Dead Don't Lie (10 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

S
EVEN
HOURS
OF
interviewing witnesses and scrubbing call logs had resulted in nothing. Again. There were no prints, no fibers and nothing out of place at the crime scenes. There were no witnesses. All the properties were lakefront, so the unsub must’ve come in and out by boat. But even searching boat rentals resulted in a big fat goose egg.

The bastard was smart.

And Lady Luck was not on their side for this one.

At her insistence, the guys made an early evening run to the Starbucks down the street for a caffeine boost. She was glad they’d taken the break. But she’d secretly needed space from the two men after their caveman duet earlier. She’d told Ryan she appreciated his concern, and she did. Still, when he’d suggested they move her to a safe house, she’d wanted to smack him. But only for a brief moment. Then reason roared in, reminded her that if the tables were turned and some psycho had left crime scene photos at Ryan’s house, there wouldn’t have even been a discussion. She’d move them to a safe house immediately. End of story.

Quiet chatter between the other detectives flitted through the air. The captain had holed himself up in his office and was currently bent over a pile of reports. She grimaced. The mayor was pressuring them for something—anything—that would seem like forward motion, but Kessler took the brunt of it.

Evelyn picked up her phone, irritated at the lack of movement, and called down to the lab. “You got good news for me, McCarthy?”

“I wish I did, but no. I’ve got nothing—no prints, no fibers. The photos were printed on a home printer with normal photo paper. You could get the stuff anywhere—Target, Walmart, the local Walgreen’s.”

“Which narrows our suspect list down to, oh, a few million people in the Seattle area.” She rubbed her throbbing forehead. Where was that caffeine?

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help, Detective.”

“That’s okay, not your fault.” She blew out a breath in frustration. “Thanks for rushing them for me.”

“Anytime, Detective Davis.”

She slammed down her phone, closed her eyes and tilted her head to the left, then to the right, trying to erase the strain pulling at her neck. How was this guy still ahead of them? He couldn’t be that good, could he? She shook her head at the thought. No. She knew how to get into a killer’s mind. She might need to traverse a few hypothetical paths before she landed on the one that led her home, but she always found a way.

The elevator’s chime announced the arrival of her latte. She looked up, then silently swore. Instead of her much-needed caffeine fix, Josh Sanderson stepped out and made a beeline toward her. Great. She hadn’t thought her day could get any worse. At the sight of the short arrogant man charging her way, she knew she’d been wrong.

“Detective Sanderson, what can I do for you?” The only thing she wanted to do for him was punch the down button for the elevator and escort him out of her
house
. That clearly not being an option, she went with being polite.

He sat on the edge of her desk, flipped his jacket open and stared down at her. His familiar gesture made her bristle. Funny how the same movement from Ryan or Marcus felt comfortable. Not so with Sanderson. The urge to smack him, then sanitize her desk, flooded her.

“Off.”

His jaw jumped at her stern order. He obediently stood, then straightened his shoulders.

“Why are you here?”

“Had to drop something off to Jones downstairs and just thought I’d check in to see how the investigation’s going.”

She pursed her lips, felt a sarcastic quip bubble up within her and tried to swallow it.
Jones, her ass.

“You came all this way to check in. There
is
this thing called a phone, Sanderson.” Her voice took on a contemptuous tone.

“The investigation, Davis...”

She sighed. “It’s going. Slowly. But we’re doing all we can to track this guy. When something breaks, believe me, we’ll let you know.”

“Somehow I doubt that. I should’ve been the lead on this. Our guys would already—”

“Oh, give it a rest.” Evelyn was too tired to deal with the whining complaints of this egotistical idiot. “The chief asked for us. Get over yourself.”

A detective across the room chuckled. Sanderson’s face reddened and his eyes narrowed. “I know all about your history.”

“Excuse me?”

The elevator chimed again. Marcus and Ryan walked out. Ryan spotted Sanderson and cast an apprehensive glance at Evelyn. Her partner moved quickly to his desk and put down the coffees. Evelyn noticed the sudden shift in Ryan’s demeanor but ignored him, casting a glance at Marcus. He stared back at her, curiosity and concern shining brightly in his face. She knew she looked like a small animal backed into a corner. Anger and panic radiated off her.
Damn you, Sanderson.
She turned back to the detective sneering down at her.

