Deadly Silence (Blood Brothers #1)(65)

There was a moment during the fight in her house that he realized if he lost, they’d get her. He’d lose her. Everything in him had rioted and then calmed in a deadly way that now freaked him out a little. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

He didn’t want to return to those cold days when she wasn’t brightening the world with a simple smile. God, he was getting maudlin.

She pushed open the wide wooden door and smiled at the receptionist, an older lady with wild gray hair and sharp blue eyes. “Hi, Mrs. Thomson.”

Mrs. Thomson pushed green spectacles up her nose. “Morning, Zara. And it’s Mr. Jones. Back on a case, are you?”

Ryker nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Brock hired me this weekend.”

Mrs. Thomson snapped her gum. “I assume it’s the Pentley case. So sad. Such a terrible outcome to a divorce.” She shivered.

Ryker took a quick inventory of any possible attack points in the reception area. They should get a couple more bookcases to provide cover. “Have a nice day, Mrs. T.”

She winked at him and turned to answer the phone.

Zara tripped ahead of him and regained her balance, winding through desks to reach her office toward the back. “What’s your plan, Ryker?”

To bend her over the desk and f*ck her hard and make sure danger never came within a mile of her again? Ryker cleared his throat. “I plan to have a quick meeting with Brock and then set up in either an open office or the conference room like last time.” In the meanwhile, Heath was checking in on the Copper Killer case, and Denver was tracing Julie’s movements for the last two months. “Do you have any contacts at the police department?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Brock usually works on civil cases, not criminal, so we don’t have a lot of work with the police. In fact, if this ends up being a criminal case, Brock will pass it off to the criminal litigation department.”

“No problem. I think Heath knows a couple of cops, so we’ll see what we can find out.” Ryker stretched his still-sore knuckles. That Jonny had had a hard jaw. “In fact, if I remember right, Heath may have dated a cop last time we were here.” Man, he had to call Heath. The time was definitely ticking down for another victim to be taken, and none of them could face another dead girl. Failure was weighing on them already.

Zara moved around her desk and sat. “Heath dated a police officer when you worked the last case for us?”

Ryker brought himself back to the most immediate problems. “Yeah.” An accountant had fled with his client’s money, and the firm had represented the client. They’d hired Lost Bastards to track the accountant down, and Ryker had found him in Mexico, having a really good time on a white sandy beach. “I’m pretty sure Heath and a cop named Bernadette got together.”

“Okay.” Zara opened a manila file, looking ready to get to work and solve all the mysteries in her life. “Have fun with Brock.”





Chapter





23




Well into the afternoon, Zara straightened her shoulders and walked into the small conference room with her notepad in hand.

Brock glanced up from a stack of papers spread out on the mahogany table.

Jay Pentley looked at her from the head of the table, no expression on his face. Dark circles marred his eyes, and scruff covered his jaw. Even his button-down shirt appeared wrinkled and tired. “What happened to your jaw?” he asked.

“Tripped on my front steps,” she said, drawing out a chair to sit.

Brock sat back and gazed from the new bruise on her jaw to the older one right below her eye. He blinked several times, glanced at Jay, and then obviously decided to have a chat with her later. “We’re trying to go through the police report from Julie’s murder as well as trace her steps.”

Jay pushed his chair away from the table. “Excuse me for a minute. Restroom is down the left hall?”

Brock nodded. The second Jay left, Brock quickly texted something on his phone. “What happened to your jaw?” he asked Zara.

“I told you. Nothing.” Zara crossed her arms. They engaged in a small staring contest, and heat soon filled her face.

Ryker strode into the room and slipped his phone into his back pocket. “You texted me?”

Brock frowned. “Yes, but now I’m wondering just how long you’ve been in town, Ryker.” He glanced at the bruises on Zara’s face, his lips pressing into a white line.

Ryker eyed Zara and then crossed to take the chair opposite the one Jay had vacated. “I arrived in town after the bruise on her cheek but before the one on her jaw,” he said without an ounce of discernable sarcasm.

Brock narrowed his gaze. “Did you hit her?”

“Of course not,” Zara burst out. “Geez, Brock.”

“No.” Ryker sat back.

Brock looked from one to the other of them. “If you did hit her, I’m coming after you myself.”

Zara snapped her lips shut. While he was coming from a point of sweetness and friendship, the guy was way out of line. He’d made a couple of nice moves on her to go to dinner, but she had to keep her professional and personal lives separate. Then Ryker had entered her life, and she could no longer even think of another man. “Brock. For goodness’ sake. Ryker did not hit me.”