Murder on Prescott Mountain by Lena Diaz

Author:Lena Diaz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-10-26T17:55:44+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Willow sat in the elevated glass-walled conference room in Grayson’s converted library, looking from Grayson to Ryland as they filled her in on what she’d missed. Downstairs, a small team of investigators was working at their desks, a few of whom she’d interviewed months ago. Others, she’d never heard of until today.

“I don’t understand. I thought we were going to have thirty-three investigators—one to work cold cases in each of the counties that we’ll support.”

Ryland shook his head. “That’s too many. I know it seems counterintuitive, but less is more. With investigations, you need a manageable-sized team that can become close, a tight unit, complement each other’s weaknesses and magnify each other’s strengths.”

He slid a folder across the table to her. “I know you introduced yourself to everyone in the squad room before coming up here, and seemed surprised that you hadn’t met some of them during the interviews.”

“Some of them? Try most of them.”

He glanced uncertainly at Grayson before continuing. “Right. So the first page in that folder is a list of the final team members. All of their résumés are in the folder too.”

She read through the list of names, then flipped the page over to see the rest. The back was blank. “Ten investigators? That’s it?”

“That’s the core team, the permanent positions. That includes you, of course, but not Grayson since he isn’t an investigator. I’m also counting our TBI liaison to help with investigations since the liaison workload will fluctuate, depending on the needs of each case.”

“I don’t... I’m... confused. It seems like everything that Grayson and I worked so hard to plan has been tossed or completely changed.”

Grayson leaned across the table and gently squeezed her hand as if to reassure her. “The basic infrastructure you and I came up with is still there. Just smaller.”

“Exactly,” Ryland said. “You did a great job, honestly. And I would have picked most of the investigators you wanted to hire if I wanted a team that large.”

“Most of them? Meaning you don’t approve of some of my hiring decisions?”

“No, no. Any of the ones you picked would have been fine. I just preferred some others, investigators I’d met over the years and with whom I was familiar.”

She held up the piece of paper he’d handed her. “Those others are over half this list.”

Ryland gave Grayson a help-me look.

Willow held up her hands to stop whatever he was about to say. “Don’t. I get it. You both did what you felt was best in the months when I was gone. I’m just struggling to absorb all of this. Ryland, can you explain what you meant about a core team of permanent positions? That implies there will be others who come and go?”

“Exactly. The team will grow or shrink as needed, outside the core group. With each case we work, we’ll bring in temporary experts if or when we need them. Like, say, a car accident scene reconstructionist. Useful for some cases, but probably not for most of the ones we’ll work.

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