Deadly Silence (Blood Brothers #1)(103)

Oh, the man needed to die.

“Or I do,” Isobel said, tapping something on her tablet. She glanced up, her foot bobbing. “How did you meet Ryker?”

Zara frowned. “My firm hired him for a case.” Duh. “We hit it off.”

“How much of his past has he told you about?” Madison asked.

Zara blinked. “He has a past?”

The next hit came open palmed to the opposite side of her face. She rocked back, and tears filled her eyes. Her face ached from her jaw to her forehead, and her skin kind of itched. “That was so not necessary.” She glared up at the sheriff, whose breathing had begun to get heavy.

“Lose the sarcasm,” Madison advised.

“That’s my strongest characteristic,” Zara shot back.

Cobb laughed low. “I like her.”

Wonderful. Zara’s eye began to twitch.

“Back to my question. How much of Ryker’s past do you know?” Madison asked.

“None of it,” Zara said wearily. “Just that he, Heath, and Denver grew up together and got out of a bad situation.”

Madison tapped on her tablet. “No mention of the murders?”

Zara turned her head to face the woman directly. “What murders?”

Madison focused on her, both eyebrows lifting. “Interesting. I thought the two of you were intimate.” She tapped her lips with a finger. “Maybe those three aren’t capable of love. I didn’t think the Gray brothers were, either, but all four of them found mates.” She began to type wildly on the tablet.

Zara watched her work. Risking another hit, she cleared her throat. It’d be interesting to see how Madison spun the truth. “What murders?”

“Oh.” Madison waved her free hand. “Ryker murdered a boy at the boys home as well as the home’s owner. He always had a devastating temper.” She scratched her forehead. “I’ve been investigating you for days. If you ask me, Ryker killed your friend Julie—not that detective.”

Zara snorted. “Why would Ryker do that?”

“He’s always eliminated any threats. If your friend was a threat to you—or, more important, to him—he would’ve taken her out and easily framed somebody. The boy is a genius, you know.” Madison coughed. “I mean man. He’s definitely a man now.”

“Ryker wouldn’t kill an innocent woman,” Zara said, trying to stretch her back before the muscle spasming along her right side became unbearable.

Sheriff Cobb walked around her and lifted her hair. “I like the color. Is it natural?” he asked.

She blinked. Unease ticked into her. “Yes.”

He yanked. “You like it rough? Ryker definitely is a rough guy.”

Pain spread along her scalp. “No,” she breathed out, trying not to cry. “Not at all.”

“Too bad. You will by the time we’re done.” Cobb yanked again, and her head jerked back. Holding her in place, elongating her neck, he pressed two fingers against the pulse in her throat.

She struggled against him, but she couldn’t move.

He counted. “She’s scared.”

“She should be.” Isobel watched dispassionately. “Where did Ryker live before buying the new building in Cisco?”

“I don’t know,” Zara breathed. Even if she did, no way would she tell the psycho scientist. “He was always on the move and just visited when in town.”

“That does sound like him,” Madison mused. “Are Heath or Denver seeing anybody?”

“Not that I know of.” Zara tried to free her head, and the sheriff laughed. “I just met them.”

The sheriff released her, and she lowered her chin, trying to keep from puking. Just how sadistic would Cobb become? She really didn’t want to find out. Her stomach cramped, and her legs trembled. “You have to know that Ryker will kill you if you hurt me.”

Cobb pinched her upper arm.

“Ow.” She instinctively jerked to the side.

“What’s their business?” Madison asked. “We saw the offices on the first floor of your building after we tracked Ryker from his safe house, but we didn’t get a chance to investigate. What is it?”

Zara lifted a shoulder. “I’m not sure.”

Cobb grabbed her neck.

“I’m really not. They invest and do a bunch of stuff on computers,” Zara lied. “Ryker doesn’t share his work.”

“Then what did your firm hire him to do?” Madison asked silkily.

“Something about a case and tracking down missing money,” Zara said, stretching the truth. If Madison discovered the true business of finding lost people, she might be able to track their past movements, and that would probably be bad. “Again, I wasn’t involved and just met him by the watercooler, so to speak.” At this point, Madison was underestimating her enough that she might be able to get away with the lies.

“He doesn’t love you,” Madison said, setting her tablet on her thighs.

Zara just stared at her.

“I’m sorry, but he’s not capable of it. I studied that man from his birth, and I know him better than he knows himself. He’s not capable of intimacy. Sure, he’ll try to lull you into thinking you have his heart, but really, what do you know about him?” Madison asked, her tone reasonable and knowing. “Where was he born?”