The Innocent by Amanda Stevens

Author:Amanda Stevens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Saturday

“Three words,” Sheriff Mooney said the next morning when Abby had brought up the subject of using Sam as a consultant. “Conflict of interest.”

“I’m a little concerned about that, too,” she admitted. “But I’ve spent a lot of time with him, Sheriff. I know he wants to find those children as much as we do. And you can’t deny his credentials. I even checked them out myself. His old boss at Quantico credits him with almost being able to walk on water. There’s no one working these cases who even comes close to his experience. If we pass up his offer of help and this thing turns out tragic—” She broke off, not wanting to put into words everyone’s secret fear. “We were willing to use a psychic, for God’s sake. How can we not use a profiler?”

“Yeah, but he’s not just any profiler. He’s the uncle of one of the victims. Aside from the fact that he may have a hard time remaining objective, have you considered there may be another problem with using him?”

Abby frowned. She’d considered a lot of problems relating to Sam, not the least of which was her attraction to him. But she wasn’t about to admit that to the sheriff. “What do you mean?”

Mooney leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk. “He could be using his expertise to try and steer the investigation in the wrong direction.”

His suggestion rumbled through Abby like an aftershock, but she couldn’t say the possibility had taken her completely by surprise. Karen Brodie was still very much a suspect, just as her estranged husband was. Yesterday Sam had indicated that he and his sister weren’t close, that he’d let her down once when she’d needed him. Was he trying to make it up to her now?

He’d misled Abby about his FBI credentials and about his relationship to Karen Brodie. Was he lying to her about his motives?

But Abby had seen the concern in his eyes, and she knew that his desire to find the missing children was as great as her own. Sam Burke, for all his secrets, was an honorable man. She had to believe that.

“It’s a risk either way,” Mooney said pensively. “If the media gets hold of this, we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t. But the idea of a man with his expertise out there on his own, finding evidence and maybe destroying it—that troubles me.”

“You really don’t trust him, do you?” Abby said, a sinking sensation in her stomach.

“Let’s just say, after the shenanigans he pulled that first day, I’ve got mixed feelings.”

Abby understood his conflict only too well. “So what do you want me to do?”

“If we bring him into the investigation, we’ll have to keep it under control. We restrict his access to information on a need-to-know basis only.” Sheriff Mooney pointed a finger in Abby’s direction. “But if he says or does one thing that raises your suspicions, you come straight to me. You got that?”

“Yes, sir.

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