Ryan came around his desk and stepped up to Sanderson. “Is there a problem here?”

Marcus stood by Evelyn’s side and leaned close. “You okay? You look coiled, ready to spring.”

She nodded. The tension in her shoulders squeezed.

Sanderson ignored both men towering over him. “I think there hasn’t been a breakthrough on this case because you can’t see beyond your own nose. Someone with
your
background shouldn’t be leading this case.”

“You better stop while you’re ahead.” The words came out of her mouth low and menacing.

Panic and rage tightened her throat as she commanded herself to breathe.
How did he find out?
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t let the rest of her squad know about her family. It would undermine her ability to do her job and cast her in another light. No longer would she be Detective Evelyn Davis, the best profiler and closer the department had seen for over twenty years. She’d be Evelyn Davis, the victim. She couldn’t let that happen. Suddenly she felt exposed, and for the first time in fifteen years, vulnerable.

Then she saw red.

Who did the other detectives come to when they were stumped? Her. She was the only one whose close rate topped 80 percent. She’d caught more killers in her time on the force than the rest of the detectives combined.

She was confident in her skills. And she’d be damned if she let some arrogant ass push her around because she was a woman.

It wasn’t by accident that she was being actively recruited by the FBI, most likely including the tall agent standing next to her. She glanced up at Marcus and smirked. He looked like he wanted to kill Sanderson. Despite the hellish hand life had dealt her, she prided herself on ignoring the continual bullshit thrown her way by the many arrogant, narcissistic assholes who couldn’t see past her breasts. She’d made a good life and career for herself. She turned cold eyes on Sanderson—this specific asshole wasn’t going to take that away simply because his fragile little ego had been bruised.

“I’d consider your next words carefully, Sanderson.”

His eyes hardened. “You’re too emotional on this, Davis, because of your family’s murder.”

Everyone stopped moving. All chatting within the bull pen ceased.

Evelyn jumped up. Her chair tumbled to the ground as she lunged. Simultaneously, Ryan grabbed Sanderson by the collar, pushed him against the wall and jammed his arm up under the smaller man’s chin, cutting off his air supply. With the speed of a viper, Marcus grabbed Evelyn by the waist and hauled her back before she could get to Sanderson. He wrapped his other arm around the tops of her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

“Easy,” he whispered into her ear. “Easy, sweetheart.”

She fought against his hold. Her pulse kicked into overdrive as she felt the erratic beat of his heart against her back. He tightened his grip and brought his mouth to her ear once more. “Evelyn, stop.”

She quit struggling.

Sanderson pawed at Ryan’s arm, his face going from white to red.

“Enough,” Captain Kessler bellowed as he stormed from his office. “What the hell is going on here?”

Marcus let go of Evelyn but stayed close to her. Her fists knotted by her side. A calm mask descended over her face. Gone was the panic and anger. Composed defiance washed over her as she turned to her boss.

Ryan relaxed his hold enough for Sanderson to catch his breath, but didn’t let him go.

“Get off me, O’Neil.” Sanderson jerked his arm up. He coughed, then spun and nodded to the captain. “Captain Kessler, I was just expressing my concern with Detective Davis being the lead due to her—”

“Not another word, Sanderson,” Kessler said.

Sanderson lurched as if he’d been slapped. His face reddened at the public reprimand. He pulled at his jacket, pushed his shoulders back and glanced around the bull pen. All eyes were on him.

“Sir—”

Kessler’s voice rose. “If you have a concern with the decisions made by both the chief and the mayor, I’d suggest you go up the proper chain of command. Before you do that, I’d highly recommend you keep your opinions to yourself.” He took a step toward Sanderson and eyed the detective in front of him. “Do you understand me, Detective Sanderson?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, get out of my bull pen.”

Josh Sanderson stalked to the stairs. He shoved his palm against the door. It swung open and bounced against the cement wall. Without a backward glance, he stormed out.

Kessler swung toward his officers.

“I’m not sure what the hell just happened, but I expected better out of you two.” He pointed at Ryan and Evelyn before turning to Marcus.

