Arouse Suspicion by Maureen McKade

rattled.
    "Danni?" Beth said.
    "What's wrong, Beth?"
    "Remember the boy your dad asked me to defend?"
    "Yeah."
    "He was found dead at home this morning." Beth's voice trembled. "They said he slit his wrists."
    Danni closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Beth."
    "Look, I know this is probably a bad time to ask, but I want you to check into it. I can't believe he would do such a thing. He was going to make a deal."
    Light-headedness assailed Danni. "You think it was murder made to look like suicide?"
    Nick sat up straight, his expression full of questions.
    "Yes," Beth replied. "Cathy told me about your suspicions about your dad's death. I know this won't be easy for you, but I need your help."
    Danni wasn't surprised Cathy had told her. The three women had become good friends in the past two years. "It's okay. I'll look into it. Who were the reporting officers?"
    There was a shuffle of papers. "Joe Tygard and Alex Levin."
    "I know them." Danni rubbed her throbbing brow. "Nick and I'll run down to the station this morning and see what we can find out."
    "Thanks, Danni. Bye."
    "Bye."
    Danni punched the Off button.
    "Well?" Nick demanded.
    Danni slumped in her chair. "Two days before Dad died, one of his boys was arrested for trying to unload some stolen merchandise. Dad asked Beth, the lawyer I share office space with, to defend him. Last night the kid slit his wrists. He's dead."
    "What was his name?"
    "Matt Arbor."
    Nick dropped his head back and rubbed his eyes. "Goddammit."
    "You knew him?"
    "Yeah. At the center. He didn't strike me as the type who'd take suicide as a way out."
    "Beth doesn't think he did either. She said he was going to make a deal."
    "What kind of deal?"
    "She didn't say. Maybe he was going to give up his accomplice. I don't know." She stood, feeling three times her age. "I'm going to the rest room. I'll meet you at the truck." She tossed him the keys and picked up her backpack.
    In the ladies' room, she splashed cold water on her pale face. Blindly, she reached for some paper towels and dabbed her cheeks. Good thing she hadn't put on her usual makeup this morning, even if she did look like death warmed over.
    She tossed the towels into the refuse container and gripped the edge of the sink. Leaning into it, she stared at her reflection, at the haunted eyes.
    Were the two murders related? Were they murders? Or was she simply caught up in Nick Sirocco's theory? Although all the evidence was circumstantial and the product of gut feelings, Danni couldn't help but believe her father hadn't committed suicide. Was it because Nick believed it so strongly? That could be part of it. But now, with the suspicions regarding Matt Arbor's death, another finger pointed at criminal conspiracy.
    They needed the common denominator and the motive. The common denominator was simple: the youth center, which her father had mentioned in the message he'd left on Nick's answering machine. And Nick had been involved with the kids, too.
    So had Nick been the target of the driver last night?
    Or had it merely been an accident?
    With her mind going in circles, Danni exited the rest room and joined Nick in the truck. He sat in the driver's seat, but she didn't feel like arguing.
    "I thought we could stop at my place first so I can pack a bag and get some dog food for Gus," Nick said.
    "All right. Then we'll go to the station." She wrapped her arms around her backpack and held it close to her chest like a shield.
    Nick didn't start the truck, and she looked up, only to find him studying her.
    "Are you okay with all of this?" he asked.
    The compassion in his face made her eyes burn, but she didn't want his sympathy. She wanted to learn the truth.
    "No, I am not okay." Anger was much easier to deal with than the grief that kept trying to escape. "I'm not okay with some bastard murdering people and making it look like suicide. I'm not okay with almost being turned into hamburger on the street. And I'm definitely not okay about having to look at