Sam and Freddie escorted the girls to the conference room in the pit, aware of the curious stares of coworkers they passed in the hallways. People were always curious about what she was up to—probably more so than usual today with word of her confrontation with Stahl winding through the corridors.

Agent Hill, who was working in the conference room, looked up when he heard them come into the room.

“Anything on the Vasquez financials?” Sam asked, watching his astute gaze take in the young women who’d arrived with her.

“Not a thing, and Lieutenant Archelotta was here while you were out to say that they haven’t found anything useful on the video either. There was so much chaos in the streets that it’s hard to tell what’s going on in many cases.

“Could I have a word?” Sam asked.

“Sure.” Hill gathered up his work and the suit jacket he’d slung over one of the chairs.

To Freddie, she said, “Give me one minute. I’ll be right back.”

She went out ahead of Hill, and waited until he’d closed the conference room door.

“What’s up with the kids?”

“Nothing good.” She gave him a condensed report on what had transpired at the motel, including the discovery of Rick Lind’s body.

“Did either of them see anything regarding Lind?”

“I’m about to get into that with them. In the meantime, I need your help with something else—something you’re not going to like.”

“What’s that?”

“I need you to run the financials on Ray and Elle and all their personal and business interests.”

He seemed genuinely shocked by her request. “They didn’t have anything to do with this, Sam. I’ve known him all my life.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Fifteen, sixteen years? Something like that. A long time.”

“I received a tip this afternoon that the Star is in big financial trouble. Elle needed the team to win because the World Series TV rights would’ve bailed out the entire company. She needed them to win.”

“So what’re you saying? She’s going around exacting revenge on those who foiled her plan?”

“It’s the closest thing to a motive I’ve seen yet.”

“It’s not them. They’re not murderers.”

“Are you able to maintain objectivity, Agent Hill?”

In that second she got to see what he looked like when he was very, very pissed. “Yes, I can, and I don’t appreciate the implication.”

“No implications. Just a question. I’ll leave it to you to take a closer look at them while I talk to Ginger and Amber and try to figure out what’s been done to them and what to do about it.”

“Sam.”

She turned back to him. “Yeah?”

“Good catch on the kids. You probably saved their lives.”