“No. I’m good. I’ll give you a call when I’m done, and maybe we can meet up for dinner and talk about it. That sound like a plan?”

He pulled her into a big hug. “Sounds good to me.”

She lingered for a moment in his arms, just enjoying being with him, but she needed to get her head in the game. The conversation she was about to have was going to be a tough one, and she didn’t know any good way to lightly jump into the topic, especially with a total stranger. Talking to Alicia had been one thing, but they had common ground, and they knew each other. This woman might not even be willing to talk to her, but Izzy was going to try.

She gave Aiden a kiss good-bye and left to meet Kim Conway. After getting Kim’s information from the PI, she’d had a quick introductory phone call with her, although she hadn’t been completely forthcoming about the topic she wanted to discuss. When Izzy had said she was from NCIS, Kim didn’t even give her a chance to explain before accepting the invitation. Izzy planned to make it clear from the beginning that this was not official NCIS business. She’d gotten her foot in the front door, but there was no way she was going to lie about the purpose of the meeting.

About half an hour later, she walked up to a bakery in Alexandria and saw the woman she thought was Kim sitting at one of the outside tables. She took a deep breath and then walked over to her.

“Kim?”

Kim stood up. She was below average height, with light brown hair and pretty brown eyes. Izzy guessed Kim was only a few years older than her. She also noted that Kim was small-framed like her. It made her wonder if the sergeant had a special thing for petite brunettes.

Izzy extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Isabella Cole. Thanks for meeting with me. Please have a seat.”

“What can I do to help NCIS? The only time I ever hear anything about NCIS is from watching TV. I can’t see how I could be involved in any of that.”

Izzy prayed Kim wouldn’t get up and walk out after she heard the truth. “Well, actually, while it’s true that I’m an NCIS agent, what I want to talk to you about today is of a much more personal nature. It’s not official NCIS business. Is that okay?”

Kim bit her bottom lip but nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“I want to talk to you about a man named Henry Tybee.”

Kim’s demeanor instantly shifted. She gripped her coffee cup tightly in her hands. “Why are you asking about him?”

“Are you aware that the sergeant was murdered?”