'Did you have to bring the whole dumpster?' she asked, giving in to the smile.

Fitzpatrick's eyes flashed dark, sending a now-familiar shiver down her spine. Then he shrugged, breaking the moment. 'Who knows what might have been in the outer box when it was tossed? I took a few inches above and below, just to be safe.'

Lucy grimaced. 'You put that in your car?'

'Hell, I've had an addict puke all over my back seat more than once. This trash is clean in comparison.' He started sorting. 'Here's the shipping box, Drew. It was mailed locally, even though the guy claiming to be Bennett also claimed to be out of town. Yee didn't notice the local postmark. He just saw the return label with Bennett's name on it.'

Stevie took two plastic evidence bags from her pocket containing a folded note and a key. 'I don't think you'll get prints except Jimmy and his uncle, but we can try.'

'They're coming in to get printed for elimination,' Fitzpatrick said. 'We told them to ask for you, Drew. Have you gotten anything from Bennett's condo? Hyatt put Skinner and Morton on the search.'

'So far, a hairbrush and a toothbrush for DNA matching,' Drew said. 'I've got a team over there too, but from what I hear there were no signs of struggle.'

Stevie nodded. 'That's what Hyatt said. We're pulling Bennett's phone records to see who he might have talked to the last day he was seen. The doorman said he got into a cab with only his briefcase, so it's sounding like he was lured away. We have a status meeting with Hyatt in fifteen. Can you be there, Drew? It shouldn't take long.'

'I'll be there.'

Fitzpatrick rose, brushing dirt from his trousers. 'Lucy, he wants to talk to you about Bennett. You can go with Stevie. I'm going to shower and change and meet you up there. Do we know anything more about that heart?'

'Only that the blood is the same type as Russ's, which we expected.'

Stevie waved Fitzpatrick away. 'We need to hurry and you still stink. Go clean up.' She handed him his suit. 'You're just lucky the cleaners had this one ready for pickup.'

'See you in fifteen,' he said and was gone, leaving Lucy to watch his very fine rear end as he rushed away. Ruby had been right that morning. The man did have an amazing butt. A narcotic, she'd called him. JD Fitzpatrick was certainly that.

Nope, Lucy wasn't cold anymore.

Chapter Eight.

Monday, May 3, 4.00 P.M.

By the time JD got to Hyatt's office, it was standing room only. But that was mainly because Hyatt kept only one guest chair in his office and JD had learned pretty quickly that one sat in the chair only when one was invited. Usually only the brass was invited.

JD wasn't sure if Hyatt kept them standing to keep them in their place or if he held to the belief that standing meetings were short meetings. The bald man achieved both.

'Close the door, Detective,' Hyatt said formally. 'We've been waiting for you.'

JD wanted to roll his eyes. He was exactly on time, to the second. He'd hurried not to impress Hyatt, but because he'd wanted to get back to Lucy.

She'd smiled at him back in Drew's office, a quick, unfettered smile that had lit up her face and stopped his heart. Something about her had changed in the hour between the garage and the CSU lab. He didn't know what had happened and wasn't sure he cared. At that moment it had been all he could do not to reach for her, but they'd been at work and he'd been covered in dumpster filth.

He closed Hyatt's door and instantly felt the chill. Something was up. Stevie and Drew were there, along with Elizabeth Morton and Phil Skinner, the other detectives assigned to the case.

To his surprise, Lucy sat in Hyatt's extra chair, turned around to face the group. At her side was ADA Daphne Montgomery, who JD hadn't yet met in person, but had spoken to on the phone. Daphne was forty-ish, with big blond hair and a hot pink suit with a short skirt that showed off a magnificent pair of legs. Rumor had it that she'd been a Vegas showgirl back in the day, and Daphne hadn't done anything to quell the mill. JD liked her a lot. Daphne was an optimist in a land of career pessimists.

But at the moment Daphne wore a frown, her hand on Lucy's shoulder almost protectively, sending the hackles on the back of JD's neck straight up. Hyatt sat behind his desk like a drill sergeant, revealing nothing. Her expression shuttered, Lucy met JD's eyes, seeking answers he didn't have.

'What's going on?' JD asked Hyatt quietly. 'I thought you wanted to ask Dr Trask a few questions about Dr Bennett.'

'I do,' Hyatt said. 'Just not the ones you think.'

JD opened his mouth to protest, but Stevie cut off him with a sharp warning glance and a shake of her head. JD folded his arms across his chest, not liking this a bit.

