Free Polar (Book 2): Polar Day by Julie Flanders Page A

asked.
    “Yeah. Since college. Everyone knew Max was gay.”
    “Had anyone ever given him trouble about it? Maybe at the hospital?”
    “There are always idiots around who make snide remarks. Max learned to ignore that kind of crap a long time ago. But it was never an issue as far as his job went. He is…was a really good surgeon so no one ever gave him any grief about his personal life. It’s not as if the administrators would have allowed it anyway, not in this day and age. But Max was well thought of at the hospital.”
    “You mentioned a new boyfriend,” Tessa said. “What can you tell us about him?”
    “Not much. They weren’t together long before Max…” Cassie blew her nose and wiped more tears from her eyes. “His name is Kris Anderson. He’s a paramedic. Max and I only had one conversation about him. He said he really liked him but wasn’t sure if Kris liked baseball or not. Max joked that it would be a deal-breaker if he didn’t.”
    “So your brother was a baseball fan?”
    “Big time. He followed the Mariners and loved watching the Goldpanners in the summer. Max was a good athlete. He played baseball himself all through school and he loved running now.”
    “He was a fit guy?”
    Cassie nodded. “Yeah. He was kind of vain about being in shape to be honest,” she said with a slight smile.
    “What about previous boyfriends? Relationships gone bad?” Tessa asked.
    “He dated Michael Stevens for years but it didn’t really end badly. Mike was a surgeon too and took a job in San Diego after his residency. Max didn’t want to go with him. It was an amicable split though as far as I know.” Cassie let out a deep breath and struggled to keep her voice even. “Honestly, my brother was a happy guy. He didn’t have a lot of drama in his life. I can’t imagine anyone he’s ever known doing something like this.”
    Cassie clutched her arms around her stomach and dissolved into another round of tears. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just don’t know what to tell you.”
    Danny glanced at Tessa as he reached out and covered Cassie’s hands with his own. “Nothing to apologize for, Cassie. You’ve been very helpful. I’m so sorry again about your brother.”
    Cassie nodded and continued to cry.
    The two detectives got up from their chairs and left their business cards on the table.
    “We’ll leave you alone now,” Tessa said. “Please give your parents our condolences. We’ll be back to talk to them another time.”
    “And if you think of anything new that you think may help, give either one of us a call,” Danny said. “We’ll show ourselves out.”
    As they left the house and walked back to Tessa’s car, Danny cursed the day he’d ever decided to become a cop. Of course, it was the only thing he’d ever planned to be, much like Max Fugate had apparently always wanted to be a surgeon. If Danny had understood the strain of dealing with people who were suffering horrific losses he would have followed another path. Or perhaps it was just since he lost his beloved Caroline that he felt this way. Now each visit with a grieving loved one brought his wife’s murder back to his mind in crystal clarity. He knew all too well about the gaping hole that was now in the Fugate’s lives.
    “So either the sister wasn’t nearly as close to her brother as she thought or this killer isn’t anyone who knew Max,” Tessa said. “I’m thinking the latter.”
    “Yeah,” Danny said, sliding into the passenger seat. “We need to check out that Kris guy though. See if he knows anything the family may not have been aware of.” He grabbed his tablet and brought up the browser. “I’ll find out what station he works out of. With luck we can catch him at work.”
    Tessa nodded and backed out of the Fugate’s driveway. Cassie Fugate stood at the window and watched the detectives leave. When they had, she let the curtain fall back over the window and collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor of