“Reaction?” Mia didn’t understand. “Reaction towhat?”
“You haven’theard?”
Mia’s pulse tripped. “Heardwhat?”
“They got him. They arrested Bennett Powell about ten minutesago.”
“Wh-what?” The blood rushed from Mia’s head, leaving her almost dizzy. “They arrestedhim?”
Joaquin stood beside her. “What’s goingon?”
“They arrested Powell,” Mia toldhim.
“You mean you don’t know?” said the voice in Mia’sear.
“No. I had no idea.” What had happened? The last she’d heard, they’d had no evidence and Powell hadalibis.
“Can you please give me a quote for mystory?”
Mia took a deep breath to clear her head. “I’m grateful to the Denver Police Department, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and all of the experts who were involved in this case. It’s a relief to know it’sover.”
“How does it feel knowing that a man who sexually harassedyou—”
“How do you know about that?” Mia couldn’t deal with this—not now. “I need to go. Sorry, Ms. Warner, but I don’t want to answer more questions rightnow.”
She ended the call, her hands shaking. “Can you call Julian or Marc or Wu and find out if this istrue?”
But Joaquin was already on it. “Hey, D, I’m putting you on speaker phone. Mia’s here with me. What the hell is going on? Cate just called from the paper to say DPD arrestedPowell.”
Mia sat at the table, her pulse stillracing.
“Hey, Mia,” Julian said. “Hunter’s team just brought Powell in. His alibis turned out to bebogus.”
“It’s over.” Mia closed her eyes, let out a relievedsigh.
“Looks that way,” Juliansaid.
Joaquin rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Bogus? What does thatmean?”
“He coerced his wife into lying to cover for him. Wu discovered she was at work during the time each murder occurred and confronted her. Great detective work on his part. Wu pulled a warrant based on that, and Hunter’s SWAT boys helped him execute with an assist from FBI SWAT. I don’t have all the details, but I know they found heroin and some other street drugs, along with a metric shit ton of firearms and ammo. He didn’t come easy. Hunter had to playrough.”
“I’m jealous,” Joaquinsaid.
“I think Shoals or Hunter planned to call you as soon as they finished putting out fires here. They’ve got to process him and go through a debriefing. You’ll be hearing from someone soon. I’ll make sure Hunter and Wu know youcalled.”
“Thanks, man. We’regrateful.”
“I can’t take the credit. That goes to Wu. Talk to you later.” Julian ended thecall.
Mia stood, walked into Joaquin’s embrace. “I can’t believe it’sover.”
He stroked her hair, held her tight. “You’ll be repotting orchids again in notime.”
She raised her gaze to his. “I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without you, Joaquin. You came into my life and changedeverything.”
He kissed her. “That’s what I was going to say about you. As for getting through this—I’m glad I was here. But you’re one of the strongest people I know. You would have been fine withoutme.”
Mia wasn’t so sure aboutthat.