The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(75)
Or that’s what she told herself.
The truth was that the pills made the nightmares worse—and impossible to escape.
She turned to them both. “There’s a girl who’s missing—a girl who’s probably going through some seriously scary shit right now, and if we don’t stop it, she’s going to end up just like the other two. Even if we get the DNA swabs, that takes weeks. You can’t put a rush order on it when there are dozens of other rush orders in the mix.”
Zach pointed at his cruiser. “You want to yell at me because you’re frustrated? Fine. Get in the damn car before you do. We have an audience.”
Eden belatedly realized there was a handful of people in hearing range, all watching with avid expressions. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. She should have noticed them. More so, she shouldn’t need to be reprimanded like she was still green. She tossed her keys to Vic and turned without another word to stalk to Zach’s vehicle. Stupid. So stupid. You’re reacting instead of acting, and it’s fucking with your head.
It didn’t matter if that was the truth. She couldn’t afford to skip a beat, not with Rachel counting on her. She’s just a kid. They were all just kids.
Whoever was doing this was known to her, no matter how tentative the relationship. They had to be in order to know about the garland. That fact alone meant they were in Elysia at the same time she was. The only problem with that was that every single one of their suspects had been, too. Even if the unsub hadn’t actually seen her making the flower chain, they could have gleaned the information from someone who had. Even though there were more secrets in that cult than there were trees in the Rockies, it didn’t stop members from getting together and talking—gossiping. But that wasn’t the way to think about it, because if they went in that direction, they were back to anyone in Elysia being a suspect.
Eden rubbed her face and then winced when she came into contact with her bruise.
If she could just figure out the missing piece, she could put an end to all this.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Eden kept up a running commentary as Zach drove them back to Clear Springs. She’d always worked better when reasoning through things aloud, and she wanted a head start before she bunkered down tonight and started making lists. “He’s coming after me eventually. Maybe I can do something to take his attention away from Rachel and up his timeline.” It would be tricky, though, because they ran the risk that the unsub would kill Rachel before the timeline indicated. She tapped a finger to her lip. “If it was the unsub who hit me earlier, he had a chance to take me and passed it up. This guy is controlled—freakishly controlled—and that indicates he has a plan with a timeline he’s sticking to. Which we already knew, but it’s still good information. At this point, any information is good information.”
She looked up and realized they’d taken a turn off the highway while she was occupied with her thoughts. “Where are we going? I thought you were taking me back to the B&B.” She’d already mentally geared up for a night spent poring over the case file yet again and making notes.
“If I drop you off, you’re going to get straight to work and forget to eat.” He didn’t look at her. Every muscle in his body was tense, like he was preparing for a fight. “Maybe you aren’t concerned with taking care of yourself, but I am.”
She blinked. Uh, okay. The last thing she needed right now was to deal with another person’s feelings, and she hadn’t forgotten the way he’d talked to Vic over her back at the courthouse. That macho bullshit might work with the women around here, but it wasn’t Eden’s cup of tea. She didn’t find it sexy, and if he was going to make a habit of it . . . What? You’re leaving when this case is done. You always leave. There’s no future here. There never was.
He climbed out of the car and headed for his front door, leaving her staring after him. For a few seconds, Eden actually considered trying to hotwire his car. It’d been a very long time since she’d done it, but some skills didn’t disappear with time. She reluctantly let go of the impulse. Grand theft auto wouldn’t solve anything.
But it would be extremely satisfying.
She started after him, finding the front door open. They needed to get to the bottom of whatever had crawled up his ass so they could move on to more important things—mainly stopping the unsub.
Eden found him in the kitchen, pouring a healthy glass of whiskey into a tumbler. She frowned. “I didn’t think you drank hard alcohol.” He might have the easygoing small-town sheriff thing down pat, but she recognized the inner control freak he kept on a tight leash. She doubted he’d been drunk anytime in recent memory, and he’d only had that single beer the other night before he switched to water.
Today must have really gotten under his skin if he was breaking that habit.
“I’m making an exception.” He downed it in a single shot without so much as flinching.
Impressive. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s got you in a tizzy? Because throwing a tantrum without warning isn’t a positive trait, no matter which way you swing it.”
He poured another glass. “Have you always been so damn reckless?”
She straightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.” He raised the glass, stopped, and set it down. “I thought it was just that you were driven to find this killer, but that’s not it, is it? Your partner wasn’t surprised by the bruise on your face, which makes me think this kind of thing has happened before.”