When Matt drove into Liberty Lake, he made a detour. He needed to find out what was going on with Kara. He didn’t know that he fully believed Bryce Thornton, but there was no reason for the agent to lie to him. Still, Matt was certain there was more to the story. And he needed to know what it was.

35

Liberty Lake
3:45 p.m.

Kara spent most of Sunday reviewing all her notes from her investigation into David Chen and his associates. She called her closest friend on the force, Colton Fox. She and Colton had often worked undercover together, and he helped her with Chen. He wasn’t working on anything new, and it was probably killing him as much as her.

“What the fuck is going on with the Chen case?” she asked after a brief hello.

“You talked to Lex.”

“And? You couldn’t call me?”

“And say what? Thornton is an asshole? You know that.”

“Thornton? What are you talking about.”

Colton paused a beat. “Lex didn’t tell you.”

“He didn’t tell me about that prick. Fuck. Thornton has had it out for me for years.” It figures Thornton was behind whatever federal bullshit was coming down in LA.

“You broke his nose.”

“I’ll break it again.”

“It’s not going to hold. No one is going to believe Chen’s statement.”

“In this day and age? When cops are put out to take the fall for everything? I swear, I wish I could twist the nuts off every bad cop out there who has set us all up for this bullshit.”

“You’re preaching, sister.”

“Do they have anything but Chen?”

“Not that I know. I’d tell you.”

Colton was one of the good guys. He could be a hard-ass at times, and he sometimes crossed the line, but he did a great job, and he took bad guys off the streets. The real bad guys, like Chen.

“Will you keep me in the loop?” she asked.

“As much as I can.”

“What the hell?”

“I’m building another cover. Going in tomorrow if we get the approval.”

“I should be there to watch your ass.”

“It’s a nice ass to watch, isn’t it?”

She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her. “Be careful out there, Colt. I don’t want to break in another partner.”

“Never. I hear you’re working hard.”

“Found a dead body. Serial killer. Interesting investigation.”

“You always loved that shit.”

“Hobby. I much prefer playing in the mud.”

“Playing in the mud” was how Lex, their boss, referred to undercover work. Because criminals were scum, but they were fun to put in prison.

“Maybe I should be telling you to be careful up there.”

“I’ll see you in a week. And seriously—if you need backup, let Lex know. I can be there in twelve hours—you know that. For you, I’ll take my lumps with IA and the FBI and any other alphabet agency they throw at me.”

“I know. See you later.”

She hung up. She and Colton had a long history. Friends, sometimes friends with benefits. It worked for them. But first and foremost, they were cops. They loved their job. And there was no one else in LAPD that she’d rather work with.