Flashback (Kendra Michaels #11)

“I am,” Olivia said as she headed across the living room. “Just don’t blow it.”

“I promise I’ll do my very best to please you.” He waited a few minutes before he followed her and then gave Olivia a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. I believe I can handle the situation now, Olivia.”

“See that you do.”

Kendra emerged from her home office. “Is everything all right?”

“It will be now,” Olivia said. She quickly changed the subject. “Listen, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about those files I had Zack scan.”

“Oh, thank you again. He did a fantastic job.”

“He did. His scans were very easy to import into my text-to-speech app. I’ve been going through the files, and I’ve been amazed at the work those young women did. But one thing stuck out: In the past few weeks, they’ve been re-interviewing so many people connected with the case, and their files reflect this. Pretty much everyone connected with the case has their own file, but not former detective Todd Williams.”

“Really?” Kendra said.

“Yes. Which is strange, because along with Paula Chase, he was lead investigator.”

“Maybe he didn’t cooperate with the Morgan sisters,” Lynch said.

“But he did. In the section summaries, he appears a lot. There are recent quotes and information only he could have provided. I think he must have had a file devoted to him, and it was recently removed. Did you find a file like that in Paula Chase’s house or in either of the Morgan sisters’ homes?”

“No,” Kendra replied. “And not in their cars or anywhere else.”

Olivia shrugged. “It seems like it should be there.”

“I agree. Wow. Good work, Olivia.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep listening to the files when I’m running or taking an Uber somewhere. I’ll let you know if anything else jumps out at me.” Olivia hugged her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then she left the condo.

Kendra turned toward Lynch. “That was fantastic. I didn’t even catch that.”

“Neither did I. Not much gets by her. Something we should definitely keep in mind.”

Kendra plopped down on the sofa. “So… I have a feeling I missed something while I was out of the room.”

“Yes. Unlike you, she was very angry with me for not showing up on the scene sooner. I had to apologize to her. She considered it an act of betrayal.”

“It was none of her business,” Kendra said. “You’d think she’d listen when I try to explain our relationship.”

Lynch shook his head. “She cares about you. And I totally understand her attitude. It was the one thing about which we were in complete agreement. No, there was one other thing. She told me that she thought you were ready to ease off and give me a break and let me help you find those two women. Is that true?”

Kendra didn’t speak for a moment. “It might be.”

He shook his head. “That’s not good enough, Kendra. I have to be in all the way. I’m not going to put up with the thought of letting some lowlife beat you up because I’m not around to stop it. Screw your independence. We’ll work something out.”

“Not with an attitude like that.” She started to turn away.

He whirled her back toward him. “We’ll work something out,” he repeated. “Unless you want it all to come to an end. Do you?”

She could feel the tears sting her eyes as she looked up at him. Dear God, she loved him. “I didn’t say that.”

“Then tell me we’ll work it out,” he said softly. “I’m not going to be unreasonable. I realize how lucky I am to have you. Let’s just go out on the terrace and let me hold you for a little while and talk about plans and how we’re going to go after those bastards and find those two women. All I want to do is help. Okay?” His arm slid around her waist and he was leading her toward the French doors.

“You never want to just help,” Kendra said. “You tend to take over.”

“I suppose I do, but it’s probably because I grew up an orphan, working in Hell’s Kitchen, and developed a passion for order. I learned very young that you eat more and considerably better if you have organization on your side.”

Kendra nodded. “Though I imagine it also helped you in getting your own way.”