Hyatt noted the silent exchange, then stood. Now only Lucy sat and she was looking increasingly pissed. JD could relate. Hyatt was known for grandstanding, and there was little doubt that that was where this was headed.

'Lieutenant Hyatt,' Lucy said, her voice level but tight. 'I was under the impression that I'd been cleared of suspicion in Russell Bennett's murder.'

'Your alibi checked out. But given that my detectives have requested your presence at the notification of a victim's family, I thought I should know more about you.' He lifted an arrogant brow. 'It seems you've been keeping secrets, Dr Trask.'

JD thought he saw her eyes flicker, but it was over so quickly he couldn't be sure.

'I have not, Lieutenant,' she said coolly. 'I was candid with your detectives. I told them that I'd dated the victim for a short time and that I'd broken his nose.'

Hyatt nodded. 'Five years ago, true. I'm talking about further back than that. Try August, fourteen years ago.'

Her eyes didn't flicker this time. They flashed in shocked fury before she quickly reined herself in. 'I have nothing to hide, Lieutenant.'

'I should think not,' Hyatt said dryly. 'It took Detectives Morton and Skinner less than an hour to dig it up. Ms Montgomery found the court records faster than that.'

Daphne Montgomery's jaw tightened while Morton briefly closed her eyes and Skinner shook his head, a slight movement that made JD realize that whatever this was about, they hadn't meant for it to go down this way.

Lucy lifted her empty hands before folding them in her lap, the gesture one of contempt. 'Then you know it all. Anything I'd provide would be . . . simply extraneous.'

Hyatt sat on the edge of his desk close to Lucy, deliberately crowding her space. 'Humor me,' he said. 'What happened, in your own words?'

She met Hyatt's gaze head-on. Her voice was calm, but her hands clenched tightly in her lap. 'I was arrested, charged, tried before a jury of my peers, and acquitted. The charges were then dropped, my record expunged.'

JD looked to Stevie and saw she was as stunned as he was, but Hyatt appeared unsurprised, his mouth curving in a half-smile of appreciation. 'Succinctly delivered, Doctor,' he said. 'But I'd like a little more meat with my bones.'

'I owe you no explanations,' Lucy said coldly. 'May I leave?'

'You could, but I don't think you'll want to,' Hyatt said. 'It was an accident, right?'

She nodded, tight-lipped. 'Lieutenant, I-'

'Your fiance was killed,' Hyatt interrupted, 'was he not?'

She'd been engaged. Of course she'd had relationships, so had he. He'd been married, for God's sake. Still, it left JD unsettled to think of her so attached. Her fiance's death still caused her pain. It was plain on her face before she closed her eyes, recovering her composure.

'He was.' Then she opened her eyes and they were empty. 'This has no bearing on anything related to this case or to any of you. I've had a very long day. I'm leaving now.' She rose, but Daphne pressed her back into the chair.

'Lucy, the lieutenant's approach is vile.' Daphne looked straight at Hyatt as she said the words, making JD want to cheer. 'But you need to stay, sugar. And Peter, you need to get to the goddamn point.'

Hyatt's glare was annoyed. 'Thank you, Miss Montgomery.' He blew out a frustrated breath. 'Tell me what happened, Dr Trask. If you truly have nothing to hide.'

Once again Lucy's eyes flashed as she battled for control. 'Fine. But I will not sit here like I'm in the defendant's chair. Been there, done that.' She stood, straightened her skirt, and walked to the window before turning to face them. 'I was with my fiance. I'd had a glass of wine, he'd had way more. I tried to get his keys, he pushed me out of the car. A minute later I heard a crash, ran to the scene. He'd been thrown from his convertible and was already dead, but he'd hit another car.'

'In which two people were hurt,' Daphne supplied softly.

Lucy's nod was stiff. 'Yes. A mother and her child. The mother was critically injured, the child bruised, but strapped in a car seat and therefore alive. I went for help, but through a misunderstanding was accused of being the driver. I was charged with vehicular homicide of my fiance. The evidence supported my assertion that I was not in the car at the time. I was cleared.' She drew a breath. 'That is all.'

Hyatt's smile was wry. 'I don't think so, but we'll leave it at that for now. For the record, I had no intention of making you feel like you'd been seated in the defendant's chair. As you noted, you've had a long day. I was trying to be nice.'

