Fatal Reckoning (Fatal #14)(91)

“Lorraine,” the older woman said. “The police want to speak to you.”

The younger woman raised her head, revealing a face ravaged with shock and grief.

Sam showed her badge as Freddie did the same. “I’m Lieutenant Holland, and this is my partner, Detective Cruz. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

“Th-thank you.” Sobs muffled her words. “I don’t know how this could’ve happened. My father didn’t have an enemy in the world. Everyone loved him.”

Sam and Freddie sat on a love seat across from the two women. “When was the last time you spoke to him?”

Lorraine wiped tears from her face. “Yesterday afternoon. He didn’t answer the phone when I tried to call him this afternoon, so I came by after work to check on him. That’s when I found him.”

“When you talked to him yesterday, did he express any concerns or anything out of the ordinary?”

“Not at all. We talked about the Redskins, and he mentioned that he’d met you. He said it was about your father’s case?”

“That’s right. We learned this week that your father had been a witness to the shooting.”

“It’s not a coincidence, is it, that this happened to him right after he gave a statement to you?”

Sam’s stomach ached fiercely, the way it used to when she’d been hooked on diet cola. “I don’t think it is.”

Lorraine shook her head as more tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t understand this.”

“I don’t either, but we’re going to figure out what happened to him.” To the older woman, Sam said, “Could I get your name, please?”

“Eleanor Lively.”

“How long have you lived next door to Frank?”

“Oh, about fifteen years or so.”

“And you were friends?”

“We were.” Her voice caught. “He was a lovely man. He helped me with anything that needed fixing, and I cooked for him. It was nice for both of us to have the company, as we’re both widowed. I don’t know what I’ll do without him.” She took the tissue Lorraine handed her and dabbed at her eyes.

“Did you hear any sort of disturbance next door or the sound of the gunshot?”

Eleanor shook her head. “I didn’t, but my television was on, so that might be why. I can’t believe anyone would want to kill Frank.”

“He was so sweet to everyone,” Lorraine said softly.

They took down the addresses and phone numbers for both women and promised to be in touch when they knew more about what happened.

In the hallway, Sam leaned against the wall and took a series of deep breaths, but that did nothing to quell the nausea swirling in her gut. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She headed down the stairs and burst into the cool autumn air, bent at the waist and took more greedy deep breaths, hoping she wouldn’t vomit.

That was where Captain Malone found her when he arrived at the scene. “Lieutenant.”

Sam straightened. “Our investigation got Davis killed.”

The captain grimaced. “You know that for sure?”

“How could it not be related?”

As the medical examiner’s truck arrived, Malone took Sam by the arm. “Let’s take a walk.”

Sam didn’t want to walk, but she let him lead her around the corner, away from the prying eyes of the other first responders and the neighbors who’d gathered, as they always did, hoping for a look at someone else’s disaster.

After a short walk, Sam stopped and turned to face the captain. “What is this?”

“I don’t know.” He ran his fingers through wiry gray hair, frustration rolling off him in waves.

“It’s like we’ve stirred a hornet’s nest, and now the hornets are coming at us and everyone we’ve talked to in the process of stirring the nest.”

“Or the hornets are running scared and attacking anyone who’s threatening them.”

“Which means we need to protect everyone else involved, including Kevin Viera, the paramedic who gave us a statement.”

Sam had reached for her phone to call Viera when Cameron Green came running around the corner. “Lieutenant!”

Sam’s stomach dropped with dread.

“We just got a call from Dispatch. Viera, the paramedic, was run off the road a short time ago as he was leaving the gym.”

Sam swallowed hard, the nausea swirling. “Is he alive?”

“Yeah, but they had to cut him out of his truck. They’re taking him to GW. It was called in as level-one trauma.”

She glanced at the captain. “Let’s go.” To Green, she said, “Stay until Crime Scene gets here and talk to all the neighbors. See if anyone heard anything from Davis’s place.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’re on it.”

Sam handed her keys to Cameron. “Tell Cruz to take my car back to the house when you’re done here.”

“Will do.”

She followed the captain to his SUV and got into the passenger seat. As he drove them to GW, she focused on breathing and not vomiting in his car.

Malone put through a call to Hill, keeping the phone on speaker, which Sam appreciated.

“What’s up?” Hill asked.