Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

disappointed enough to kill him, Ms. Davenport?”
    She blanched. “ Kill him? You think I killed him?”
    Her shock was so genuine that it all but knocked her off the list of suspects. “If you could just answer the question.”
    “No, I wasn’t disappointed enough to kill him. I didn’t kill him.”
    “Have you told anyone else about why your relationship with the senator ended?”
    “No. It’s not something I’d ever talk about with even my closest friends. It’s mortifying, to be honest.”
    “How did you feel when you heard he was dead?”
    “Sad. I was overwhelmed with sadness. But to be honest, I wasn’t entirely surprised that someone killed him. If you treat people the way he treated me, it’s going to catch up to you eventually.”
    “I need you to stay available and in town for the time being.”
    “I’m working through the holidays,” she said, her voice flat, devoid of hope or animation. “I’ll be here.”

    “I have trouble understanding his type,” Freddie said when they left the restaurant.
    “You would. Do you think he was gay?”
    “And in the closet? Working it out on women?”
    “He certainly went for a type. The porcelain blonde. No way Tara is strong enough to get a knife through him on one stroke.”
    “I was thinking that very same thing.” He paused and seemed to be pondering something. “So you know how we always joke that we spend more time together than we do with our own families?”
    “ You’re the joker. I’m the serious law enforcement professional.”
    “Yeah, whatever.”
    “Your point?”
    “I’ve known you a long time. Partnered with you over a year.”
    “Do you have a point? ’Cause if you could get to it in this decade, I’d like to get back to work.”
    “I have a point,” he huffed. “It’s just when she mentioned Cappuano in there, your face got all red and you had to take your coat off.”
    “I was hot! So what?”
    “You were flustered . And you’re never flustered.”
    Her stomach picked that moment to make its presence known. Never flustered? Ha! She spent half her life flustered but apparently did a good job of hiding it.
    Freddie stopped on the sidewalk and turned to her. “Tell me the truth, Sam. Are you into him?”
    She chose her words carefully. “The job, it takes almost everything I have. I work, I take care of my father, I help my sisters with their kids whenever I can. That’s my life.”
    “Do you think I’d begrudge you wanting more?” His warm brown eyes flashed with emotion. “You think that?”
    “He’s off limits. There’s no point talking about something I can’t have.”
    “Why can’t you have him?”
    “He’s a witness! He found O’Connor. He’ll be wrapped up in this until sentencing.”
    “He didn’t kill anyone. He’s on our side.”
    She shook her head. “It’s a murky ethical pit, and you know it.”
    “You’re right. It’s not clean. Few things in life ever are. But he wants this closed as much as we do, if not more. He flusters you, Sam. That’s an amazing thing, if you ask me.”
    “I’d say unsettling is a better word.” Glancing up at him, she added, “You won’t say anything about this at HQ, will you?”
    “Give me some credit, and while you’re at it, ask your friend Cappuano if there’s any chance the senator was gay.”
    “He’ll say no.”
    “Humor me, and before you drag me into another interview that includes questions about peculiar sexual appetites, you’re going to have to do something about mine.”
    She turned up her nose. “Your sexual appetite?”
    “Nope.” He chuckled and rubbed his belly. “The other one.”

    Sam pulled rank, insisted they have lunch at a vegetarian sandwich shop and was treated to Freddie’s vociferous complaints about the lack of grease.
    “Can’t even get a stinking French fry in this place,” he muttered as Sam downed her small veggie sub and wondered if it really had fewer than six grams of fat. No doubt every gram would find its way to her ass.
    “If you’re done sulking, we need to hit Total Fitness on Sixteenth.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Are you taking up working out to go with this diet you’re on?”
    “Just because I choose to eat healthily doesn’t mean I’m on a diet. Another of the senator’s ladies works at the gym as a personal trainer.” She consulted her notebook. “Elin Svendsen.”
    Freddie perked right up. “Swedish?”
    “Sounds like it.”
    “Blonde, buff and Swedish? This day is