Christmas Male(58)
D.C. rolled up to a sitting position, clicked her set on with the remote and punched in the channel. She sat up next to him and kept the receiver between them.
Breaking News flashed in a red banner headline at the bottom of the screen. Prime suspect identified in Rubinov Diamond Case—Private Amanda Hemmings. A local news reporter, Mariah Evans, stood outside the hospital where Fiona and D.C. had visited Amanda Hemmings.
“You decided to leak it?” Fiona asked.
“No. It’s either crackerjack investigating by our local news star, or Mariah has a source who knows a lot about the case. She’s reported that Amanda Hemmings was found in the sculpture garden with the necklace on her. And Mariah’s also uncovered Amanda’s connection to Arthur Franks,” Natalie said. “I’m expecting a call from the commissioner who will press for an arrest. I’ll hold off until you can interview Hemmings again tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’m sending two more uniforms to make sure the press doesn’t get in to see her.”
On the TV, the scene shifted to a clip of Natalie’s press conference that morning, and Fiona saw her own face flash on the screen. Mariah was informing her audience that the police investigation headed up by Lieutenant Fiona Gallagher had reported no progress as of yet on the case.
“Natalie?” D.C. said.
“D.C., I’m glad you’re there, it’ll save me a phone call. Can you make sure General Eddinger knows about this latest development?”
“I will,” D.C. said.
“On the bright side, Chance thinks that this news will tempt Arthur Franks to take the bait and agree to see the two of you tomorrow. Your identities are all set up, and he made arrangements with the warden earlier this evening.”
“I’m on the same wavelength as your husband on that. It won’t be just ego pulling him in. If he had any kind of a connection at all with his great-niece, he’ll want to talk to someone who knows her. And if he suspects that she had anything at all to do with the attempted robbery, he won’t want to talk to the police.”
There was a ring in the background.
“That will be the commissioner. I’ll contact you in the morning.”
Fiona had no sooner hung up the phone than D.C. grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. “Work or play?”
“What?”
“Do you want to study our backgrounds in case we get the chance to visit Franks tomorrow or do you want to go another round?”
“Work,” she said. “I think we’ve played enough tonight.” But, Lord, she was tempted to just push him back down on the couch. Her work had always come first, and they had a full day tomorrow. How had she changed so much in such a short time?
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “Not nearly enough. But we’ll do some prep work first.”
Her eyes narrowed on his. “Not more cooking.”
He grinned at her. “I’m talking about the file on Arthur Franks. We’re going to have to be very convincing if we intend to fool him.”
The next morning, D.C. waited on the other side of a glass wall looking into Amanda Hemmings’s hospital room. A short distance away, a uniformed officer stood guard. Another uniform stood near the nurses’ station. Fiona had checked and no one had been allowed in to visit Amanda since the last time they’d been there. And Billy Franks hadn’t been back.
So Amanda and Billy hadn’t had a chance to communicate or get their stories straight. If they had a story.
Through the glass, he could see Amanda sitting up in a chair. The IV tubes were gone, and some of the bandages had been removed. Physically, she was making progress. General Eddinger and Dr. Laura Whitmore, the psychiatrist Eddinger had hired, stood near the foot of the bed. The trio had left the door ajar so that he could hear what was being said.
Dr. Whitmore introduced Amanda to her visitors. While she went on to explain why they were there, D.C. studied the young woman. She might be up and ambulatory, but she was clasping her hands together so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
When General Eddinger began to speak, her motherly tone had Amanda’s hands relaxing a bit. He and Fiona had discussed their strategy briefly on their way over in the car. He’d agreed that she take the lead on this one. Taking turns had worked for them so far, and this way he got to read Amanda’s body language. Besides, if they got in to see Arthur Franks, it would be his turn to be in charge.
Chance had personally delivered the copy of the Rubinov necklace earlier to Fiona’s apartment. He hadn’t heard anything from the warden yet, nor had he gotten any leads on who might have made the copy.