Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(21)

Ethan started nodding. “Instead, he got the combo and killed her anyway.”

“Works for me. Considering the note he left, that would make sense.”

Ethan ran a hand over his face. “That it?”

“For now.”

“Appreciate the call, Lieutenant. If I run across anything, I’ll be in touch.”

Ethan ended the call and turned to Val. “That was Detective Hoover. He’s the lead on the case.”

“So it wasn’t a burglary,” Val said softly.

“No.”

“You never thought it was, did you?”

“No,” he said.

Val looked at Ethan, feeling a kernel of respect. The man knew what he was doing. She was glad he was the guy keeping her safe.





Ethan flicked a glance at the beautiful blonde sitting rigidly in the passenger seat. Her face had paled as the ramifications of the note in the safe sank in. “Now you understand why I needed you with me.”

“Yes . . .” She glanced down. “I’m sorry.”

Her hands were clenched in her lap. He reached over and covered them, gave them a squeeze. “We’re going to get this guy, Val. Before he hurts anyone else. The police are working the case. Carlyle asked me to help. We’ll find him, okay?”

She frowned. “So you’re a detective. I thought you were a bodyguard.”

“Personal protection’s my specialty.” He cast her a glance. “Before I moved to Seattle, I was a homicide detective in Dallas. Now I work as a private investigator whenever I catch a case. Hoover’s good. I’m just as good or better. We’ll find him, okay?”

Val looked at him and nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced. “I need to call Megan. She got a note and she’s one of my best friends. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

“Go ahead. Be better if you don’t give her too much information, though. This is a police investigation. They’re cooperating so far. They’ll stop if they can’t trust us with what they know.”

“I understand.”

She called her friend. He knew which one she was: the redhead with the big blue eyes, the one Dirk had in his sights.

Hopefully, his friend would wait till the tour was over before he homed in on his target.

“Meg, it’s Val. Do you know what happened? Are you okay?”

Ethan couldn’t hear what the other woman said, but Val was nodding. “I’m okay,” she told her friend. “I’m with Ethan Brodie. He’s bringing me to the rehearsal. What about you?” She started nodding again. “So the other guy, the one named Dirk, is there? He’s at your house now?” She looked over at Ethan but spoke to her friend. “He’s bringing you to the theater. Okay, that’s good. I’ll see you there.”

Ethan silently cursed. Looked like Dirk wasn’t waiting. But then, Ethan hadn’t waited to go after Val. He could make all the excuses he wanted, but the truth was, he wanted her safe.

“Megan is at her house with your friend Dirk,” Val said. “You work together right?”

“That’s right. We both work at Brodie Operations. My cousin Ian owns the company. Dirk’s a good man. Your friend is in good hands.”

She didn’t reply, just leaned back in the seat. A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of her duplex, went inside to make sure she had no unwanted visitors, then brought her into the living room.

“You’ve still got some time before you have to be at the theater. Why don’t you take a shower, maybe nap for a while? You’re going to have a long night ahead of you.”

When her pretty blue eyes filled, he reached over and lifted her chin. “You don’t have to be afraid, Val. I’ll be right out here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

She turned away from him, walked over and stared out the window. “That’s not it. I just . . . I keep thinking about her. Did she struggle? How long did it take him to kill her? Did she suffer? I can’t get it out of my head.”

Ethan came up behind her, settled his hands on her shoulders. “He was big, powerful. It was over quickly. He didn’t rape her. That’s all I know. I hope it’s some comfort.”

She turned to look up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. “How could someone do that to a defenseless woman?”

“There are a lot of sick people out there, Val.”

She swallowed, brushed away the wetness that escaped down her cheeks. “Thank you for coming to get me, making sure I was safe.”

“It’s my job.”

“You could have sent someone. You did it because I’m Sam’s friend, right?”

His eyes locked with hers, dark brown into worried blue. “Mostly,” was all he said.





For the next few hours, while he waited until it was time to drive Val to the theater, Ethan worked by phone. He talked to Matt Carlyle, but they had both spoken to Hoover, so neither had anything new to report. He mentioned Delilah’s men friends, and Carlyle agreed to see what he could find out.

Even after finding the note in the safe, they couldn’t afford to make assumptions. There were lives at stake. They needed all the information they could gather in order to find Delilah’s killer and protect the other women.