"It will be faster if I help," she argued. "You said you wanted my assistance."
"In sharing information," he reiterated as he stood up. "But I don't want you getting in the way, and you could easily do that."
"I don't see how."
"You don't?" he asked somewhat incredulously. "You are running on emotion—anger, guilt, sadness, frustration… We have to investigate facts, not feelings. That's the way to get to the truth."
"I hear what you're saying, but I will not be blinded by emotion. I'm a good investigator."
"You may be a good reporter, but you are not an FBI agent. I appreciate your help, but it needs to stay in the background from now on. No tracking down people and going off to see them on your own."
"Fine, whatever you say."
Her capitulation was far too easy. "I mean it, Haley."
"Don't you mean Ms. Kenton? I need to get back to work."
He put some cash on the table to cover their coffees and a tip and then followed her across the street. "Haley," he said as she moved toward her car. "Wait."
She gave him an expectant look. "What?"
"You're not going to stay out of this, are you?"
"Maybe it's better if you don't know what I'm going to do. You seem to have a lot of rules, and the rules haven't worked for me in the past. I'm not going to let them stop me now. If Landon was murdered six years ago, I can't help but think I gave up way too easily. I thought I was fighting, but it wasn't hard enough. I eventually came to believe what everyone was telling me—that Landon's death was an accident. Sabrina died trying to prove it wasn't, so I'm going to do whatever I have to do."
"You could end up exactly like Sabrina. How does that help you get justice for your brother?" he challenged.
"It's a risk I have to take. No one else will fight for him. Sabrina talked to someone at the FBI and was blown off. You could get taken off this case in the next hour, forced to back down like the police did. There's someone powerful who is determined to stop any investigation into my brother's death. But they can't stop me."
"Or me," he said. "No one is shutting down my investigation."
"You just said that happened on another case."
"That was with the LA field office. I'm working with a different unit now. And this isn't just about your brother. It's also about the young woman who was killed last night. Sabrina Lin deserves justice, too."
"I agree. And I hope you don't back down, but I'm not convinced you won't."
Seeing the steel-blue determination in her eyes, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her, so he needed to find a way to keep her involved but not right in the middle of things. "Okay. You look for Arjun. I'll dig into Sabrina's law firm and see if I can locate Anthony Devray. Then we'll compare notes. If you find anything, call me."
"It can't be a one-way street, Matt."
"And I can't let you get hurt, Haley, or derail this investigation."
"That will be less likely to happen if we share information," she argued.
He let out a sigh. "You are a very stubborn woman."
"I always have been," she said. "I don't know any other way to be."
He could see that, and he could relate, because he could be stubborn, too. "All right. We'll share."
Relief flashed through her eyes. "Are you just saying that, or do you mean it?"
"I rarely say things I don't mean."
"That can't be true. You're an FBI agent. You must say lots of things to get people to talk to you."
"Fair point," he conceded. "But this is different."
