Fatal Secrets - Desiree Holt Page 0,29
what we get back. Zane Halstead is real good at ferreting things out without letting people realize what he’s doing.”
“How’s he coming along?” Hank asked.
“Great. And Lainie’s like a new person. He tells me all the time that coming out here was the best decision he made.” He looked at the others. “Zoe, you wrote the piece about what happened, right?”
She nodded. That had been a great story to write. “Zane had been a SEAL like you,” she told Sean. “Dealing with a medical discharge and not too well. His sister, who’s an ER nurse and a friend of the woman now his wife, knew he was coming out here to see Alex and begged him to take Lainie with him. Her fiancé’s ugly side had come to life, and he was beating the hell out of her.”
She saw a spark of interest flash in Sean’s eyes. “So, what happened?”
“He followed them out here, tried to grab her, and Zane shot the fucker dead.”
“Language,” Hank warned.
“Puhleeze. There’s no other word that could describe him.”
“And now,” Alex added, “they’re married, and he’s one of my top deputies. Don’t know what I’d do without him.” He glanced at Sean. “We’re building a good team here with former SEALs.”
Hank laughed. “Trying to steal him already?”
“Just putting it out there. I imagine you’ve already introduced him to Brotherhood Protectors.”
Zoe saw interest flare in Sean’s eyes, but then in a moment it was gone, and he leaned forward.
“Glad he found a place for himself, but right now keeping Zoe safe is my priority.”
A tiny thrill raced through her at his words. Then she grinned at Alex. “And I’m a full-time job.”
“To say the least,” Hank agreed. “Okay. So where are we now?”
“Okay, don’t everyone explode, but I want to go back and take a look at the place where Zoe’s body was found.” She held up a hand. “Before you all chop my head off, you know I’m going to do whatever I want on this. And you know I will be extra careful. I want answers, but they won’t do much good if I’m dead.” She looked at Sean. “And my bodyguard will make sure I don’t do anything stupid. .”
“As long as you don’t give him a hard time,” Hank pointed out and rose from the table, holding his hand out to Alex. “Thanks for this.”
“I’m going to pull up everything I can find online about this. I don’t want to call the sheriff in the county where this happened unless I have to. Right now, the fewer people who know I’m looking into this, the better off we are.”
Zoe managed a smile. “I really appreciate this, Alex. More than I can tell you.”
“We’ll dig it all up. Count on it. And Sean? When we get this put to bed, before you make any decisions about what comes next, I’d appreciate it if you’d come talk to me.”
As they were walking out to the front of the building, Alex touched Zoe’s shoulder.
She looked up at him. “What?”
“I know you’re smart and savvy,” he told her in a quiet tone, “but I have a gut feeling this is nastier and more dangerous than anything you’ve ever gotten yourself involved in before. I wish I’d been here when it happened. I could have been a lot of help on this. But I’m going to do it now. You just be careful. And stick close to Sean.”
She laughed. “I think he’ll be sticking close to me.”
“I’ll start digging into this right away. I’ll call you as soon as I have anything to tell you.”
“Thanks again.”
“You’re not going to the place where Justine was found,” Hank said as soon as she climbed into the truck.
“Hank.” Control yourself. He means well. “I know you want me to be safe, and I will be. I will have a big bad SEAL with me to protect me. You told me yourself how big and bad he was.”
“I should have just locked you in a room at the ranch until this was all over.”
Sean burst out laughing, a rusty sound and so unusual for him that Hank snapped his head snap sideways to look at him.
“Shit, Hank. I hardly know her, and even I know that’s impossible.” He blew out a breath. “Look. You trusted me to do this, so let me do it. I will not let her court danger. At least nothing really bad. Okay?”
Hank blew out a breath. “I guess it will have to be. Meanwhile, you’ve got