"Exactly. And Landon's death is connected to Senator Matson, so if she talks to him or to Charles Adler, we'll know what side she's on, and we can use that to our advantage."
"She might not go in person; she might call."
"I don't think she'll want to share this information on the phone or in text. It's time to go on offense, Haley. The Westbridge conspiracy network is about manipulation. It's time we became the manipulators."
She gave him an approving smile. "I like your devious plan. In fact, I think it's kind of hot."
He rolled his desk chair over to her. "Only kind of?" he teased as he leaned in and gave her a kiss that set her body on fire. "We've done enough for tonight. Let's go to bed."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. "I think the bed might be too far. How comfortable is that couch?"
"Let's find out."
Tuesday morning, Matt parked in the lot next to Café Luna on Third Street in Santa Monica.
"What if Shari sees you putting the device on her car?" Haley asked.
"She's already inside, and this lot isn't visible once you're in the café. Her car is just over there. Hang tight. I'll be right back."
She watched him walk casually past two other vehicles before dropping to one knee to ostensibly tie his shoe. Before he rose, he attached a tracking device to the underside of the wheel well. When that was done, he got back in the car, pulled out of the lot and drove around to the front of the building. He parked in a spot down the block but where they could see the front door of the café.
Matt's tension was palpable, his enthusiasm contagious, and Haley felt more optimistic than she had in a while. "What now?" she asked.
"Time for the next step." He took out his phone and called Shari, using the speakerphone so she could hear.
"Matt? Where are you?" Shari asked in a stressed voice. "You're never late."
"I got hung up at work. We had a big breakthrough."
"Really? Into the murder of Sabrina Lin?"
"No. The murder she was looking into at Westbridge several years ago."
"What did you find?"
"An eyewitness, who also happens to have physical evidence that will bring down some very important people."
"That's huge."
"What did you want to tell me, Shari? You said you have information on Sabrina?"
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the university murder. You mentioned it might be connected to your current case, but I'm not sure my information is relevant anymore."
"Why don't you let me decide if it's relevant or not."
"I heard from a source that the police had a suspect in the death of Landon Kenton, a student who was angry at Kenton for not changing his grade when he was a TA."
"If they had a suspect, why didn't they act on it?"
"Apparently, by the time they heard about this person and went to speak to him, it was four months later, and he had died of an overdose after discovering his grades had made him ineligible to graduate."
"Do you have a name?"
"Jeremy Allen," she said. "Did your eyewitness mention him?"
"No. Our evidence is on Trent Adler."
"Trent Adler?" she echoed. "As in the son of Charles Adler?"
