Читать книгу Incriminating Evidence - Rachel Dylan - Страница 11

TWO

Zach glanced over at Jessica, who was standing on the sandy beach with her gray high heels in her hand. The crime scene was currently being secured, and he wanted to get a good look at things for himself.

Jessica had refused to wait in the car, and given the circumstances he felt better having her right there close to his side. After all, that was the agreement he’d made with his boss. Zach had to commit not to let the blonde powerhouse rookie prosecutor out of his sight. Most importantly to protect her from the Hernandez family, but also because Brodie wanted to make sure Zach was tuned in to any information that she had that could help the FBI investigations.

As her wavy mane blew away from her face, he took a minute to really study her. He’d have to be oblivious not to notice how pretty she was. Not to mention that she was also bright, witty, and driven. She was the kind of woman he’d be looking for—if he were looking. But he had a job to do, and romance was the last item on his list of priorities.

Just then she turned her face toward him.

“Sorry, I know you aren’t exactly dressed for a walk on the beach,” he said.

She wore a gray skirt suit, but, given the blistering Miami heat, she’d taken off the jacket and removed her heels to be able to navigate the sand.

“Don’t you worry about me, Zach. You’re going to come to find out very soon that I’m highly adaptable.”

Was there a backstory that had given Jessica such a tough exterior? He could tell from his own life experience that she was probably hiding some hurt underneath. He watched as she took a few steps closer to the water.

Detective Will Lang was on the scene and headed his way.

“What do you have?” Zach asked him.

The tall blond detective frowned. “The body washed up onto the shore and was called in by someone on the beach. But it doesn’t appear that it was dumped too far out.”

“Which means they wanted us to find the victim’s body quickly,” Zach said. It helped to verbalize his thoughts as he tried to piece together this puzzle.

“Exactly, and I don’t like it one bit,” Will said. “FBI is taking lead, but we’re providing support in any way we can.” Will’s eyes shifted over to Jessica. “What’s up with her?”

“It’s a long story, but for now she’s under FBI protection because of the threat against her.”

Will chuckled. “Well, maybe you need to go back to Quantico to get a lesson on protective detail.”

“Why do you say that?” Zach asked.

“Because your girl’s on the move.”

Zach turned around and saw Jessica taking long strides down to where the body was lying near the edge of the water. They’d covered it out of respect. He took off in a jog to catch up to her.

“Jessica,” he yelled. “Wait up.”

She turned around and looked at him and then kept walking. It only took him a moment to catch up to her. “What do you think you’re doing? We agreed that you’d stay back until the team got done with their initial work.”

She shifted her weight. “No, Zach. You told me that was what I was going to do. I never said that I’d just follow along with your bidding.” She smiled at him and kept walking.

Seriously? She should know his directions were intended to protect her in any situation, but she wasn’t going to take to his command easily. This woman was going to be a challenge. He grabbed on to her arm before she got too far and pulled her back, noticing once again that she flinched when he touched her.

“You can’t go any further. We can’t risk any more contamination to the crime scene.”

“This is a public beach. The damage has already been done with all the hundreds of onlookers about before the police even made it to the scene.”

“Regardless, what is it you hope to gain by getting closer?”

“I just want to get a better feel for what happened here.”

He ushered her away from the body and back up the beach. “What happened here is that the Hernandez family killed Denise Landers and purposely put her body where they knew it would wash up onshore sooner rather than later.”

“They had to know that Denise was the star witness for the prosecution. As the accountant for the family, she was a treasure trove of information. They take her out, and it’s a much different case I’ll be making. A much harder one.” Jessica paused and looked up at him. “I think they also did this to send a message.”

“You aren’t really fazed by much, are you?” He appreciated her tenacity, but he thought she was still a bit too cavalier about her security and their investigation.

“I’d rather get to the bottom of this and then get back to work.” She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “The Hernandez family needs to answer for this senseless murder. The taking of a completely innocent life. Denise was doing the right thing, and it got her killed.”

He watched Jessica bite her bottom lip. While she was trying to keep up a strong face, he could tell this murder impacted her. And he wanted to reassure her that law enforcement was on it.

“That’s why the police are here now,” he said. “They will help build a case.”

“But nothing will bring her back. She’s gone and that’s a reality I know I have to deal with but I really don’t want to face right now.”

* * *

Later that evening in her office, Jessica took a deep breath as she looked into Zach’s eyes filled with a bit of wariness. But she wanted to see things for herself and make her own assessments. That’s why she’d tried to get a closer look at the crime scene. But with the body covered up, she hadn’t been able to garner much information.

“I understand we both have a job to do here,” she said.

“I agree, and that’s why I think it’s important for us to work together and not against each other. I get that you don’t want me to be your shadow, but given you want to stay on this case and I have no alternative, we need to call a truce.”

She couldn’t help but smile. He did have a disarming quality about him. “Let’s talk about what happened to Denise.”

“This has the Hernandez family’s mark all over it.”

“I agree. Why don’t we discuss the family? We haven’t had a chance to really pick each other’s brains yet about what we know.”

“That’s a great idea.”

She nodded. “You start.”

“All right. The head of the family is Mick Hernandez. Ultimate crime boss who calls all the shots but rarely gets his hands dirty. He’s married to Fern Hernandez. She largely stays out of the spotlight, but my hunch is that she plays critical roles behind the scenes.”

“Right, and then there’s Simon. The son that I’m prosecuting. Although without Denise serving as my witness who can testify about the forgeries and money laundering given her role as their accountant, it’s going to be super tough to present the level of proof we need for a conviction.”

“I’ll see if there’s anything we can add that could be helpful given these latest developments.”

“They’re not going to stop until they squash this prosecution,” she said more to herself than to him.

“We’re not going to let that happen.”

“And what about the other two siblings?” she asked. “I also have my eye on the sister, Ana. But I’m trying to focus on this case first before I attempt to build another one and charge a second member of the family. Depending on how this trial goes, though, Ana would definitely be next on my list.”

“Funny you say that, because Ana is our prime focus right now.”

“Then maybe we can help each other.” This might actually work out after all. Especially if her prosecution of Simon got railroaded, then maybe with the FBI’s help she’d be able to start working up evidence against Ana.

“Ana is dirty—there’s no doubt about it. She’s known on the streets as the most ruthless sibling, but she’s working with someone in the organization to make sure she stays as clean as possible. But she can’t hide forever.”

Jessica’s pulse quickened just thinking about constructing arguments against Ana. “She has a few businesses in town that she uses as fronts, right?”

“Yes, two actually. A dry-cleaning service and a restaurant.”

“You know who we haven’t talked about yet?” she asked.

“The only person in the family who supposedly isn’t a criminal?” Zach raised an eyebrow.

“You’re skeptical that the golden boy is really golden?”

“Luke Hernandez may be a cop, but I don’t trust him.”

She shook her head. “Everything I’ve researched has him coming up completely clean. The only member with zero ties to any family business or any crimes at all. Got out young and never looked back.”

“Why would Mick Hernandez let his youngest son become a cop? I’m sorry, Jessica—I’m not buying it. There’s an ulterior motive going on even if it hasn’t presented itself yet. I wouldn’t trust him.”

“He works homicide,” Jessica said. “Supposedly he’s quite good and highly respected in the unit.”

Zach laughed. “When you grow up in a family of criminals it would make you a good cop. You know all the ins and outs.”

“Wait a minute. You can’t judge Luke purely based on his upbringing.” After the words were out of her mouth, she realized that she sounded a bit too defensive.

He leaned forward in his seat. She could tell that he was sizing her up.

“I’m sorry if I’m skeptical about Luke. I just find it really hard to believe that his father wouldn’t have killed him by now if he was really an upstanding cop.”

“Luke is still his son. And more importantly, he’s Fern’s baby. From everything I’ve researched, I think Fran has kept Luke off the table.”

“You think even though he’s gone over to the other side and sold out his family, that his mother will still protect him?”

“That’s where you have it wrong, Zach. What has Luke ever done to sell out his family? Nothing.”

“Well, he better be walled off from working this homicide. Because the Hernandez clan is definitely behind the death of Denise Landers.”

“Cut the guy a break. Shouldn’t we applaud him for stepping out of the life of crime and all the comforts that come with it?”

Zach shrugged. “I guess if I truly believed he was clean, that would be one thing.”

This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “It doesn’t matter. I can tell you right now, I’m not going after Luke Hernandez. I think he’s a solid cop trying to do the best he can. I’d rather keep our focus on the case I’m supposed to be trying against Simon.”

“Agreed. What are you going to do now without Denise to ensure a conviction?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. We do have a videotape of Denise’s deposition testimony. But that’s never as effective as a live witness. Plus the defense will try to exclude the testimony.”

“On what basis?”

“That he lacked the opportunity for a proper cross-examination.”

