“I don’t think that Faith and Harrison are going to roll as easy as Simon. From what Simon said before he passed out, Mitch was involved in the financial scam but knew nothing about the murders until the bones were identified. He went to Stan and told him, and Stan changed his plea. He figured out that Harrison Monroe must have been involved because of the financial end of the Albright case, but my guess is that neither of them knew that Faith killed Victoria. They probably wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I really thought Mitch would turn himself in.”
“We don’t really know what he knew or when he knew it. But if he wasn’t party to the murders and he comes clean, he might do minimal time.”
“I’ll track him down tomorrow.” Sean kissed her. “Reed called me a couple of hours ago. They confirmed that Carl Chavez was one of the two people in the van that was used at the courthouse. The van itself was destroyed out in the desert, they couldn’t find any evidence inside, but remnants of the paint job and floral design match the van that was used. The passenger was likely his cousin, though they don’t have a clear image of him, only a partial.”
“One more loose end tied up.”
“Reed said you’re a smart fed,” Sean added. “I think she likes you.”
“I tried to be open with her from the beginning. She still doesn’t like Max. How is Max? Did you talk to Ryan tonight?”
“He’s really mad that I wasn’t sitting on top of her like David would have done, and I’m feeling a bit guilty about that as well. You were followed, we had been followed, I guess in the back of my head I figured they just wanted to know what we were doing. I didn’t think they’d actually go after Max. But I should have. That’s on me.”
“No, it’s not. Max didn’t ask for your protection, and she knows what she needs. Don’t blame yourself.”
“I did go over and see her, bring her flowers. She’s not a very nice invalid. Grouchy and quite bitchy.”
“She hates not being in the middle of things.”
“Even though Ryan isn’t happy with me or Max, he’s very impressed with our work. He’s been on the phone with the SSA of White Collar with his analysis of the money-laundering scheme. He was having fun. I think he’s enjoying the fact that Max can’t walk and he gets to wake her up every two hours.”
“We’re going to interview the Monroes tomorrow. We have a strategy, but neither Jennifer nor I is positive that it’ll work.”
“There’s no one better than you, princess, and I was pretty impressed with Detective Reed letting me go into the bar undercover. That was fun.”
“Did you bring Jesse home?”
“Yeah, I grabbed him after I looked in on Max. They were watching one of the new Star Wars movies. Jess likes it over there, but I think he was ready to come home. And Bandit was really happy to see him.” Sean reached down and scratched the dog’s head, earning himself a lick.
“How’s Ricky doing?”
“He was watching the movie, quiet. Not part of the group, but not wanting to be alone, I think. Mateo’s keeping an eye on him, but they had a good talk this afternoon. I guess the guy who took care of him for the last three years is religious and they regularly went to church, so Ricky naturally gravitated to Mateo.”
“I was so worried that we’d put him in danger by bringing him home, but I couldn’t help but think that his grandparents need him as much as he needs them.”
“Do they know?”
“I asked Miranda King, the private investigator, to call them and tell them that Ricky was alive and healthy and they’d be able to see him soon but not give any details. Just in case Chavez heads out that way.”
“Do you think he will?”
“No. I think after he shot his partner he left. He could easily have crossed the border. But … there’s still a niggle of doubt in my head. Simon was up at his cabin all day drinking. His phone doesn’t show that he made any calls or texts—though he had several missed calls. When did Ynez start following Max? Why? Because Chavez told him to? When? And if Chavez told him to, he’s still around.”
“And Ynez isn’t talking.”
“Not a word.” She yawned. “I’ll be up early in the morning, does Jesse have a soccer game?”
“Not this weekend, but next weekend is the big tournament.”
“Thanksgiving weekend. That’ll be fun. Dillon and Kate will at least be here for Saturday’s games.”
“And Kane and Siobhan. They’ll be here Wednesday and will stay until Monday.”
“No one else. I wish Patrick was coming.”
“So do I.”
Lucy had to put it out of her head. He said he wasn’t, and nothing she could do would change his mind. He would never come without Elle, and it wouldn’t be fair of her to ask him to. “Dillon said next year he wants us out there. That might be the only time I’ll get to see my other brother. He said Jack and Megan already agreed go out to DC, too.”
“That’ll be fun.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I promised Ryan I’d be at Max’s beck and call. I think that’ll go a long way in making him like me again.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I would have seen him before the collision.”
“You’ve been trained that way. And Max is going to run her own investigation the way she sees fit. And she’s good at it.”
“Yeah, but still, I owe Ryan, so I’m going to help. She’s going to be going stir-crazy, and she refuses to take the pain medication. And she’ll want updates, so let me know what I can tell her. And I’ll see if I can find Mitch. He wasn’t difficult to find before.”
“I talked to Jennifer tonight about what we could share. She’ll go on the record with Max, once we get the indictments. Until then, we need to be cautious.”
“She already figured it out, and she knows that you’re using the information she found at the recorder’s office.”
“I think I would defer to Ryan on this. Let him take the heat for giving her too much information. We have to live here and work with SAPD.”
“Fair enough.”
“She really cares about Ryan.”
“He’s a good guy, and Kate really likes him.”
“My sister-in-law is very particular about the people she likes.”
“I know, but she loves me, and that’s all I care about. Let’s go to bed before you fall asleep here.”
“I want to shower first. It’s been a long day and I feel sticky.”
“May I join you?”
She smiled and kissed him. “That would make it perfect.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
SATURDAY MORNING
Detective Reed was taking lead, which was appropriate since the Victoria Mills homicide was her case. Lucy was happy to be able to participate as her partner.
The DA and AUSA were hesitant about bringing any of the accusations of money laundering and illegal gambling into the equation because they had no hard evidence yet—other than Simon Mills’s statement. Ryan had explained earlier that a scheme like this would take months to investigate, but because they had a strong beginning and substantial documentation he felt confident that the FBI office would be able to put a case together within weeks.