Page 103 of Wicked Sin

It really would be. One day maybe I’ll take her to a dungeon full of cages and she can have her pick.

There’s a triple knock, then a slight buzz as McBride uses her keycard to unlock the door.

Ram is with her. He turns the bolt again once they’re inside. So—they aren’t sure Newcomb has actually left the building, either. The tightness in my gut twists harder. This could turn into a dangerous shooter situation in a dozen different ways.

“Okay, Taylor. Another line up for you to look at this time. In this folder are a set of photographs. If you recognize anyone, please be as specific as you can.” Sarah hands it over and pulls out her notepad.

By the book.

Taylor takes a deep breath and opens the folder. Her face goes white. “That one,” she says immediately, pointing at Newcomb’s photo. “He was on the protective detail for the entire duration of our affair. And now I realize I’ve seen him around L.A., although I couldn’t place him those times. He wasn’t in a suit. Seeing him here, in the suit, on that video monitor—that’s when I recognized him in context.”

“Can you tell me specifically, if you can remember, where you saw him here in Los Angeles?”

“He was at the plastic surgery clinic once. That was the first time I noticed him. He was awkward enough about it catch my attention. And then I saw him twice more, shopping in the same area of Beverly Hills. He didn’t seem to notice me those times, but I recognized him as the weirdo from the clinic.”

“Was he a client there?”

“I assume so.”

“Okay. Thank you, that gives us something specific to track down. Really good.”

I look at McBride. She looks at Singh. And we all nod at once. It’s not much, but it might be enough to get a search warrant.

I squeeze Taylor’s shoulder. “Good girl.” I don’t even fucking care if they know how I feel about her. “Here’s the thing. I’m going to help Sarah and Ram with this now. So I need to take you somewhere safe.”

She blinks at me. “My sisters?”

I nod. As much as I hate it, Cole Parker is the only person I would trust right now to keep Taylor safe.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

“They’re going to make sure that it’s safe for us to leave. And we need to talk to the captain first. So we’ll hang tight here for a minute—”

There’s another triple knock at the door. This time, it’s the captain. She jerks her head for us to join her in the hallway.

Taylor nods as I excuse myself.

In the hallway, Sarah gives Woods a rundown of the ID, and the probable cause. “That she ID’s him at the clinic gives him the connection to the person he set up—and his access to the case gives him the means. Him asking about her here today, combined with the threats and the encounters in the past, is a solid case for him being the stalker. From that, we could build a circumstantial case that connects him back to the murders, but I don’t have anything direct there. Should we give this to the FBI, since the stalking is technically their case right now?”

The captain shakes her head. “That’s why I came down here. Ferdinand just left. He’s got a clear profile and it’s not a law enforcement agent. He won’t pursue this.”

I see red. “That’s fucking bullshit. Pardon my language, ma’am, but he’s protecting the Secret Service here.”

She nods. “I agree, Vasquez. It doesn’t smell good.”

“So who do I have to blow to get a warrant for a Secret Service agent’s apartment?”

She looks at Sarah, her face grim. “I know a judge who will grant this. You get the application going while Vasquez gets Taylor the hell out of here. Then I’ll get the warrant while you begin the stakeout.”

32

Taylor

Luke leadsme to the garage, to where he parked his car, and I’m freaking out the whole way.

Memories are slamming into me. Of that guy—Newcomb, they said, and that rings a bell. Agent Newcomb watching me with the former VPOTUS. Seeing him again here, and not knowing where I recognized his face from.

And now they think he’s the guy who blew up my car.

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