“How so?”

Jessica remembered that day well. “The defense attorney cooked up a story about a personal family emergency and had to leave before he could finish his questions. He cut the deposition short, and we never rescheduled because Denise committed to being available for trial. That was a big mistake in hindsight.”

“And who is the defense attorney?”

“Mateo Tyson.”

Zach groaned loudly. “That guy is the worst.”

“But he’s a very effective lawyer who has successfully defended the Hernandez family and other criminals for years.” She rubbed her eyes as exhaustion started to set in again.

“It’s getting late. Why don’t we get you home? Once we’re there, we can talk about the threat assessment and the security part of this operation.”

“I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I don’t think that’s exactly conducive to having a bodyguard.” She didn’t like the idea of someone invading her personal space, but there was a tiny part of her that was happy that she wouldn’t be alone tonight. And that Zach would be the one protecting her. Seeing Denise’s lifeless body on that beach today shook her up even though she was desperately trying not to show it.

“I can sleep in the living room. This isn’t about me having luxury accommodations. It’s about keeping you alive. When they sent someone to scare you, that was one thing. But now that they’ve killed a person connected to your case, we have to step it up. We’ll stay at your place tonight and then regroup and talk to Agent Wilson about a safe house and any other security precautions he wants to put into place.”

“I have faith that I’ll be all right.” And she believed that in the deepest fiber of her being.

Zach narrowed his eyes at her. “Faith as in the general concept, or faith as in faith in God?”

“Faith in God.”

He nodded. “I totally understand. My faith has gotten me through some tough times in life, too.”

It was nice to hear that Zach shared the same beliefs. And she also knew he was right. Now wasn’t the time be alone. Not when the threat loomed large. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Great. I’ll drive you and have another agent take your car back to your place. From here on out, you’re not going anywhere solo.”

Jessica was quickly realizing that she was going to have to pick her battles with Zach. And this definitely wasn’t something to argue about.

When she got into his government-issued SUV, she allowed herself to take a few deep breaths and try to decompress. The past twenty-four hours had been crazy.

“Are you from Florida?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Does your family still live here?”

The dreaded question that everyone always seemed curious about. Most people assumed it was totally innocent. But it was far from a benign question for her. Jessica figured that since they’d be working together she probably needed to be up front. “I actually don’t have a family.”

“What do you mean?”

“I grew up in the state of Florida foster care system. I was never adopted. So I don’t have any family.”

Silence filled the air for a moment. “I’m sorry—I didn’t know,” he said.

“No need to apologize. I’ve been on my own basically forever, so I’m quite used to it.”

“I feel bad for asking you.”

“Please don’t. I’d like to hear about your family,” she said.

“It’s not exactly an uplifting story, either, although it seems like nothing compared to what you went through. My dad split when I was a baby. I don’t even remember him. It was just me and my mom growing up. She had a tough time, and our relationship is rocky to say the least. We don’t talk very much. It’s a difficult situation.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I guess we all have our baggage.” And hers just happened to weigh a hefty amount. She was relieved when he let them ride in silence. Thankfully, they weren’t far from her apartment.

Jessica was jerked out of her thoughts as Zach floored it. “What in the world are you doing?” she asked. Was he trying to be some kind of hotshot all of a sudden? That wouldn’t make any sense especially given how cautious his approach had been so far.

“I think we’ve got a tail.” He gripped the wheel tightly.

“Are you serious?” She craned her neck and took a look out the back window. It was still light out, and she could see a dark Escalade approaching them quickly from behind. This was not good.

“Hang on tight.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to try to lose them.”

She grabbed the sides of her seat and said a prayer asking for protection. Zach accelerated again, and she turned to look back. The Escalade was gaining on them and getting much too close.

She watched nervously as the SUV closed the gap between the two vehicles. “Can you go any faster?” she asked.

“I’m doing the best I can.” Zach jerked the wheel to one side, causing her body to slam against the door.

But his evasive maneuver only gave them a moment of respite. With the vehicle not far behind them, she knew there was no way out of this. The only thing she could do was keep praying. Because she realized that the person driving that Escalade wasn’t just playing games. No, he was out for blood.

When the first impact occurred, she continued to brace herself. But the second time, the Escalade pounded into the back of the car just as a truck approaching them from the side came barreling toward them.

Jessica heard herself scream as she readied for a direct hit. Screeching tires and the sound of crashing metal filled her ears, and her body shook in pain. And then there was nothing.