Once inside her apartment, Nikki flipped on a few more lights and picked up a dancing Mikado, letting him lick her face. “Okay, so how are we going to do this?” she asked Reed as she placed the dog on the floor again. She was eager to start the investigation.
“It’s pretty simple and one-sided for now,” he admitted as he left his wallet and keys on a table near the front door. “Since I know you’re going to investigate the hell out of the Blondell case, whether I tell you to or not, you’re going to share what you learn with me.”
She didn’t like where this was going. “And you?”
“I’ll give up what I can to you, and you can work with me, not just the public information officer, but you can’t report on anything that isn’t approved by her. Not until this is over. You’re trying to find the truth, as we are, but the difference is the state thinks we’ve got the murderess behind bars, and we want to keep her there. If she gets out, she can’t be retried. You don’t really care about that.”
“True, but dealing with Abbey Marlow isn’t going to be that easy; she’s not exactly known for being forthcoming.” Nikki conjured up a mental image of the new police department spokesperson, an ex-newswoman with a keen mind, thoughtful demeanor, and flaming red hair. She’d kept all her press conferences on point and brief, a professional to the nth degree. No way would she ever give Nikki an advantage. Unless she was instructed to do just that. “So Abbey will know that I’m on the inside.”
“Maybe. Eventually. I’ll run it by Okano.”
From the studio overhead, Jennings appeared, trotting down the spiral staircase and meowing loudly.
“Sorry,” Reed said, but it didn’t sound at all like he was. “Those are the rules.”
“I don’t do well with rules.”
“I know.” He walked to the window, peered out, then shut the blinds. “But take the deal or leave it.”
“You know you can be infuriating, don’t you?”
“Good thing you never are. Right now, I’m calling all the witnesses at the original trial to see if they remember anything they didn’t testify to. I’ve spoken to Niall and Blythe, the victims, as, I gather, you have.”
“And Blondell,” she reminded him as she found Mikado’s leash. “You know, I haven’t had that privilege yet.”
“I haven’t forgotten. But next up for me: Roland Camp and Calvin O’Henry.”
She nodded. “And I plan to check with the men in Amity’s life. Someone got her pregnant.”
Mikado barked impatiently near the outside door, and Reed said, “Give me that,” indicating the leash. “I’ll take him.” As he scrounged for a plastic bag in the junk drawer tucked under the eating bar separating the kitchen from the living area, he added, “You knew her better than anyone other than her family. Who do you think was the father of her child?”
“I don’t know,” Nikki admitted, “but I intend to find out.” What she didn’t add was that the first person on her list was Holt Beauregard. There was no reason to let Reed know that she suspected the lead detective’s son of being involved, not until she knew a little mo
re, so for the first time since she’d heard the news that Blondell O’Henry might be released, Nikki changed the subject.
“Here we go, boy.” Reed snapped Mikado’s retractable leash onto his collar.
“We have some other really important things to talk over, too,” she said.
“Such as?”
“Seating arrangements for the reception. Mom wants to know if you want your family to sit together or mix them up with some of your cop friends.”
“Seriously.” He rubbed his jaw, fingers scraping against his beard while shaking his head. “I really don’t give a rip about this, you know, but to think of Morrisette seated next to Luke kind of makes my blood run cold.”
Nikki smiled. She tried to picture Reed’s younger brother at the wedding ceremony and reception and failed. “My mother thinks who sits next to whom is damned near earth-shattering.”
Lifting a shoulder, he said, “Then sure, toss them together. Could be interesting.”
“Interesting,” she repeated.
“Not good. Not bad. Just interesting,” he said as he held the door and they headed outside with Mikado together.
CHAPTER 21
Nikki was tired of drawing blanks when it came to the investigation. Two days after she and Reed had come to an agreement that she could be a part of it, she’d still made little progress, and she hadn’t seen enough of him to even compare notes.
While working at home, she had reached Leah Hatchett on the phone, and the woman had been in the same major state of denial as her stepbrother. “I liked Niall; of course I did,” Leah admitted. “I guess maybe we flirted a little, but that was it. Innocent kid stuff. He was too young for me, for one thing, but the worst of it was he was part of the family. It didn’t matter that we weren’t blood-related; he was still part of it. All I wanted was out. I couldn’t wait to turn eighteen and walk out the door.” Barely pausing to take a breath, she asked, “Have you met my mother? Mommy Fearest? That’s what I called her behind her back. So did Cain, but he’s a wuss and always kind of sucked up to her.