“Bag it,” Niki yelled.

She bent down to look more closely at the spot, pulling a lock-blade knife from her pocket and scraping loose a tiny speck—dark red, almost black. Blood? She stepped back and looked at the car, a white SUV. Sadie Vauk’s killer had driven a white SUV.

Then Niki remembered the videos of Amy and Gavin in jail, some of the comments coming into a new focus. That’s what mothers do; they look out for their children. I’m scared for you, Gavin, she had said. I just want to help. And then there was that comment Amy made while standing beside the swimming pool, when she and Matty cornered Amy about Eleanora Abrams. What had she said? A mother’s supposed to protect her child, ain’t she?

She pulled out her phone and called Matty. “You okay in there?” she asked.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“Put cuffs on Ms. Spencer. I think we found Sadie Vauk’s killer.”

Chapter 63

The weight of all that had happened didn’t fully hit Lila until she got to work the next day. Some of the attorneys actually applauded as she stepped off the elevator on the twentieth floor. She tried to act like it was just another day as she went about the to-do list that Andi had given her, but people kept popping into her office to ask her about her confrontation on the bridge.

Ryan stayed the longest and stared at the fingernail scrapes on her neck as he peppered her with questions. Even Patrick stopped by to offer congratulations. But it was the last visitor of the day that surprised her the most.

Lila was packing to leave, relieved to have survived one more day without getting fired, when the knock came. She looked up to see Andi standing there. Andi had never been to Lila’s office.

“Um…come in.”

Andi took a seat in the visitor’s chair and glanced around at the bare walls. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Lila shrugged. “Yeah, I haven’t gotten around to hanging stuff up.”

Andi said, “I came to tell you that I can’t be your supervisor anymore.”

Those words turned the air suddenly chilly, and it occurred to her that certain pigeons might now be coming home to roost.

“I wanted to tell you before they announced it officially, but Frank Dovey tendered his resignation this morning.”

Lila had to fight to keep the smile off her face.

“I’ll be taking over Adult Prosecution in two weeks.”

Lila let her smile go free. “Congratulations.”

“I’m hearing rumors that Frank’s resignation wasn’t his idea. Word has it, someone got tired of his bullshit and did something about it.” Andi paused and gave Lila a knowing look. “If that’s true, I’d love to hear the story someday. For now, I wanted you to know that I’ll be the one writing that letter to the Board of Law Examiners. By the time I get done, they’ll be falling over themselves to admit you.”