Convergence Point by Liana Brooks Page B

better.”
    â€œYou are such a liar.”
    â€œNah, I’m fine. Really. I’ll call you this weekend and fill you in.”
    â€œI worry about you, Sammie. You need to be calling me more for sanity checks.”
    Sam smiled. “You’re the best thing for me. Down-­to-­earth and always there.”
    â€œHmmm.” Bri didn’t sound convinced. “But what are you going to do if I’m not here?”
    â€œIt’s never going to happen,” Sam said. “You’d give up oxygen before you gave up your phone.”
    Bri laughed again, a happy, carefree sound that was as alien to Sam as peaceful slumber or loving parents. As much as she’d hated Alabama, she missed having a friend like Bri nearby.
    There was a knock at her office door. “Agent Rose?”
    â€œI’ve got to get back to work,” Sam said with a sigh. “Tell everybody I say hi, and I’ll send them some more seashells after our next big storm.”
    â€œLove ya, Sam,” Bri said. “Take care of yourself.”
    â€œWill do.” Sam hung up and dropped the phone on its charger. “Come in, Edwin.”
    He had to duck to get through the door. “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but there’s an Officer Clemens here about a dead body.”
    â€œIs she the one who notified Dr. Troom’s next of kin?” Henry hadn’t updated his contact information when his parents moved, and the police were having trouble tracking them down.
    â€œNo, ma’am—­she’s here about a different body.”
    Sam raised her eyebrows. “Another body? Our quiet little district is getting all kinds of wild and crazy. I’ll be there in a moment.”
    Agent Edwin nodded and returned to the waiting area. Sam took a deep breath to compose herself, pushing the memories of the last summer away. Here and now was what mattered. Emir was dead and buried. Nothing she did would change that. She couldn’t be allowed to change that. Even if the temptation and means were there, tampering with history was a crime, at least in her mind. Now all she had to do was convince the rest of the world she was right.
    She slipped her shoes back on under the desk and went out to the lobby.
    Edwin sat behind his oversized desk that almost met the proportions of his larger frame. In the metal-­and-­faded-­fabric chair across from him, a thin woman with razor-­thin nose and strawberry blonde hair tightly braided like a whip sat waiting.
    â€œOfficer Clemens?” Sam smiled.
    â€œSenior Agent Rose, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Clemens said as she stood up.
    â€œIs it? I didn’t realize I had any fans at the police department.” She’d yet to make any real allies over there.
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    Red flags went up. The little officer was buttering her up for something. “There aren’t many ­people who could honestly say that.”
    â€œMost ­people don’t have my background, ma’am.”
    A strange statement, but not one Sam felt like chasing to the ground just yet. She tucked it away for later examination. “Agent Edwin says you have a corpse for us?”
    â€œYes, ma’am, a man washed up on the shore with the tide this morning. He’s late teens or early twenties and doesn’t match any missing persons we’re aware of. I had the EMT drop him at the morgue and came to report to you myself.”
    â€œGreat.” Of all the miles of shoreline in all the world, this drunk washed up on hers. “Good thing we have an ME on staff this week. Can you fill me in on the details as we walk to the morgue, or is the chief expecting you back before lunch?”
    â€œI’m free, ma’am.”
    â€œThen let’s walk.” Sam led the way down to the morgue, Officer Clemens nipping at her heels and practically vibrating with suppressed enthusiasm. “First DOA case,