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So, during the day, Harper had presided on his bench, looking all perfect for the humans. Then at night, he’d let the beast out, and he’d hunted his prey. Until one fine day, Erin had walked into his courtroom.
Not prey, something more.
Good thing the bastard’s dead.Jude’s jaw clenched.
“He left the bench after Erin disappeared,” Ben spoke slowly now, as if putting all the puzzle pieces together. “He kept a house in Lillian, but he told everyone he wanted to do some traveling.”
And he’d traveled to Baton Rouge. The better to kill and to make Erin’s life hell. “Sonofabitch.” Jude drove a hand through his hair. “That’s why the woman acted so surprised to see him at the government building.”
“Man, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Tony snapped. “Slow it down. I’m the bastard you have to bring up to speed, remember?”
Jude crossed his arms over his chest. “When we were in Lillian, Erin and I stumbled across the bastard in the basement at the DA’s building. A woman was there, too, Lacy something. She was acting funny around the judge. I thought it was because they were screwing, but I guess she was just shocked to see the bastard there.”
Ben pursed his lips and a glimmer of humor appeared in his eyes. “Actually, they were screwing, until the judge left the bench.”
“The DA was focused on the Trent case, so he didn’t say anything about the judge.” But the puzzle pieces had all been there. Staring him right between the eyes.
“We’re gonna need to search the judge’s place in Lillian,” Tony said, nodding his head. “No telling what we’ll find there.”
Because somebody like Harper wasn’t the kind to kill and forget. Wolf shifters never were. There would be trophies. Keepsakes.
And Ben would get his evidence to hand in to his captain.
Case fucking closed.
* * *
Erin hesitated in front of the hospital room door. Her hand lifted and touched the wood. The door was already ajar. She could hear voices. A man’s voice, raspy, weak.
A kid’s voice, high with excitement.
Now probably wasn’t the best time. She could see Lee later, talk to him and explain.
Footsteps padded quickly toward the door. Her breath caught and she eased back a step. But it was too late.
A small hand pulled open the door, and a little boy with a mop of curls stared up at her. “My daddy’s awake,” he announced, and a broad grin split his face, revealing one front tooth.
Erin swallowed. “Th-that’s great.” The door was fully open now. She could see Lee. Pale, bruised, and bandaged. He was propped up in bed with pillows all around him.
A woman stood beside him. She wasn’t touching him. Just standing close. She had the same curly hair that the kid did, only darker.
“E-Erin...Jerome,” Lee spoke with the rasp again. Probably from the tubes they’d shoved down his throat. Or maybe—maybe just from the whole near-dying thing.
A smile swept over the woman’s face. “You’re the one who found Lee! You saved him! I-I heard the cops talking...”
Oh, this wasn’t going to be easy.
The brunette’s stare dropped to rake down Erin’s body. “Uh, are you—are you hurt?”
She’d managed to wash the blood off her hands and she’d traded in her bloody shirt for a scrub top. But Erin knew she still had to look like warm hell. “May I talk to Lee, alone?”
“But what?—”
“It’s okay, M-Melis...sa...” Lee’s blood pressure and heart rate flashed on the monitor behind him. “Give us...a m-minute...”
The cute kid was still smiling up at her, and Erin shifted from one foot to the other. Then his mother was there, catching the boy’s hand and guiding him outside. “Thank you,” she whispered, and Erin had to look away.
Once the woman and kid were gone, Erin closed the door behind them and knotted her fingers behind her back.
