Page 151 of Flint’s Strike

He glances at Osgood again, some private joke passing between them that neither bothers to voice. Then his attention returns to me. “No offense intended.”

“None taken,” I say, because it costs me nothing and it tells him even less. “Let’s go back to Apex.”

“I’ve never understood accusations like this.” Gabe spreads his hands, palms up, this whole conversation seemingly amusing him. “If I were up to something, darlin’, don’t you think I’d have kept my name off the paperwork?”

“We’re not accusing you of anything, Senator,” I say. “We’re asking about a wire transfer.”

“I’ve told you what I know.”

“You’ve told us what you’re willing to say you know.” Nate doesn’t raise his voice. If anything, he sounds friendlier than he has the entire meeting. “There’s a difference, and I think you’re aware of it.”

Gabe’s smile doesn’t falter, but his eyes shift to Nate, then back to me. Something colder replaces the amusement. “Careful, Captain. That’s starting to sound like an accusation, and my attorney’s sitting right here.”

“My client has answered your questions voluntarily and extensively,” Osgood says. “If you have something more specific than a loan he made eight years ago, I’d invite you to come back with something in writing that requires him to answer. Otherwise, I think we’ve given you plenty of his time this morning.”

I hold Gabe’s eyes a second longer than the moment calls for. Long enough, he’s the one who breaks it first, reaching for a pen in his pocket as if he suddenly remembered he needed something to do with his hands.

“We’ll be in touch, Senator,” I say, standing. “Thank you for your time.”

“It was my pleasure.”

He rises with us, extends his hand, and I take it because I won’t be the one to break decorum.

“You know, Captain, I’ve read a bit about you. That business with the cult a few months back—Grace Stone, wasn’t it? Terrible thing.” His grip stays firm. “Small state, big stories. I make a point of knowing who’s who in the rooms I might end up in.”

“Good policy,” I say, and pull my hand free before he decides he’s finished with it.

Nate and I don’t say another word until we’re back in his Impala, the air conditioning fighting a battle it can’t possibly win.

“He didn’t crack,” Nate says, shifting into reverse.

“He wasn’t going to.” I fasten my seat belt, staring up at Gabe’s office window on the top floor. “Men like that don’t crack in a conversation they agreed to have. They crack in the ones they can’t control.”

“You think he’s rattled.”

“I think he brought up Grace to prove a point. To let us know he could find out anything about me.” The truth of it sours my stomach. “Whether that’s rattled or just how he operates, I don’t know.”

Nate doesn’t say anything for several blocks. When he does, the anger in his tone could melt glass. “He talked to me the entire meeting like you weren’t the one running it.”

“I noticed.”

Nate grips the steering wheel even tighter. “I think he wanted you to.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Eliot

For the first time in a week, my phone isn’t ringing. The last inspector from El Paso left this afternoon, Kurt’s out at a checkup on his broken arm, and since the entire office was working overtime cataloging photos and checking and rechecking every goddamn form, I sent most folks home an hour ago.

Four empty buildings are still open on Nate’s spreadsheet, but it’s still a hundred and two out there, and sunset is less than an hour away. I’ll knock ‘em out tomorrow when the temperature drops into the high eighties.

For this one moment, there’s nowhere I need to be.

I’m not ready to go home yet. Parker won’t be there. And while I know she and Nate are analyzing financial statements for the companies involved in this fucking fraud scheme, I miss her.

I have the records system open on my computer, and Nate’s spreadsheet on my tablet. Seven buildings on his list burned down before anyone knew a damn thing about Apex Building Solutions or Senator Gabe Dines. All seven cases were investigated by this office, then closed as accidental. None of them were mine.

Starting with the most recent one, I read through the report, then pull up the photographs. The fire was contained quickly. No injuries. The cause was ruled accidental. The photos from the original inspection Apex signed off on match the ones Kurt took after the fire. Minus the soot.