Shaw shrugged. “Just curious. He’s good with the digital side. Seems like he could work anywhere.”
“He likes it here.” Jo kept her voice neutral. “Small town. Quiet.”
“Quiet.” Shaw smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Not so quiet lately.”
Jo didn’t respond. She just filed that away too.
That afternoon,Keller returned with his paperwork.
He knocked on Sam’s door before entering—something Jo noted. When she’d first met him, he’d walked into rooms like he owned them. Now he was softer around the edges. More careful.
“More specific this time,” Sam said, flipping through the request. “These case numbers I can work with.”
“We’ve identified potential connections between the Cooper investigation and several older narcotics cases.” Keller’s voice was tired but professional. “Not asking for blanket access. Just what’s on the list.”
“Alright. Supervised access. Wyatt, you’re up.”
Wyatt had just returned to his desk, a little pale, a little too quiet. He looked up at the sound of his name. “Sure. I know the archive system.”
Jo watched him follow Keller toward the basement stairs. Something about the set of his shoulders, the tension in his jaw. He was dreading this, but not for the reasons anyone would expect.
Her instincts were screaming now. Wyatt was hiding something. Kevin knew something he wasn’t sharing. Shaw was running her own investigation inside their investigation.
And somewhere in the middle of it all was a dead FBI agent and a syndicate that killed people who got too close.
Jo finished her coffee and stood, she needed fresh air to think.
She stepped around the corner of the station and stopped short.
Shaw was there. Standing near the far corner, phone raised, pointed at the station’s back entrance.
Taking pictures.
Jo stopped. Shaw didn’t see her—she was focused on her phone, scrolling through something, then raising it again for another shot.
“Documenting something?”
Shaw turned, and for just a fraction of a second, something crossed her face. Surprise, maybe. Or calculation. Then it was gone, replaced by an easy smile.
“Just routine,” Shaw said, pocketing the phone. “Establishing shots. Building layout, entrances, exits. Standard procedure when we’re working a case in an unfamiliar location.”
“Didn’t realize that was standard.”
“Old habit from my training.” Shaw’s voice was light, unconcerned. “You never know what details might matter later.”
It was a reasonable explanation. The kind of thing that would make perfect sense if Jo hadn’t spent fifteen years reading people.
Shaw was lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth.
“Sam know you’re doing this?” Jo asked.
“Didn’t think I needed to clear it.” Shaw tilted her head slightly. “Is there a problem?”
“No problem.” Jo kept her expression neutral. “Just curious.”
They stood there for a moment, the silence stretching between them. Two people who recognized what the other was doing and were deciding how to play it.
“I should get back,” Shaw said finally. “Shadow’s probably wondering where I went.”