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He stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. “Is this more of the family feud you told me about?”
I nodded. “With him, yes.”
“Parsons was right. She may be the perp in this crime, but unless we have something that says otherwise, she’s still the vic in the kidnapping.”
I nodded. “Got it. Empathy for the vic’s family. I’ll write that down for next time.”
“Hold it right there,” Neil said firmly as he closed the door. “I’ll say it again. Parsons was right on this. You want to tell me what is really going on between you two?”
“Never met her before.”
He moved back and leaned against the table. “That’s not who I’m talking about and you know it. What is it between you and Benson?” He folded his arms.
I’d never shared that with anybody at the Bureau and wasn’t about to start now. “A beef when we were in college is all.”
“Well, get past it or take yourself off the case. With your family name, you don’t have any spare goodwill to fuck up, and I’m not about to go down with you. After Boston, Parsons has ears in high places. You’ll get burned if you go pushing her buttons. You’ll lose that matchup every time.”
Of course he had to remind me of Uncle Jack’s legacy, which was now mine to live down. “You’re right.”
“Damned straight I am.”
I opened the door to leave, but turned back to my partner. “Thanks. I’ll keep it together.”
“And I’m here for you when you want to lighten the load and tell me what happened between you two.”
“Another time maybe.”
An hour later, my cell lit up. I’d entered the numbers for Parsons and Newsom after they’d left. The call was from Parsons.
I took Neil’s advice to play nice with her. “Hi, Liz. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“We’re waiting for our flight, and I just thought I’d mention two things.”
“Sure, what?”
“You might consider that there could be another side to the story you’re not aware of.”
“What story?”
“The reason my vic is now your suspect.” Somehow we were back on the idea that the video lied and Deborah Benson wasn’t an accomplice in the bank job.
“One doesn’t come to mind. The video was pretty obvious.” Parsons didn’t know the Bensons like I did, or she wouldn’t be suggesting bullshit like that.
“Just worth thinking about. And another thing…”
I waited.
“There’s obviously some history between you and Dennis, and I wanted to get your side of the story.”
My gut tightened as I sensed a trap. “Just an incident in college. It won’t alter how we handle things with our suspects and your victim.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Translation, I’d walked into the trap and said something she could use against me later.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing in particular. He joked that if he disappeared, we should put you at the top of the suspect list.”
