The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(65)
Zach arrested Joseph. She grabbed her phone, but there were no missed calls or texts. What the hell? If he was going to come out here and start arresting people, the least he could have done was give her a heads-up. She pressed the ice pack more firmly against her face. Right now she needed a handful of Advil and some time to sit and think, but it didn’t look like she was going to get either.
Martha swayed as if faint. “We have given the police in Clear Springs our utmost support, and this is how they repay us—with treachery. We will not stand for it!”
Her mother wasn’t going to be slowing down anytime soon. If anything, she was picking up steam. Eden sighed. It didn’t really matter. Martha had more than proven that she wasn’t going to be cooperative, no matter how many times she claimed otherwise. The key tattooed on Eden’s chest had something to do with all this, and she was just going to have to find out on her own.
The fact that she’d already spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time researching it didn’t bear mentioning.
She headed for her car, relieved beyond measure to discover that it was still locked and there weren’t any new presents sitting around. Without looking at her mother, Abram, or the gathering crowd, she slipped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. A knock on the window took several years off her life. She sighed when she recognized Beth on the other side of the glass, and Eden pushed the button to lower the window. “I can’t really talk.”
“Oh, Eden, look at your face.” Beth pressed a hand to her mouth, her blue eyes wide. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Possibly lightly concussed.
“Oh, well, good.” She hesitated and seemed to steel herself. “You’ve got to do something about the sheriff.”
Eden blinked. “What exactly do you expect me to do?”
“He arrested Joseph and Lee.” Beth bit her lip. “Joseph might be unkind sometimes, but Lee is a good man. He couldn’t possibly have done anything to deserve being arrested.”
Technically, Zach hadn’t arrested either of them. She’d bet her badge on it. He didn’t have enough evidence, and bringing someone in on a trumped-up charge would undermine any trial that happened once they found the unsub. Explaining that to Beth, though, would take time and effort, and Eden had neither. “I’m not in charge of the investigation.”
“But you could talk to him, couldn’t you? This is all just some horrible misunderstanding, I’m sure of it.”
Eden’s gaze dropped to the handful of people standing just within earshot, and then back to Beth. For fuck’s sake, it’s just as much a ploy as my mother’s wailing and clothes clutching. For all that, her former friend was rather transparent. Eden was so damn tired, tired of the manipulations, tired of the politics, tired of everything.
Even so, she just didn’t have it in her to slap the other woman down. It wasn’t Beth’s fault this was happening. “I’ll talk to him.” That, at least, was true. She wanted to know what the hell was going on. She couldn’t deny that Joseph topped her list of suspects, but she couldn’t be sure if that was because of her personal dislike for him or not. Zach must have found something out.
Time seemed to be moving fast, skipping forward to an inevitable end. She didn’t know where it would stop, but there was violence in the air. It was only left to figure out who would fall next.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Zach’s relief at seeing Eden’s car pull up outside the station died a terrible death when she climbed out and her face came into view. He shoved through the door and out into the crisp afternoon air. It’s going to be a cold one tonight. The completely unnecessary observation did nothing to calm him. He stopped in front of her, not touching her but close enough that he knew damn well he was crowding her. “What the fuck happened?”
“I could ask you the same thing. I thought we were waiting to pull anyone in until something changed.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off the bruise blossoming down the side of her face. “Didn’t you get my messages?”
Eden looked like she’d been about to rip him a new one, but she froze. “You didn’t leave any messages.”
“I left three.” He shook his head. “You’re dodging the fact that you have yet to explain that.” It looked like she’d gone one too many rounds with a boxer, and she’d be sporting one hell of a black eye before too long. “You said you’d be careful.”
“I was careful.” She touched her bruise and winced. “I was mostly careful. I didn’t get anything useful, but someone was following me, so I chased them down and caught what feels like a shovel to my face for my efforts. Knocked me out cold.”
The bottom of his stomach dropped out. Anything could have happened to her while she was unconscious. If it was the killer who’d attacked her, he could have taken her to wherever he’d been holding his victims, and likely the next time Zach saw her, she’d be in a ditch. The mere thought stole his breath. He jerked Eden into a hug he had no business demanding.
She tensed, but then released a pent-up breath and relaxed against him. It was only then that he registered how her body shook. He rubbed her back, holding her closer. Just a minute. Just another minute and I’ll let her go. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”