Lathum eyed him with poorly veiled amusement. "Good, that should make this easier." He started to turn and then stopped, his expression sober. "Better stop by and get Howard Spencer. Take him along just in case. From what I've heard, he and Miss Anderson are more than friends."
Spencer and Lisa? Since when? Quint nodded and turned to the patrol car. Howard was the brother of her best friend, Connie. According to Lisa, they were the closest thing to a family that she had other than her parents and siblings. Spencer was nearly ten years older than her, but maybe she liked older men. Some women did. He was a lawyer with a growing reputation and she did work at his law firm last summer.
He reached for the door, doubt twisting his guts. One thing about Lathum, he had an uncanny way of being right about people. If Lisa was involved with both Spencer and Mertz, maybe she was an informant for Spenser. On the other hand, maybe Mertz figured she'd make a great decoy. She wouldn't have any trouble distracting a man, that's for sure. Of course, there was always the possibility that she had come up with the idea of distracting Spenser, but he found that hard to believe. It was totally out of character for her . . . or was it? A person could change a lot in a few years, especially when they were that young. Maybe Lathum had a point.
He clutched the wet door handle, the click of the latch bringing his mind back to the present. He turned back to Lathum. "Sir, if I take the car, how are you . . ."
Lathum waved a hand in dismissal, his mind already firmly entrenched in another project. "I'll ride with the last ambulance. Right now we have to do something about this traffic." He walked away with his clipboard in hand, barking some orders at another officer.
Quint dropped into the seat and started the engine. He felt sick to his stomach again. It wasn't jealousy that troubled him. It was the idea of being deceived. But then, all he'd seen in the last few weeks had certainly burned a hole in his confidence about knowing people. Being around Lathum had opened his eyes to the number of people who deceive and are deceived.
He turned the car toward the Spencer home. Right now he was wondering if he had chosen the right occupation. He'd like to believe in good and the happy-ever-after, but that innocence could never be retrieved.