The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(74)
This was someone with an intimate knowledge of Elysia.
Someone like her mother.
Judge Tanner finally set the file down. “It’s not much.”
“It’s what we have.”
He turned eyes a startling shade of blue on her. “And you two. What do you have to say about this?” He squinted. “Wait a damn second. I know you. You’re Martha Collins’s daughter.”
“I’m not here officially.” She fought down her instinct to snap back. It wouldn’t help anyone right now, least of all Rachel Carpenter. If she had the ability to convince the judge to give them this warrant, she was going to do what it took. “Consider me an expert civilian consultant, and I think we can both agree I’m uniquely qualified to say these murders were done by someone within Martha’s flock—someone high up. The dead girls all share a tattoo that—”
“That you seem to have.” He raised his eyebrows. “What a fortunate coincidence that you’re back in town right as our girls start dropping dead, and they all bear a startling resemblance to you.”
She knew that. Damn it, she knew that better than anyone. Eden gritted her teeth. “No one is more concerned with finding this killer than I am.”
“I can’t attest to that, and the fact that you’re even in this room could potentially compromise the investigation.” He eyed Vic. “You’re one scary son of a bitch. Which branch of special forces were you part of?”
“SEALs. Team Six.”
“Humph.” Judge Tanner shook his head. “You damn frogs. I should have known. You have that dead look about your eyes.”
Eden turned to stare at Vic. She’d known he was ex-military, but he’d never offered what branch, and she’d never asked—part of their policy. How the hell hadn’t she known he was a goddamn Navy SEAL in another life? She made herself take a mental step back and look at him from the judge’s point of view . . . and came up with nothing. She frowned harder. “How did you know?”
“Like recognizes like, little girl.” He set the file aside and focused on Zach. “The most you’re looking at is a warrant compelling them to give oral swabs. Even that may get thrown out in court, because any attorney worth his salt would argue that my being on good terms with your old man means I’m reaching with this warrant solely as a favor. And they’d be right.” He shook his head. “I’ll have it ready by morning. Now get out of my office.”
They got out of his office.
Eden considering cornering Vic about the new information that meeting had revealed, but there was a time and place for such talks, and now was neither. She wasn’t sure there was a good time and place to demand to know why he’d kept such an important piece of information from her—or how she’d missed it all along.
She’d met SEALs before—it went with the territory that sometimes they ran into the various military branches in various cases—and she just couldn’t reconcile the differences. Those guys were scary sons of bitches. Usually when they looked at her, she got the feeling they were mentally compiling a list of ways they could kill her and dispose of her body without anyone being the wiser. It wasn’t personal—it was just how their minds worked. She’d never once, not in five years, gotten that vibe from Vic. Sometimes he was too intense, and he was overprotective to a clinical degree, but a SEAL?
It just didn’t compute.
“You’re going to give yourself a headache—worse of a headache. Let it go.”
She turned to face her partner. “How did he know? I’m trained in reading people, and I’ve worked with you for years and I had no idea.”
Vic shrugged. “It’s like he said—like recognizes like. He was a Ranger, if I don’t miss my guess.”
Zach came to stand next to them. “Back in Vietnam.”
That, at least, she could see. Eden rubbed the bridge of her nose, all too aware of how much her face hurt. She was going to have to rest soon. No matter how wired she was right now, the day would catch up with her. “We need to get all our ducks in a row before the DNA test.”
Vic shook his head. “I spent all day on the plane. I’m going to do some looking over the files again and walk around to see if I can get a feel for the town.”
She started to say that wasn’t a good idea, but stopped. Vic might not advertise it, but he was easily as deadly as Abram—and that went doubly if she took into account that he was a former SEAL. There wasn’t much Clear Springs could offer that would be dangerous to him. Not to mention the unsub is focused on me. That was almost a relief. She could deal with a personal threat better than worrying that someone around her might be hurt.
Someone like Rachel.
She swallowed hard. “I’ll update Britton.”
“No need. I’ll make the call.” He turned gray eyes on her—wolfy eyes, she’d always thought. “You need to sit your ass down before you fall down.”
Zach snorted. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” He considered Vic. “If you want to drive her car back, I’ll take her and grab some food and then make sure she doesn’t get a wild hair.”
“I am standing right here.” She sounded petulant and hated it. “And if you talked to me like an adult, you’d know that I plan on going back to the B&B and getting some sleep.” There wouldn’t be much in the way of sleep tonight, no matter how brave a face she put on it, and she didn’t trust the current situation enough to take the sleeping aid the doctor had prescribed months ago. Hell, she didn’t take it most nights. With a job like hers, she could be pulled from sleep at any time and expected to operate on all cylinders without missing a beat. There wasn’t the luxury of shaking off a pill-induced haze.