. She wanted me to come by there and talk to her. She’s got some theory that Ross planted the Lauren Tull necklace. You know what that’s about?”

Erik just stared at her.

“I mean, it doesn’t even make sense,” Lindsey said. “How would Ross know about Corby taking souvenirs? Only the detectives knew that, and they kept that info under wraps for when they got a suspect.”

Something flickered in Erik’s eyes. Fear? Lindsey had to be imagining it.

He stepped closer. “Where is Brynn?”

Brynn combed through the mess of papers, making stacks and piles, as if organizing everything would somehow fix what was wrong. Her phone chimed. She saw the name and realized she’d forgotten to call Reggie. Shit.

“Congratulations!” Reggie boomed. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“It’s been a crazy morning.” She sifted through the paperwork. She took everything related to Ross and her theory and shoved it into a file folder for Lindsey.

“Where are you now?” Reggie asked.

“At the apartment. Why?”

“I’m coming over.”

“You’re in Dallas?”

“I just closed Sheffield. We have a new client! That’s two victories this morning, plus Ross getting discharged. Time to celebrate!”

Brynn froze. “Wait, what?”

“I’m bringing champagne. This day deserves a toast.”

“Reggie, Ross is out?”

“They sent him home this morning.”

“Home, as in here?”

“Yeah, his sister dropped him off. He’s packing up today and going back to Pine Rock.”

A sharp knock sounded at the door, and Brynn whirled around. She hurried over to check the peephole. Ross stood there, leaning his hand on the doorframe. No doubt he’d heard her in here on the phone with someone.

“Brynn?” Reggie said.

“Talk to you later, okay, Reggie?” She hung up and glanced around. She stuffed the file in her hand under her arm before opening the door.