Page 2 of Her Wild Coast Promise

I shake my head. “Your DNA sample from her body says otherwise.”

“So we were sleeping together. Doesn’t make me a murderer. Plus, I wasn’t the only one with her.”

“Thanks to you.”

He tries to shrug but the rattling wrist chain is like an exclamation point. “I had nothing to do with that.”

“Then why did Terrilynn start turning tricks soon after you were together?”

“She needed the money,” Vander says.

Now we’re getting somewhere. “What else was Terrilynn willing to do for money?”

He doesn’t react, which means he was ready for this question. I shift gears.

“Who was she working for?”

He stays focused on a point on the opposite wall, but it’s an act. He’s listening.

I fight back my frustration. Terrilynn was a bright girl with dreams. Dreams that were stolen from her by greedy pricks like Vander. I am committed to preventing any more girls from falling into the same trap.

“Here’s an idea,” I say. “Terrilynn wanted to get out of Alaska, right? She mentions to you she needs money. You introduce her to one of your associates, who agrees to help her out. What was your cut? Twenty percent? Fifty?”

His face doesn’t change, but his Adam’s apple twitches. I wait, my pulse thudding in my temples. Sure enough, Vander swallows.

It’s a tell.

Finally, I’ve got an angle.

“Solicitation and murder will get you ten years.”

His bares his teeth, like a rabid dog ready to lunge. “I told you I didn’t kill her.”

“Terrilynn was struggling to cope with the bargain she made. She tried to get out, but we both know how that works. She asks you for help, but your loyalty is to her boss, so you sell her out to save your own ass.”

“That’s a nice little story.” Vander’s guard is back up now, which means there’s nothing else I’m going to get from him today.

“Everyone close to Terrilynn is dead, except you. How much longer do you think that’s going to last?”

I let that sink in.

“You want to roll the dice in here—” I nod at the yard. “Or take your chances with me. I can help you. Maybe get you a reduced sentence. Or a transfer. Someplace safe.”

He thinks he’s tough, but if I’m right about what’s happening in this valley, he’s nowhere near tough enough. The forces at work have already killed to keep their secrets safe. They won’t hesitate to do it again.

But Vander just stares back.

I stand and turn to go.

“Terrilynn thought she was special,” Vander grits out. “But she was just a whore.”

I clench my fists once, hard, then release. I’m about to reply when Vander’s gaze lifts to something behind me. I turn just as a woman in a body-hugging pantsuit strides into the room, her heels tapping the concrete floor.

My stomach rolls and the back of my neck gets hot. I fight the confusion fizzling through my mind. Assistant Defense Attorney Peyton Reece being here can mean only one thing, and it’s not good.

“This interview is over,” she says, her glossy lips held tight in a prim heart shape, “and this harassment ends here.”

From his half-slouch in the chair, Vander glances from Peyton to me, his brows pinched together. So he’s in the dark, too. Interesting.

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