Free The Love Killings by Robert Ellis

clenched his jaw, but didn’t say anything. He found the man’s wallet and opened it to check his ID.
    “Why are you afraid to answer the question, Jones? What are you hiding?”
    The driver’s license confirmed his shadow’s identity. The man he’d tackled to the floor and almost shot was Ryan Day.
    “I’m a reporter,” Day said as he thought it through. “But you didn’t know that. What did you think I was here to do?”
    Matt remained quiet. He could see Day putting it together in his head.
    “Your father’s trying to keep tabs on you, or is it something more than that?” Day’s eyes lit up. “My God. You thought I’d come to—who shot you in LA, Jones?”
    Matt holstered his pistol. Day looked at someone behind him. When Matt turned, he saw a man with a video camera on his shoulder.
    “You get it?” Day asked.
    The man with the camera nodded. “I got everything. We’re still shooting.”
    Matt stood up, then helped the gossip reporter to his feet. “Why me?” he said.
    Day was flashing a big grin as well now and offered to shake Matt’s hand. “Why not you?” he said. “It’ll make a great story. Tonight’s segment will probably be pretty good, too. I guess I should thank you, Jones. No harm, no foul. My producer will pay for any damage you may have done here, so don’t worry about it. We still win.”
    Matt shook Day’s hand, but only reluctantly, then started toward the door. He could hear Day calling after him.
    “I know the reason why you’re here in Philly, Jones. After tonight, everybody’s gonna know.”
    Matt yanked the door open and walked out into the blast of cold air. He was in trouble. He’d blown it. Now Rogers could act with a clear conscience. Matt would be thrown off the case and shipped back to LA. He hadn’t even made it through his first day.

CHAPTER 13
    He found Doyle in Rogers’s office. They were watching a video on a desktop computer with a large screen. When Doyle saw Matt in the hallway, he waved him into the room and around Rogers’s desk for a look.
    It was the video the gossip reporter had shot on the plane and at the airport with his cell phone. Day had posted it on his show’s website, along with the words “Why is LAPD Detective Matt Jones in Philly?”
    Doyle gave Matt a look. “Did you know you were being photographed?”
    “I saw him with his phone, but I wasn’t sure.”
    “Who?”
    “The gossip reporter. Ryan Day.”
    Doyle seemed surprised. “Do you know him?”
    A moment passed as Matt tried to think of the right words. When he noticed Rogers staring at him, he turned back to Doyle.
    “We’ve met,” he said finally.
    Rogers got to his feet and walked over to the window, shaking his head. Doyle sat on the end of Rogers’s desk.
    “I thought we’d catch a break and keep Baylor’s name out of it for a few more days,” Doyle said. “But now the media knows you’re here and they’re pretty good at connecting the dots. Rogers, you’ll need to hold a press conference this afternoon.”
    Rogers gave Doyle a look over his shoulder, then turned back to the view through his window. The Ben Franklin Bridge was just seven blocks away.
    Matt stepped over to a chair, but remained standing. “Something just happened that you guys need to know about. None of it’s good.”
    Rogers turned to face him, the distrust and suspicion in his eyes easy enough to read. Matt spent the next five minutes telling them exactly what had happened with Ryan Day and warning them that everything had been recorded and would be aired on tonight’s show. When he finished, he held on to the back of the chair and braced himself.
    Rogers turned to Doyle. “This is exactly what I was afraid of. He’s jeopardizing the case. He could scare off Baylor.”
    “You need to hold a press conference, Rogers.”
    Rogers shook his head and pointed a finger at Matt. “Everything’s different now, Doyle. You’re the one who needs to hold the press conference. He’s your