Page 36 of Reaper & the Lioness
I almost felt sorry for the bastard. Almost.
Linc flipped the page, showing another high school record.
“Sophomore year—she caught a senior harassing a freshman girl. She broke his nose. Got suspended this time because a teacher caught her.”
“I thought you said she had a sealed record,” I prodded.
Linc’s grin widened. “I’m getting there. At sixteen, shit really hits the fan. This youth pastor has been groping her and some other girls. Eva reports it, but no one does jack shit.”
My grip tightened on the bottle as a familiar anger stirred in my gut.
“So, one night, she waits for him in the parking lot. Takes a bat to him. He gets a few hits in, too, but she puts him in the hospital.”
He slid the police report over. Even in her mugshot, I could sense her simmering fury. Her chin remained high despite her split lip and the bruise forming under her cheekbone. She’d been arrested and taken to a juvenile detention facility.
“The prosecution pushed for a more severe punishment because it had been a pre-meditated assault—not exactly self-defense. But the judge took her side, especially after other girls came forward. Gave her community service and sealed her record.”
“What else?” I asked as I flipped through the pages. Linc had pulled everything he could find.
“In college, she caught the president of a frat trying to take advantage of a drunk girl. She broke a beer bottle over his head and pushed him down the stairs.”
A laugh punched out of me. “Fuck. I’d have paid to see that.”
“She was gone before the EMTs arrived. When the police showed up at her door, her roommates vouched for her. They said she’d been watching movies with them all night.”
“Smart. Always have an alibi.”
Linc’s expression turned serious. “The last incident is … well, it’s an assumption. Circumstantial. Few years back, she went on a date with a guy. Turns out he’s a stalker. Restraining order doesn’t work. Cops are useless. Said she was being dramatic.”
My jaw clenched as a protective rage rose within me. “What happened?”
“One night, he cornered her after work with a knife to her throat. He whispered all the ways he was going to hurt her. She got away and reported it to the police. They arrested him, buthe was back on the streets the next day. A week later, someone broke into his house and slit his throat in the middle of the night.”
I raised my brows. “You think it was her?”
Linc shrugged. “I don’tnotthink it was her. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Or maybe she took justice into her own hands. She had a solid alibi, but …”
“But it fits,” I finished. A new respect for Eva settled in my bones. “She’s got teeth, that’s for sure.”
Linc’s lips curled into a knowing smirk. “You’ve got a thing for her, haven’t you?”
I shot him a warning glare but didn’t dignify it with a response. “What else did you find? What about her family life?”
Linc’s face went grim. “A sad story. Her parents divorced when she was three. Lived with her mom until her piece-of-shit stepfather stabbed her to death. Her mom was four months pregnant.” He tapped the police report. “Eva witnessed everything. She called 911 from a closet. She was thirteen.”
I stared at the crime scene photos, bloodstained floral wallpaper and a pink backpack visible under the yellow tape. “Fuck.” Her childhood had been shattered in an instant.
“She and her brother moved to Maryland to live with her dad. Career military. Working dog handler. Took the … practical approach to grief.” Linc flipped to military records. “He started training Eva in Krav Maga. Her brother enlisted the next year.”
“Where’s the brother now?”
“MIA.”
Linc tapped a deployment photo of Jace Harland.
“What about her dad?”
“Retired. They catch up every week, according to her phone records.”
