AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He said it in a tone that implied that the invite was not a suggestion but an order.
Ballard nodded. She turned to look for Goring and Dubose. The powers that be had decided that the West Bureau detectives would take the case to the DA’s office in the morning. This would allow them to tailor the presentation of evidence around Ballard’s questionable actions. Ballard did not object to the decision. It wasn’t her case. She would be a key witness for the prosecution, testifying before a judge and jury to what was said and done in the kitchen of the house on Sunset Ridge. Her credibility would be viciously challenged by Bennett and his lawyers, and she would be ready for it.
But Goring and Dubose had slipped out, and after Gandle left, Ballard was alone with her team. She turned and looked at their faces. All eyes were cast down. The victory was hollow.
“All right,” Ballard said. “Group hug.”
Everyone gathered around and locked arms. At first they were silent, heads bowed. Then Laffont spoke.
“To Colleen,” he said. “May she rest in peace.”
EPILOGUE: THE KULA LODGE
BALLARD’S PHONE STARTEDbuzzing before sunrise. It was dark in her room but the glow from the phone’s screen helped reacquaint her with the lines of the cottage. She had been in a deep sleep after a long journey. Five hours on a plane followed by three hours in a rented Jeep bouncing along dark roads.
She grabbed her phone off the night table, checked the screen, and accepted the call. It was Maddie Bosch.
“Did you see theTimes?” she asked.
“Uh, no, not yet,” Ballard said. “I’ve been sleeping.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot you’re three hours behind over there.”
“We used to say three hours, three thousand miles, and three decades behind. What’s in theTimes?”
“They did a story on the Black Dahlia case. They laid the whole thing out. There’s going to be a shitstorm.”
“What does it say?”
“I’ll send you the link. It’s all about the DA not filing on our package.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Maybe it will change Ernesto’s decision.”
“It names me. They’re going to think I leaked this.”
“Did you?”
“No way.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about. They can’t prove it happened if it didn’t happen.”
“Was it you? Did you—no, wait, never mind, I don’t want to know.”
Ballard smiled; Maddie understood that it would be best for her not to have any further knowledge of the leak. Ballard swung her legs off the bed and sat up. The deal she’d made with Scott Anderson was that he had to mention prominently in the story that Officer Madeline Bosch was responsible for the break in the Black Dahlia case. Ballard had trusted him, and it appeared that he had made good on his promise.
“Who’s on the byline?” she asked, pretending she didn’t know.
“It’s that Scott Anderson,” Maddie said. “He’s the one who was asking all the questions at the press conference.”
“Right. Is there anything factually wrong in the story as far as you can tell?”
Maddie laughed.
“No, it’s right on. It makes the DA look like a petulant asshole holding out on the chief because he didn’t endorse him.”
“Sounds pretty accurate, then. What’s it say about—”
Ballard got a call-waiting buzz and checked her screen. It was Captain Gandle, most likely calling about the same thing.
