“Keep doing the deep breaths,” Piper reminded her.

They walked through the front doors that she’d been through many a time. But as her foot crossed the threshold, she flashed back to the last time she’d been here. The sergeant winking at her. Touching her shoulder. She had recoiled in disgust . . . and wished him dead.

“Izzy, did you hear me?” Piper asked.

She hadn’t heard a thing. “No. I’m sorry.”

“I asked if you wanted to go to the restroom before we head into the meeting.”

“No. Let’s just get it over with.”

They were greeted by two detectives in the main lobby. “I’m Detective Stewart,” the tall, older woman said. “And this is Detective Bryant.” A shorter, younger man with a shaved head offered his hand.

It didn’t surprise Izzy that they had a female detective involved in the questioning. That had to be by design. To Izzy, though, it didn’t matter whether the detective was male or female—the pain was still the same for her to have to relive. She understood more than ever why victims of sexual assault didn’t come forward. Being questioned and prodded about the most personal and intimate details of your life came at a huge price. But given that this was a murder investigation, she didn’t really have any say in the matter.

“Thank you for coming in,” Detective Stewart said.

Before Izzy could answer, Piper jumped in. “My client is here purely as a courtesy. I hope you’ll keep that in mind.”

“Of course,” Detective Stewart said.

They didn’t take Izzy to an interrogation room but instead led them into one of the conference rooms. Izzy had wondered how they were going to play it, and so far they were following the good-cop routine. How long that would last was the big, open question.

Everyone took their seats around the large conference room table. Piper sat next to Izzy, as she had expected. Piper was her lifeline and had made it clear that she was going to be her protector today. Izzy couldn’t imagine for one second doing this alone.

Detective Stewart’s beady brown eyes homed in on her. “You understand, Agent Cole, that you’re here regarding the murder investigation of Sergeant Henry Tybee. We’ve got some questions that we’re hoping you can help us with. Okay?”

“All right.” At hearing his name, apprehension filled Izzy’s body. She kept trying to take deep breaths like Piper had instructed. She worried that soon all her preparation was going to fly out the window.

“Let’s start at the beginning. Do you have any idea why you’re here today?”

Izzy remembered Piper’s instructions. She wasn’t supposed to speculate. “It would be helpful for you to tell me.”

“What do you know about Sergeant Tybee’s murder?”