Drago Nance.”
She nodded. “Indeed I can.”
“You’re on administrative leave, working a case that’s not yours anymore and you’re doing it with an ex-con?”
His voice rose enough that she was certain detectives in the bull pen on the other side of the break room could hear him.
“He wasn’t my choice. He has his investigator’s license.”
“Only because the ASA offered Drago a deal and he pleaded that felony down to a misdemeanor to get out of Cook County with time served. Good God, Martell, you know Lucas Anderson holds a grudge. He could use his political clout to make sure the board holds this against
you
. Are you out of your mind?”
She didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, sir, I am. I
am
out of my mind…over not stopping Angel before he killed Leanne Grant. I couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about it. The worry affected me here at work, made you take me off the case. But I had to do
something
. I never thought searching for Angel in chat rooms would put someone else in danger. If only I had locked down my computer…” She shook her head. “
Now
I’m out of my mind worrying about my neighbor’s kid who was just supposed to walk my dog. Tell me how I can be haunted by
that
and do
nothing
?” Rodriguez was a cop with a great reputation. As a detective, he’d closed more cases than any of his fellow colleagues, the reason he’d gone up the department ladder so fast. “Tell me you would be able to walk away from it and wait for some board to make up its mind, maybe too late to save a vic you know.”
“No one is forgetting the victim! The task force is doing everything we can to find the girl and get enough evidence to lock up this Angel for good.”
Which is all they could do to him, considering the state of Illinois no longer had the death penalty on the table.
“But the task force still hasn’t made progress that I’ve heard. Plus, you don’t know Sandy Kawecki personally.” Not that she really did, either, but he didn’t have to know that. She was using that fact to elicit his sympathy. Rodriguez wasn’t usually a hard ass, especially not when it came to a case like this one. “You aren’t responsible for her being taken by this bastard.
I am.
”
“Let me remind you again. You’re off the case.”
“Officially,” she agreed.
She locked gazes with him, willed him to give her the unspoken okay to keep working on it. Instead, his eyes again filled with his disappointment in her.
“When you walked in here, you said you would take a step back.”
“I meant I wouldn’t interfere or insist on assisting with the official investigation.”
“Not good enough.” Rodriguez shook his head. “You’re hurting yourself, Martell. I’m telling you, for your own good, to stop and leave the investigation to the task force.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but my conscience tells me otherwise.”
His tone held steel. “There’s no room in this department for a vigilante.”
She’d heard some similar stories about him in his early days, but she didn’t think it prudent to say so. Silence was her only option at the moment.
Glaring at her, he said, “I don’t know what your deal is, but you need to quell it or your may just lose your job. For good.”
With that, he walked away, leaving Camille shaking inside. If that happened…no, it couldn’t happen…not over one mistake that she had to fix. No choice. Besides, she was good at what she did. Maybe great. Okay, so she was a little shaky on this one.
But if there was someone to rein her in…to give her a boost when needed…
That someone was Drago Nance.
It all came down to a man she never thought she would see again and how well he would work with her. Would
he
follow orders from her? Would he support her in a way that would keep her out of more trouble when she knew that
he
could be trouble with a capital T?
She couldn’t lose her job. Being a homicide detective was who she was. It was her life. Her identity. If she
She nodded. “Indeed I can.”
“You’re on administrative leave, working a case that’s not yours anymore and you’re doing it with an ex-con?”
His voice rose enough that she was certain detectives in the bull pen on the other side of the break room could hear him.
“He wasn’t my choice. He has his investigator’s license.”
“Only because the ASA offered Drago a deal and he pleaded that felony down to a misdemeanor to get out of Cook County with time served. Good God, Martell, you know Lucas Anderson holds a grudge. He could use his political clout to make sure the board holds this against
you
. Are you out of your mind?”
She didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, sir, I am. I
am
out of my mind…over not stopping Angel before he killed Leanne Grant. I couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about it. The worry affected me here at work, made you take me off the case. But I had to do
something
. I never thought searching for Angel in chat rooms would put someone else in danger. If only I had locked down my computer…” She shook her head. “
Now
I’m out of my mind worrying about my neighbor’s kid who was just supposed to walk my dog. Tell me how I can be haunted by
that
and do
nothing
?” Rodriguez was a cop with a great reputation. As a detective, he’d closed more cases than any of his fellow colleagues, the reason he’d gone up the department ladder so fast. “Tell me you would be able to walk away from it and wait for some board to make up its mind, maybe too late to save a vic you know.”
“No one is forgetting the victim! The task force is doing everything we can to find the girl and get enough evidence to lock up this Angel for good.”
Which is all they could do to him, considering the state of Illinois no longer had the death penalty on the table.
“But the task force still hasn’t made progress that I’ve heard. Plus, you don’t know Sandy Kawecki personally.” Not that she really did, either, but he didn’t have to know that. She was using that fact to elicit his sympathy. Rodriguez wasn’t usually a hard ass, especially not when it came to a case like this one. “You aren’t responsible for her being taken by this bastard.
I am.
”
“Let me remind you again. You’re off the case.”
“Officially,” she agreed.
She locked gazes with him, willed him to give her the unspoken okay to keep working on it. Instead, his eyes again filled with his disappointment in her.
“When you walked in here, you said you would take a step back.”
“I meant I wouldn’t interfere or insist on assisting with the official investigation.”
“Not good enough.” Rodriguez shook his head. “You’re hurting yourself, Martell. I’m telling you, for your own good, to stop and leave the investigation to the task force.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but my conscience tells me otherwise.”
His tone held steel. “There’s no room in this department for a vigilante.”
She’d heard some similar stories about him in his early days, but she didn’t think it prudent to say so. Silence was her only option at the moment.
Glaring at her, he said, “I don’t know what your deal is, but you need to quell it or your may just lose your job. For good.”
With that, he walked away, leaving Camille shaking inside. If that happened…no, it couldn’t happen…not over one mistake that she had to fix. No choice. Besides, she was good at what she did. Maybe great. Okay, so she was a little shaky on this one.
But if there was someone to rein her in…to give her a boost when needed…
That someone was Drago Nance.
It all came down to a man she never thought she would see again and how well he would work with her. Would
he
follow orders from her? Would he support her in a way that would keep her out of more trouble when she knew that
he
could be trouble with a capital T?
She couldn’t lose her job. Being a homicide detective was who she was. It was her life. Her identity. If she
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