“Special Agent Moretti, my apologies for the theatrics. I assure you, this isn’t the norm for my typically well-behaved, professional detectives.”

“No need, sir. From what I could ascertain, Detective Sanderson was completely out of line in his questioning. Detective O’Neil was merely protecting one of his own, which is something I highly respect in a house, sir. And, quite frankly, applaud.”

A surprised expression flickered on Kessler’s face. He nodded. “Thank you, Agent Moretti.” He turned back to the rest of the crew. “I think it’s time for everyone to pack up.”

Evelyn opened her mouth to argue.

Kessler shook his head, looking spent. “Go home, Evelyn. Get some rest. I want an incident report on my desk, first thing in the morning. I wouldn’t put it past that slimy shit bag Sanderson to write up a complaint.”

“Yes, sir.” She nodded.

“Gentlemen, you, too,” Kessler said, then walked back to this office and closed his door.

She’d completely lost control.
How mortifying.
Her face burned and her stomach clenched.
Refusing to look at either Marcus or Ryan, Evelyn gathered her bag, turned and left without a word.

* * *

M
ARCUS
WATCHED
E
VELYN
storm off. The pounding in his ears subsided as his pulse stopped racing. He’d sensed something was wrong the instant he and Ryan had stepped off the elevator. But it was the sheer look of panicked pain on Evelyn’s face that had sent his blood boiling and spurred him into instant protect mode. He’d never wanted to defend another human being more intensely than in that moment.

Marcus turned and eyed Ryan. “What was that about?”

Ryan’s jaw tightened. “Some guys just can’t see past the angelic face. They think that just because she’s a woman, she’s ruled by emotion, not logic. It’s been something she’s battled since she landed here. And despite proving them all wrong, time and time again, they still see a fragile woman—she hates that.”

“I can see her point. She’s a cop first. And a damn good one, at that.”

“
I
know that, and the chief knows that.” Ryan pointed at him. “Even
you
know that. But most guys in the force can’t—or won’t—see it. Normally, she shrugs it off or fires back with dark humor—especially when it comes to that prick Sanderson. Honestly, man, I’ve never seen her react like that before.”

Marcus shook his head. “I’m not buying that. It sounded like more than the typical ‘you’re a woman, you must be weak’ mantra. What was Sanderson talking about? That thing about her family.”

Ryan shrugged and averted his eyes.

Marcus slammed his hand down on a desk. “Come on. I read her file. I know they’re dead. Why do I get the feeling that there’s something more you guys aren’t sharing?”

Ryan blew out a breath. “Look. It’s not my story to tell. It’s not in her file for a reason. I vouch for her. She can hold her own with this case. It’s not an accident that the mayor specifically requested us. And believe me, it didn’t have anything to do with my rugged charm.”

Marcus didn’t like that answer, but knew he wouldn’t get anything else out of Ryan. He couldn’t fault him, not when he admired his sense of loyalty. The guy was a vault when it came to Evelyn. If Marcus was ever concerned about an interoffice romance between the two of them, that idea had just snuffed out. It was evident that Ryan saw Evelyn as a sister, nothing more.

Frustrated, he scrubbed his hands over his face, then looked at the stairwell door. A frown pinched his eyebrows together. Although he hated to oppose Evelyn, he’d sided with Ryan earlier on the safe house idea. If it were up to him, Evelyn would be in it. Tonight. But at this stage in the game, he was here on a consultant basis only.

“You going after her?” Marcus asked.

Ryan shook his head. He grabbed his pen and the yellow pad of paper sitting on his desk, scribbled something, then tore off the top sheet and folded it in half.

“No.” He handed Marcus the slip of paper. “You are.”

Marcus’s eyebrows arched. “I am? You think that’s a good idea?”

“Yes.”

Marcus was startled by how much authority rang in Ryan’s answer. There wasn’t a hint of joking left in his voice. Ryan was dead serious.

“What’s this?” Marcus glanced at the paper. “I know where she lives.”

Ryan pushed his chair back onto two legs and smirked. “Yes, but do you know her favorite wine?”

“Ah, good man.” Marcus laughed, then pocketed the note.

Ryan got up, grabbed his jacket and walked to the elevator. He hit the down button, then called over his shoulder, “You coming?”