Latent Danger (On the Line #2)(17)

Zach hated talking about Adrienne in such crass terms. He almost flinched at his own words. But it had to be done. He needed to crack Sawyer and get him to tell them where Carrie was.

Zach stood. “Well, listen. I’ll give you guys a few minutes to talk this over. Sawyer here can tell you what we’re going to find when we run those oral and vaginal swabs. He can tell you what he did to Adrienne while she was under the influence of the drug he slipped to her.”

Mrs. Sawyer winced, but Zach continued. He couldn’t afford much pity for her or anyone in that room at the moment. His only concern was getting to Carrie while she was still alive. He turned his eyes to the lawyer now. “I don’t need to tell you things will go a lot better if he cooperates and leads us to Carrie. If Carrie goes home safely...”

He let the thought hang. No one in that room right now needed to be told what was on the line. Zach walked out and joined Ronan and Shauna in the observation room. The whole scene was being recorded, but the lawyer was smart. He coached them on covering their mouths as they spoke in low tones.

There was no missing the argument, though. Whatever they were talking about, Sawyer’s dad looked like he was lighting into the boy. His mother just looked stunned.

“They’re going to walk,” Shauna said, shock lacing her voice.

“No,” Zach said, but there was surprise in it, not any true measure of denial. He knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to believe.

When he’d walked out of the interrogation room, he’d thought the boy’s parents and lawyers would talk some sense into him. That they’d get him to do the right thing if for no other reason than to save his ass. Even if they didn’t care if Carrie got home or not, they had to know this would go much better on him if she was saved.

They watched in silence as the lawyer motioned for Zach to come back in. He clenched his teeth as he reentered the room.

“I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to hold my client as you’d hoped, detective.”

Normally, Zach might throw back a retort, letting the guy know he planned to hold the guy the seventy-two hours he was allowed. Something in the lawyer’s smug look told him to hold his tongue.

The lawyer slid over a piece of paper. “These are two classmates who will swear they were with Sawyer when he sent the post about Adrienne to the Facebook group. They all went out to eat after that and the boys will be able to testify they saw Adrienne sleeping in the clubhouse when they left. Alive and well.”

Zach shrugged. “So Sawyer came back after and killed her.”

The lawyer shook his head before Zach even finished his statement. “The boys dropped Sawyer off at ten and watched him go into his house. His parents will testify he was home the rest of the night with them.”

Zach nodded and left the room without a word. He’d blown it. He’d shown their whole hand in that interview room and now Sawyer had made up an alibi to cover everything.

He didn’t wait to see what Shauna and Ronan had to say. He went down the hall, headed for the john. He knew his partner would be on top of things. Ronan would get Cal or Jarrod or someone else watching the boy to see if Sawyer led them to Carrie. Ronan would push to get the DNA tests as quickly as possible. Zach could rely on Ronan and Shauna while he blew off steam for a few minutes.

Or an hour.

The slam of the bathroom door against the wall gave a satisfying crash. The captain would be on his ass over that, but damn, their prime suspect was about to walk out the door. Zach had miscalculated. He’d put every piece of their case on the table at once instead of locking Sawyer into a statement and then tearing it apart with the evidence they had. Trapping him in lies. He’d thought as soon as Sawyer’s parents saw what he was up against, as soon as they came to realize their kid’s dick had been in that girl the day she died, they’d press the kid to come clean.

He should have known better. He’d been to the school, heard about the family and the way they coddled their son, the way they threw their status and money around. He should have known they wouldn’t do right by Adrienne. But wouldn’t they want to convince him to reveal where Carrie was to try to shave time off his sentence or avoid facing more serious charges?

Apparently not. Jaw clenched, teeth grinding, Zach focused on his breathing. Shit. He’d just blown that interrogation.

The door opened behind him and Zach turned to see Shauna sauntering into the men’s room. She settled one hip on a sink and looked around.

Her wrinkled nose said it all, but she confirmed her assessment in case he missed it. “This place is a dump. The women’s room at least has a fresh coat of paint.”

Zach was blasted with the insane—completely, utterly insane—urge to thread his fingers through her hair and haul her to him. To let the scent of her, the feel of her body against his, soothe his anger. Kissing Shauna, having her soft curves pressed chest-to-chest, thigh-to-thigh against him would go a damned long way toward alleviating the agitation tearing through him.

He stepped backward. Distance wasn’t just his best friend right now, it’d become a necessity. His response to this woman wasn’t right. He needed to get control and get it fast.

He blew out a huffed breath and ran a hand through his hair before dropping his hand. It was too damned close to what he’d hoped to do with her only a moment before. “Something I can help you with, Shauna?”