There had been several times when Lucy helped with criminal cases, even though she had no legal authority or jurisdiction. There had been times when she’d broken the rules because someone was in danger.

She looked at the timeline that Max had written on the board. She wanted to dismiss the coincidence, but she couldn’t. Victoria was killed the same day that the Albright bones were found, and Stan changed his plea the Monday after the Albrights’ identities were revealed. He must have seen a news report on it, but no … he couldn’t have. The information wasn’t released to the media until Monday afternoon.

“Who told Stanley Grant that the bones we found were the Albrights? That wasn’t information we released until yesterday, but he planned on changing his plea over the weekend.”

“Very good question,” Sean said. “Maybe he always knew.”

“In a perfect world, Max would give me everything she has and walk away.”

Sean smiled. “I don’t think she would agree, but I understand what you mean.”

“For the record, Sean, I don’t like this. I can see a hundred ways this can go sideways. But … I want her information. I guess I’m stuck.”

“No, you’re not. No one’s stuck. This is a win-win.”

Lucy wished she felt that way.

“Bring her back in. I’ll lay out some ground rules she won’t like, but at least tomorrow we’ll both know exactly what we need to learn.”

Max had sent Ryan a good-night message when she was still at Sean and Lucy’s house because she knew she wouldn’t be back at the hotel until close to midnight, which made it one in the morning in New York. So she was surprised when her cell phone vibrated as soon as she slid between the sheets. She almost ignored it.

But she never ignored her phone if she didn’t know who the caller was.

She looked at caller ID and saw that it was Ryan. She answered.

“I told you I wouldn’t call because it was getting late.”

“I appreciate that. But I wanted to hear your voice. And make sure you’re in one piece.”

“A very tired piece.”

“You’ve had a long day.”

“You might get a call tomorrow from someone in the FBI.”

“I get a lot of calls from people in the FBI. What did you do?”

“Not funny.” But she was smiling. “Well, let’s say I convinced Agent Kincaid that she could use my help. My investigation into Victoria Mills’s death is directly connected to her investigation into a three-year-old cold case.”

Ryan laughed. “Shouldn’t you be working the cold case?”

“Yes, I should, and fortunately, Agent Kincaid recognized that my experience in these matters will come in handy.”

“She did?”

“You sound skeptical.”

“I know you, sweetheart. You would withhold information from an active investigation if the police didn’t play nice.”