Page 11 of K-9 Justice

“What the hell does a couch have to do with anything?” There was a bite in her words that hadn’t been there before. A raw nerve he’d touched. “The woman’s body is decomposing in the refrigerator of Alpine Valley’s only emergency clinic with strangulation marks around her neck and knife wounds in her back, and you want to focus on the fact she bought a new couch?”

“Yes, because I don’t think Dr. Piel bought it. It smells too new.” He shoved the couch free from its position in the living room. And found exactly what he was looking for. “And I don’t think she pays the mortgage on this place or actually lives here.”

“What are you saying?” She couldn’t seem to keep herself away, coming closer. “Is that…?”

“Blood.” Carson fought to keep his breathing steady as he studied the brownish-red spread that hadn’t come clean from the tile’s grout. He couldn’t help but lock his gaze on hers. “It’s likely Dr. Piel was killed right here.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Alpine Valley PD had taken control of the scene. She hadn’t had any other choice but to notify them since this had likely been the location of Dr. Piel’s death.

The other women they’d recovered in the desert, the three who’d lost their lives on her last case for the FBI, had been killed in and around their homes. This case seemed to be hitting the same markers.

“What were you and Mr… .?” Chief Halsey left the question open, a pen raised over the notebook in his hand, but she wouldn’t finish that sentence for him. Carson Lang no longer existed. Her partner had become Dominic Rojas, aSangre por Sangrecartel soldier with a rap sheet longer than the US Constitution, and there was no way in hell she’d take the chance of compromising his cover by putting his name on paper. If she hadn’t compromised it already.

“What do you think we were doing, Baker?” She hadn’t meant the words to sound so harsh. Baker Halsey had gone above and beyond to overcome his resistance to accept and collaborate, but it had taken falling for one of Ivy’s operatives to bring him around. “Nafessa Piel was one of my employees, and now she’s dead. Did you really think I was going to sit back while your department investigated her murder?”

“I was hoping you would pay me the same respect to do my damn job as I give you and your team, and I seem to remember sealing this door so as not to disturb a potential crime scene. From the look of it, the seal was cut through. Most likely witha blade.” Intense blue eyes the shade of a clear sky centered on her, but Ivy wasn’t the type to fall for a pretty face or drawn-out silences. She’d faced down senators and military officers. She’d built a security company from the ground up when it became clear the federal government couldn’t protect Carson on the inside of a cartel. Chief Halsey had a job to do, but she’d learned police tactics a long time ago. They wouldn’t work now. The notebook disappeared into his uniform jacket pocket. “Any idea how that happened?”

Red and blue patrol lights swept across her face from the chief’s vehicle parked in the driveway, almost hypnotizing. The events of the past hour raced through her head. Cutting through the seal, searching the house. Finding evidence of blood beneath the couch. Carson’s accusations replayed on repeat, no matter how many times she tried to override them.

That Nafessa Piel had targeted Ivy and Socorro. That the physician had worked her way into Ivy’s confidence with patience, probing questions and expertise. That the house they were standing in right now hadn’t been a home, but a safe house.

No. She wasn’t entertaining this idea. It was crazy.

Okay. Yes, Dr. Piel had been the one to reach out to apply for the position. Yes, she’d been the one who’d initiated her and Ivy’s friendship. She’d been the one to take that first step and invite Ivy over for drinks, and Ivy had said yes. Because the thought of going another two years without direct contact from her partner had made the black hole in her chest so much worse, and having a friend—someone she could connect with—had felt important.

Ivy’s mouth dried as she was forced back into the moment. “No. I don’t know how the seal on the door was broken.”

“I see. And what about him?” Alpine Valley’s finest was smarter than that. Chief Halsey nodded toward Carson, standing with a deputy she didn’t know on the other side of the room,but there was something along the lines of humor playing in the corners of Halsey’s mouth. “There a good reason the founder of Socorro Security has partnered with a cartel soldier on your little rogue expedition?”

Panic infused the muscles down her spine. Ivy breathed through her initial response to deny the truth. “I don’t know what you’re talking—”

“That man saved my and Jocelyn’s lives,” he said.

The intensity she’d noted a few minutes ago drained from around the chief’s eyes.

“To be honest, I still don’t know why,” Halsey said. “We were in their territory, fair and square. I was ready to tear their entire building down to get Jocelyn out alive when he walked in with six armed cartel soldiers. He took one look at Jocelyn, and it was like he knew her. Like they’d been friends for years.”

She let his assumptions hang between them.

“He’s one of yours, isn’t he? Planted inSangre por Sangre’s ranks.” She hadn’t given Chief Halsey nearly enough credit in their short time working together. The man had definitely earned that badge and the title of Alpine Valley’s hero. He directed his attention to the living room. “Too bad I got here after the people who’d broken into this property had already gone. Didn’t get a chance to get their statements. Sure was lucky I discovered the bloodstain beneath the couch, though.”

His meaning took a moment to sink in.

“Yeah. Lucky.” She detached herself from the gravitational pull the chief seemed to exude by taking a single step back.

“One more thing, Ms. Bardot.” The chief pointed the end of his pen at her. “Heard about what went down at your apartment. Jocelyn has been calling me nonstop since the news broke. I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re not in touch. All this have something to do with keeping them in the dark?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I have a feeling it won’t be long before I find out.” Nervous energy played at the tips of her fingers. The longer she and Carson stayed in one place, the more attention they were bound to garner from the wrong people. But she couldn’t leave until she got what she came here for. “Has the ME finished the autopsy on Nafessa Piel’s body?”

Halsey lowered his voice, coming in a few inches closer. “I took your advice and reached out to your old special agent in charge for the file on your last case. The FBI isn’t usually so agreeable, but once I mentioned your name, he was all too willing to cooperate. I read through your notes and passed them on to the medical examiner. Three women left in the desert, strangled, with messages carved into their backs. Despite the variation in the characters recovered on Nafessa Piel’s back, the ME has ample reason to conclude this latest murder fits the MO of the killer you were chasing back then. He’s willing to state there’s a connection between both cases.”

Confirmation. Her stomach knotted tighter. She’d been willing to make the leap based off unproven facts, but there was no denying the truth now. The man they’d let escape two years ago was killing again.

“Watch yourself, Ivy. I’ve seen firsthand the lengths the cartel will go to to get what they want, and I know you have, too.” A sadness she couldn’t begin to understand creased in his jaw. “I’ve got this covered. Whatever it is you’re after, I trust you know when to bring me in.”

“There is something I need you to check for me.” Dread pooled at the base of her spine, but she hadn’t built her career without considering all the options. No matter how hard it was to swallow. “I need to know if Nafessa Piel has an off-the-books connection toSangre por Sangre. No matter how small. Anything they could’ve used to manipulate her. Quietly, please.”

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