Lucy's expression showed her skepticism as to Hyatt's intent. JD agreed with her.

'So to get to the point, Peter,' Daphne said, articulating each word. 'The file.'

Lucy looked around the room. 'What file?'

'What file?' JD and Stevie said at the same time.

'The file we found in Bennett's condo when we did our search,' Elizabeth Morton replied. 'It was on his desk. It's a file about you, Dr Trask.'

Hyatt reached backward to pull a thick folder from his desk. 'Copies,' he said and handed the file to JD.

JD put the file on Hyatt's desk and began sorting. Lucy stood at his side, looking over each page as he did. 'Oh my God,' she murmured. 'What is this?'

'Looks like everything you ever did,' JD said, turning the pages. 'College transcripts, articles on your arrest and trial, your move here to Baltimore. Everything.'

She leaned over his arm, riffling through the pages. 'No, not everything. The articles about the trial are here, but the one on the verdict isn't.' She turned to look at Elizabeth Morton. 'Did you remove it?'

'No,' Elizabeth said. 'We saw the article on the trial and called Daphne over to see it.'

'I was there in case they found any patient records,' Daphne said when Lucy frowned at her, puzzled. 'We have to protect doctor-patient confidentiality. We all made a few calls and dug up the story in a short time. We pretty quickly determined you'd been fully cleared of any wrongdoing in the accident.'

'Then why this?' she asked, anger making her voice tremble. 'Why sandbag me?'

Hyatt sat behind his desk. 'I wanted to be sure you truly had nothing to hide. If you'd minimized your role or denied it happened, then I wouldn't have approved your participation in this case. But if anything, you made yourself look worse.'

'Worse than what?' Stevie asked.

'Worse than she needed to,' Daphne answered cryptically.

'So I'm to participate?' Lucy asked sardonically. 'To what do I owe this honor?'

'I asked him if you could be our native guide,' Stevie said. 'Bennett had ongoing ties to his hometown your hometown. We wanted your help.'

'But if he'd had cause to blackmail you, I couldn't approve it,' Hyatt said. 'You were upfront about it. No danger of blackmail.'

Lucy's pale cheeks darkened in anger. 'Good to know. And if I refuse?'

Hyatt shrugged. 'Somebody left a human heart in your car today. I'd think you'd want that man caught.'

'Like it or not,' JD murmured, 'you're a key to this. This killer picked you. And for what it's worth, Stevie and I didn't know about this.'

She jerked a nod. 'I believe you. Thank you.'

Relieved, he turned to Morton and Skinner. 'Was this the only file? Or did he have others on his other women?'

Lucy winced. 'How many other women?'

'At least forty in five years,' Stevie said and Lucy winced again.

'What's the hometown tie?' she asked.

'At least three of you are from Anderson Ferry,' JD said. 'We're checking the rest of the names on the list.'

'Three of us? Gwyn, me, and who else?'

'Brandi Bennett,' he said and her eyes widened.

'Brandi Bennett is from Anderson Ferry? No way.'

'You didn't know her there?' Hyatt asked.

'No, but she was much younger than Gwyn and me. What was her last name?'

Stevie checked her notes. 'Stackhouse.'

'I knew of the family. They had a lot of kids. I didn't really know any of them.'

'Did he have files on the other women?' JD asked again.

'Not that we found,' Elizabeth said. 'Only Dr Trask. Why would he have a file on her?'

'Hate's the easy answer,' JD said. 'Because she broke his nose. But I'd ask why now? The articles were stamped by the Anderson Ferry newspaper just three weeks ago. Was anything else found in the condo?'

'Nothing to indicate a struggle,' Elizabeth said. 'We got his credit card and bank records. Guy paid a hell of a lot of alimony to the first wife.'

'What about the crime scene, Drew?' Hyatt asked.

'We took casts of the tire tracks we found in the grass,' Drew said. 'The tracks were made by a wheelchair, like I thought. But we never found the chair.'

'He didn't ditch it after setting up the body,' Stevie said, 'but pushing an empty wheelchair around the park seems like a risk. If anyone saw him, they'd remember that.'

'He could have ridden away in it,' Drew said. 'But then there are no tracks leading from the scene. He had to stay on that path all the way back to the parking lot or he stashed the chair in one of those apartments.'

'No surveillance cameras in the parking lot?' Hyatt asked.

'None that work,' Drew replied. 'Your apartment security sucks, Dr Trask.'