She sat back in her chair. “There are three others there, but I won’t go in depth into those victims. You’ll probably connect them yourself if you study the objects.”

“Yes.” Griffin leaned on his elbows, staring down at the line of trinkets. “I’m sure I will.”

“Trophies, Griffin. Trophies we never found when Colby was caught and sent to prison.”

“Where did you get them?”

“Sheila Hunter’s houseboat. Colby set them around the place to give me a shock and put a signature to Sheila Hunter’s killing.”

He frowned. “I didn’t see them.”

“Because her lover got nervous and scooped up everything in sight and made off with it. I just retrieved it.”

He looked at the bruises on her face. “At some cost.”

“Yes. It could have been worse.” She smiled faintly. “I had a fall, but I survived it.”

His gaze went back to the objects before him. “Authentic?”

“We’ll have to verify with the families, but I don’t believe that Colby is playing games with his toys. I think that he wants me to know that there’s no doubt that he’s alive and controlling the situation.”

“But he’s done everything so far to make certain that no one did know that. Hence the fact that you’re being thought of as a nutcase. Why now?”

“Maybe he thinks it’s time. He’s a complete egomaniac, and he’s not afraid of anything. He’s been hiding out, making his plans. Now, perhaps, he’s ready to show everyone how clever he is. This reveal may just be the tip of the iceberg.”

“But a fairly powerful revelation.”

“That may not be accepted until Colby comes out with even more irrefutable evidence.” She grimaced. “Who’s going to believe that these trophies are the real thing? The first question you asked was if they were authentic. It will take some time to verify, and even then, there will be doubters.”

“No, the first question was where you got them. I was betting that they were the real McCoy.”

“Because you worked those cases. You knew them intimately. That’s why I brought them to you.”

“And what do you want me to do with them?”

“What’s right to do. Verify, then help me to convince San Quentin to admit that there is a possibility that Colby is still alive and a threat.”

“Another favor, Kendra?”

“No. A duty, Griffin.”

“Ah, such a boring mandate.”

“The people Colby has on his kill list aren’t going to find it boring.”

“And you’re first on that list. If it takes as long as you believe to convince everyone he’s back, we may not be in time for you.”

“I’ll take care of myself. That’s not why I came to you.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “I’ve always appreciated that courage, Kendra. Many of your traits annoy the hell out of me, but that’s one I admire.”

“I don’t want your admiration. I want you to help me. Will you do it?”

“You do know that I won’t publicly acknowledge that Colby may be alive until you can bring me stronger evidence than this. I’ll have to have public backing before I take that risk.”

“I don’t care if you’re protecting your ass. Just help me get public support.”

“That might be possible.” He looked back down at the trophies, and said brusquely, “San Diego PD is going to want to get their hands on some of these items. Particularly since they were taken from another one of their crime scenes. I’ll have difficulty maintaining control.”

“Not true. You always manage to get your own way eventually.” She got to her feet. “I brought these to you because I needed you to fast-track the verification and any clues they might yield. Don’t you dare give them up to the police. You know how they feel about me. I don’t want them buried in their file thirteen. Stall until you get my answers.”

He shrugged. “I’ll do my best. But it might help if you can schmooze that detective, Stokes, whose iron grip I managed to pluck you from.”

“Schmooze? Me? No one would believe it.”

He chuckled. “Too true. But you might try explanation and courtesy.” His smile faded. “Up to you. It could buy me time.”

And so she would do it. Though he didn’t realize how difficult those explanations were going to be after that chase through the hills. She wasn’t the only one who had bruises.

She turned toward the door. “Then get to work, Griffin. I don’t want the humble pie I’m going to eat to be for nothing.”

CHAPTER 10

BETH.

Kendra froze after she pressed the elevator button a few minutes later.

Beth was going to kill her.

She swiftly pulled out her phone and dialed. “Beth, I meant to call you on the way to Griffin’s office. But then I had to get what I was going to say to him straight in my mind and then—”

“Slow down, Kendra. I’m not interested in excuses. I want to know facts.” She paused. “Though I do approve of the fact that you’re feeling guilty for treating me so shabbily. After what we went through tonight, I thought we were doing this together.”

“Very guilty,” Kendra said. “Okay, no excuses, just explanations. What I saw on that coffee table threw me into a tailspin, and I had to talk to someone who knew what I knew.” She added, “And you weren’t that person, Beth. You’re my friend, but that was another life. I saw that shoestring, and it all zoomed back to me.”

“Facts,” Beth repeated. “And I’ll decide whether I’m going to forgive you.”

“That’s fair.” She got on the elevator. “It was that red shoestring that sent me spinning. You called it a weird addition, and it was. Colby wanted to catch my attention, and he knew that would do it. Only one shoestring was missing on the shoes of that little boy. No one could find…”

She was pulling up at her home by the time she finished telling Beth everything. “And now Griffin wants me to smooth down Stokes, and we both know that’s a futile exercise at best.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think that Stokes likes you.”

“Really? You mean when he’s not suspecting me of murder or making me tumble down a hill.”

“Well, he at least respects you.”

“That’s not the same thing.” Kendra unlocked her condo and threw open the door. Beth was curled up on the couch and hung up as she saw Kendra. “Not when I’m supposed to persuade him to do what Griffin wants.” She plopped down in a chair across from Beth. “But I’ll try if it will move things along.” She looked at Beth. “So what’s the verdict? Am I forgiven for running out on you?”

“This time.” She smiled faintly. “You were under extreme duress, or I wouldn’t do it. You shouldn’t have done that to me, Kendra.”

“I know. I’m used to working alone, and I went spiraling backward to that time when there was only me.”

“Not Lynch?”

“Lynch is his own person. Just as I am. Sometimes we just … come together.”

“That’s a provocative turn of phrase.” She got to her feet. “But I’m not going to pursue it. I’m going back to the hotel and go to bed.” She gestured to the objects on the table. “I photographed all of them and made a list. I thought you might want to go over them to see if you’d missed anything.” She gestured to her computer. “I pulled up Sheila Hunter’s coworkers and got addresses and telephone numbers. I’ll call them tomorrow and see if I can turn up anything more. You said that Griffin was going to get you that list of people Colby was in contact with during his prison stint. Do you have it?”

“Not yet. I’ll nudge him.”

“It appears you’re making a career out of nudging him.”

“Much to his displeasure.” She added, “But not this time. There’s no one more cynical than Griffin but I think that he believed me about Colby. Colby was a nightmare for Griffin while he was on his rampage. The last thing he wants is for Colby to cause him that headache again. He’ll want to put a stop to it before it begins. That’s why I had to get to him before the police took over this evidence that might indicate Colby is still alive and kicking.”