Zara vehemently shook her head, and Ryker gently slid an arm around her shoulders to play with her hair. She settled immediately. Yeah. He could do this. He could cover and protect her calmly and rationally without losing his temper or drawing attention to his brothers.
“We wanted to help Julie, not hurt her.” The lawyer was smooth with just the right amount of concern and genuineness. No wonder he often won in court.
There was only one way to get to the truth of whether or not Julie was doing drugs. Ryker focused on the detective. “When will the autopsy be concluded?”
Norton glanced at his watch. “I’ve put a rush on it, but that could still mean the end of next week.”
“I’ll get it done sooner.” Jay reached for his phone and texted something, his hand shaking. “My chief of staff will light a fire under the coroner. We have to find out what happened to Julie.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll take care of the press,” the detective said, standing. “Do you want to make a statement or have the officers outside escort them out of the subdivision? They’re technically trespassing.”
Jay stood and smoothed back his hair. His handsome face fell into sad lines. “I should probably make a statement.” Without looking at Ryker, he moved past them to the door.
Ryker rolled his eyes.
The detective nodded, his expression veiled. “I’ll come with you.” They left with Brock in their wake.
Zara moved toward the door. “Oh, I want to watch this,” she whispered.
Ryker grasped her arm and held her back. “Stay out of the picture for now, darlin’. Considering you were probably the last person to see the victim alive.”
Zara stumbled and paused. “Besides the killer, you mean.”
That was exactly what he had meant. He had to shove down the thought that the killer could’ve gotten to her that day, too, or he’d lose his fuckin’ mind. His entire body flushed with heat, and he took a moment to regain control. “I want to hear what else Jay says to the detective when he gets finished using this whole thing to his advantage with the press,” Ryker said. “At that point, we have to sit down and figure out what kind of mess you’re in. Did anybody see you yesterday?”
She paled. “I don’t think so, but I can’t be totally sure.” She winced. “And I went through all of Julie’s things.”
“Why?” Ryker asked, the blood rushing through his head.
She looked down at her notepad. “Brock had made some allegations about drugs, so I looked around her stuff to see if I could find any. I didn’t find one tiny bit of evidence that Julie was doing drugs. Not one.”
Ryker grasped her chin and lifted her face to meet her eyes. Shit. This was getting worse and worse. “Did you touch anything?”
She blinked. “Yes. I searched the whole room.”
Well, fuck. He automatically sought for an exit. This was bad. She was in trouble, and running might be the only option until Ryker found the real killer or proved that Jay did it. “They’ll dust for prints, darlin’. You haven’t been arrested before, have you?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm for her.
“No.” Her eyes widened, and the pulse fluttered in her neck.
“Are your prints on file to be a paralegal?” This was beyond bad. It put in danger not only Zara but also anybody around her, including his brothers.
She slowly shook her head. “No. Only people taking the bar exam get printed, and paralegals don’t take the bar exam. Nobody has ever fingerprinted me.”
“Okay. That’s good.” It was also probably only a temporary reprieve. If anybody tied Zara to Julie, the cops could probably get Zara’s fingerprints, and that would put Zara at the scene of the crime.
“Am I in trouble?” she whispered, any remaining color draining from her face.
He slid an arm around her, offering her warmth and protection. “Yeah, baby. You’re in deep shit.” But he’d get her out of it if it was the last thing he did. For now, he had to protect his brothers and stay away from the cameras flashing outside.
Oh, moving to Cisco had been a fucking terrible idea.
As he tucked Zara close, something in him roared to life: the fighter he’d tried to quell for so long. He’d known someday the showdown would occur, and he’d figured at some point Sheriff Cobb would win.
Not now. Now Ryker had way too much to lose. “We’ll figure this out, Zara. I promise.” As the cameras flashed again outside the door, he wondered if they’d all have to run this time. Maybe getting lost was his only option once again.
Chapter
19
Zara couldn’t believe it. Julie was dead. Really dead. The words kept going through her head all day, and she couldn’t get them to stop. It was unbelievable and so unfair.