I tell him thanks and head off down the hall. As I get closer, I can hear Ted’s voice talking to someone. I slow down and listen for a second. If he’s in with someone else, I’ll just go back out to the lobby and wait until he’s finished. I start to turn around and head back down the hall when another voice makes me pause.

“I swear—I’m making sure nothing gets screwed up,” Dallas says.

My heartbeat speeds up. I know I should just continue back to the lobby, but something keeps me rooted in place.

“I don’t like this at all, Dallas. I’ve got people up my ass wanting this case solved,” Ted replies.

“Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do. Obviously she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing. Look what happened last night,” Dallas tells him.

What’s that supposed to mean? Someone attacked me and I fought back.

“She wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this case,” Ted complains.

“I know, and she’s not. Not really. I just let her believe that. Why do you think I’ve been spending so much time with her? I don’t want this screwed up any more than you do,” Dallas answers.

I gasp and my hand flies up to cover my mouth.

“I trust that you know what you’re doing and that you’ll solve this case. Just get it done. The faster you find out who killed Richard Covington, the sooner you’ll be able to stop babysitting my sister’s friend.”

Both men laugh and I squeeze my eyes closed to keep the tears at bay. They move on to other topics like sports and the weather. I turn and run back the way I came.

The officer at the front desk calls to me as I race past. Swiping angrily at the tears, I compose myself before I turn to face him.

“Hey, we just got a report in from the ME’s office on the Covington investigation. I know I’m not supposed to show this to civilians, but I heard you were working with Osborne on this thing. You want to look at it before I hand it over to him?” he asks.

Sucking up my wounded pride, I walk back to the desk and grab the report from his hand. Scanning through the pages, my eyes zero in on the section showing the traces of particulates that were found on Richard’s clothes. My jaw drops when I see one unusual item in particular. I thank the officer and quickly hand the file back to him, exiting the police station before Dallas and Ted realize I’ve been there.

Starting up my car, I quickly back out of my parking space and peel out of the lot. Dallas won’t have to worry about “babysitting” me for much longer. I just solved this case and he can kiss my ass when he finds out I did it on my own.

Pulling into Stephanie Covington’s driveway, I take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves as I walk up to her front door and ring the bell.

The door is swung open moments later and my mouth drops open in shock. Standing in front of me isn’t Stephanie, but a very butch-looking woman. She’s a few inches taller than me, with short, spiky blond hair and enough muscles to make a bodybuilder jealous. That isn’t what has me momentarily speechless, though. The black eye and busted lip she’s currently sporting does.

“Aw, shit,” she mutters.

Before I can react, she grabs on to my arm and hauls me into the house, slamming the door closed behind her.

She drags me into the living room and pushes me onto the couch.

“You! You’re the one who attacked me last night. Who the hell are you?” I ask, standing back up from the couch.

She stalks over to me and places her hands on my chest, shoving me down again.

“Sit there and shut up. I need to think,” she tells me angrily.

“YOU need to think? Screw you! Are you covering for Stephanie? Did she hire you to come to my house because she killed her husband and she knows I’m onto her?” I fire at her.

“Sweetie, your tea’s getting cold.”

I look up as Stephanie walks into the room, stopping in her tracks when she sees me there. “Oh, dear.”

Standing up from the couch again, I shoot the crazy, manhandling woman a dirty look before she can shove me back down.

“Mel, what did you do?” Stephanie asks, turning to the woman currently glaring at me.

“She attacked me in my home last night. And you killed your ex-husband, so you’re both going to jail,” I tell her.

“What?! I didn’t kill Richard! What are you talking about? Mel, what is she talking about?” Stephanie asks, turning to this Mel person.

“Oh, cut the bullshit, Stephanie. The medical examiner’s report is in. They found traces of taheebo bark all over Richard’s shirt the day he was killed. If I remember correctly, you drink taheebo tea, don’t you?”

Stephanie glances down at the cup of tea in her hand and quickly sets it down on an end table. She looks back and forth between Mel and me nervously.

“Oh, Mel, tell me you didn’t?” Stephanie whispers.

Mel sighs and walks over to Stephanie, placing her hands on her shoulders.

“Baby, I had to do something. He was gonna shut down my business and tell everyone about us. I couldn’t let that happen.”

What the hell is going on right now?

I watch in strange fascination as the two of them embrace. Stephanie pulls away first and looks over at me.

“Lori, this is my herbalist and . . . lover, Melinda. She really didn’t mean to do this. Can’t we just pretend like it never happened? I mean, you’re just a reporter. You could say I wouldn’t comment or something, can’t you?” she begs.