Deadly Lies

  “That’d be Mrs. Kathleen Briar,” Luke murmured.

  Kathleen’s hair had come loose from one of those fancy twists that Sam had never been able to manage.

  Cops flanked the woman on either side. One, an older guy with graying hair at his temples, was reading the woman her rights. “If you can’t afford—”

  “I can afford a fucking attorney. I just don’t want one right now!” Kathleen’s voice rose to a screech.

  “She called it in about an hour ago,” Luke said quietly, and Sam heard the hint of a drawl beneath his words. He strode forward and came to her side.

  Luke was still the newest agent in the SSD. He’d transferred up from Atlanta and had immediately paired up with the unit’s top profiler, Monica Davenport. “From the looks of things,” he continued, motioning toward the bar, “Mrs. Briar had a gin before making that call.”

  “She killed him?” Sam shook her head. Okay, she hadn’t expected that.

  The cop kept reading the Miranda rights to his perp. “Anything you say or do can be held…”

  “She told the 9-1-1 operator that she shot her husband.” Luke crossed his arms and watched the procession. Kathleen and her guards were almost at the study door now. Almost…

  Kathleen stopped to glare at Sam and Luke. “I’m not sorry.”

  Luke lifted one shoulder. “Never said you were, ma’am.” His voice was cool. Odd, because of all the agents, he was the one who always seemed the most intense. The one who seemed to care too much.

  Maybe he’d been hanging around with Monica and Hyde too long.

  Kathleen’s eyes were bone dry. No tears for her. “Jeremy was mine. That asshole should have told me about the call. He should have—” She broke off and shook her head. “Jeremy would be alive. Alive.”

  Now her husband and son were both dead, and there was fury glittering in her green eyes.

  “He cheated on me,” Kathleen admitted in a stark voice. The cops beside her were silent, their own eyes wide. “He bought houses for those sluts that cost more than my son’s ransom.” She swallowed. “He let Jeremy die. I can still see him, cut up. My baby…” Her eyes closed.

  Luke watched her with a somber stare, then he caught the gaze of the older cop. “Take her outside.”

  This kill would be the local PD’s show, not a case for the SSD, but the cops were still looking to Luke for guidance.

  The cop nodded and reached for the cuffs on his hip.

  “No.” Luke shook his head. “Just put her in the back of the squad car.”

  Kathleen’s lashes lifted, and the fury had vanished. That fast. She blinked and just looked… lost. “Jeremy’s gone.”

  Sam swallowed. So was Morgan. “Mrs. Briar, I really think you should reconsider that attorney.”

  Another slow, almost confused blink. “My baby…”

  The cops took Kathleen’s arms and guided her down the long, winding hallway. Her heels clicked on the tiles.

  “I never expected her to react like this,” Luke said.

  Sam’s gaze shot to Luke. He ran a fast hand through his hair. “Shit. She seemed so controlled earlier today.”

  Because the woman had been in shock.

  “I should have brought Monica to the scene.” He eased into the hallwa