Shielded In The Shadows

“Unless he knows that Suzie’s been hurt again, I highly doubt that he’d jump to that conclusion. I check up on him regularly.”

“Asking him to verify things you found on the location app?”

“Not always,” he told her. “But sometimes. I hardly think that would have him jumping to conclusions...”

“Why else would you be asking him about times he was in Santa Raquel?” Sitting forward, her arms on the table, Emma faced him. “He knows I know he got away with murder. And that I’m going to do everything I can to be sure he pays for that.”

There was no reaching her on this one. She was so damned convinced.

That meant that for all three of them—her, Bill and himself—Jayden had to stay on top of every aspect of the case, everything she was pursuing where Bill was concerned, to prevent a grave injustice.

Chapter 13

The last thing Emma needed was to be all alone in a quiet little room with Jayden Powell. A detective’s office that was usually buzzing with energy, activity and noise when Emma visited was mostly dark and quiet on the other side of the glass from where they sat.

It was all too intimate. And emotional. Way too tempting to a shadow side that refused to go away. Her lesser self was pushing her way up and out with such force, Emma was having a hard time controlling her.

“How long were you home before you noticed?” Jayden’s soft voice, that look in his eye, made her forget, for just a second, that she was completely creeped out.

“Less than a minute,” she told him. “I saw it as soon as I walked in the door.” From his house. Where they’d had wild and intense sex. No. She shook her head. “He was in my backyard,” she said, needing him to understand just how dangerous his offender really was. She loved that he gave his guys the benefit of the doubt. Many deserved it.

But some just did not.

“He got in through the community gate, which he could have done by waiti

ng close by and following someone else in. Our gate takes a moment to close because it’s so big and heavy, and there’s time for a second vehicle to slide through...”

“There should be surveillance, then, if that’s the case.”

“Chantel has already put in a request for a warrant to view the tape. Hopefully they’ll have it yet tonight.” And then he’d see that Bill Heber was a serious threat.

“It’s possible that whoever was there climbed a wall to get in.”

“Officers are checking the perimeter of the community,” she said, feeling creeped out about the whole thing. All the manpower on her behalf...it was more attention than she wanted.

And yet...she didn’t want to just go home and pretend it hadn’t happened, either.

“A prosecutor being threatened...that’s a big deal for all of us. For so many reasons. It puts our judicial system at risk.”

“I know. And the fact that he climbed my wall—it’s six feet of brick—or made it over my back gate, which is also six feet...”

“I’m assuming someone checked to see that the lock on the gate hadn’t been tampered with?” he asked.

“It hadn’t been. I wish it had. Then they’d know where to brush for prints. As it is, they’re brushing randomly, hoping to get something...”

Jayden’s hair was askew, like he’d been in bed when she’d called him. She was only now noticing. That told her just how out of sorts she really was. The shirt and jeans? Those she recognized. Figured if she got close enough, she might smell herself on them.

Could Chantel?

Oh, God, if anyone knew what they’d done, she’d...

“I thought I was being followed a couple of times this week.” She blurted the words to distract herself from thoughts of needing to be safely back in his arms.

She could take care of herself.

“I told Chantel about it.”

And she hadn’t told him. Either time. Because it hadn’t seemed professionally necessary for him to know since she’d been certain she’d been overreacting. And personally...well they weren’t...personal. They were just...having sex.