Rachel Dylan - Incriminating Evidence

He admired her conviction. The more time they spent together, the more he grew to really like this woman. But it couldn’t be more than that.

He looked down at his phone where the GPS was directing him. “We’re almost there,” he said, changing the subject.

“Good. My head is pounding.”

“You need to rest. Once we’re at the safe house, you can lie down. It’s perfectly normal considering the concussion and other trauma your body suffered.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Hang tight. We’re less than five minutes out.”

* * *

Jessica had crashed right after they’d arrived at their new location. They were in the middle of an upscale Coral Gables neighborhood about fifteen minutes from downtown Miami. The upstairs bedroom she was in was half the size of her apartment. The two-story Old Spanish–style house was nicer than any Jessica had ever been in. She’d expected something more low-key.

She looked at her watch and realized she’d slept for a few hours. It was time to venture out of her room and see what was going on with Zach.

As she walked out of the bedroom and toward the stairs, she heard male voices. It took her a second to realize that Ian Lopez was there. This couldn’t be good.

She was careful to hold on to the railing as she quickly made her way down the stairs. She hated to admit it, but she was still far from 100 percent.

She followed the voices and walked into the kitchen, where Ian, Zach and Brodie were seated around a large table. Each man had a coffee mug in front of him. And by the serious tones of their voices, they weren’t having a casual conversation.

“You’re up,” Zach said. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better than I did before, but still sore.” She wasn’t going to let on to the group that her head still hurt pretty badly. “What’s going on here?”

Ian looked at her. “Jessica, I was so worried about you when the FBI called and told me about the car accident. Which I understand now wasn’t an accident in the least bit.”

“I’m fine, though. I’ll be okay, and I’m ready to move forward with my job.”

“That’s what I’m here to talk about,” Ian said.

She needed to try to get out ahead of this before Ian went all the way down a path that would be difficult to walk him back from. “Before you say anything, you need to know that I’m able to try this case, Ian. I’ve been working around the clock the past two months to prepare.”

He nodded. “Jessica, I’m not questioning your abilities, but I am worried about your safety. We can’t have your body washing up on the beach.”

She cringed, thinking about Denise. “I can finish preparing out of the safe house. Then we can have additional security for the trial. We can do this, Ian.” She changed to the word we to make sure he felt invested in this, as well. If she was able to get a conviction, he’d look good. And if not, he’d just say it was her fault. It was a low-risk proposition for him.

“This is against my better judgment, Jessica,” Ian said. “Let’s proceed as if we are going to trial. I reserve the right to pull you if this thing gets out of control. As long as you think you can adequately prepare out of here, then I will try to give this another go. It’s important that we don’t let criminals think they can dictate how we prosecute people.”

She nodded. “You’re right, Ian. I’ll just need to get access to a few paper files, and the rest I have electronically and can access from my laptop. One of the paralegals is working on the exhibit list, and that’s almost complete.” She looked over at Zach and Brodie, who had been incredibly quiet. “What do you guys think?”

“We’re going to protect you,” Zach said. “I don’t like you being a direct target, but you two make a good point. We can’t let a criminal organization determine who is going to be prosecuted or not. The legal system has to continue to function.”

“Zach’s right,” Brodie said. “You have the full support of the FBI. We’ll make sure security is airtight so you can push through and try this case.”

“Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it.”

The doorbell rang, and the three men shot up out of their seats.

“Were you expecting someone?” Ian asked.

“No,” Zach said.

“I’ll go see who it is,” Brodie said. “Zach, you stay here with Jessica.”

Jessica could feel the tension mounting in the room. Was the person at the door there to try to finish the job? How would anyone have found her?

After a few moments she heard voices but couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying. A few more minutes passed, and then Brodie returned to the kitchen with a man in a gray suit by his side.

He was tall and dark-haired—and looking directly at her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before, but she couldn’t place him.

“Hello, Ms. Hughes. We haven’t met, but I needed to come here to talk to you.”

“And you are?” she asked.

“I’m Detective Luke Hernandez.”

FOUR

Zach couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Why was Luke Hernandez standing in the kitchen in the middle of the safe house? And how had he found out the location? His mind immediately went to a possible security breach and the implications that would have for Jessica’s safety.

Zach didn’t trust Luke one bit. He protectively took a step closer to Jessica. “How did you find out about this location?”

“I talked to Will Lang,” Luke responded calmly. As if it were perfectly normal for him to have received that type of sensitive information.

Zach shook his head. “What’s the point of a safe house if everyone on the Miami police department knows the location?” A security breach like that was unthinkable. He supported the Miami PD, but they needed to get their act together quickly.

“This is completely unacceptable,” Brodie added.

Zach was thankful that he and Brodie appeared to be on the exact same page.

Luke held up his hand. “I didn’t come here to argue with any of you. And I can see that I’m not welcome. But I felt I had to speak up.”

“About what?” Jessica asked.

Luke looked at Jessica, his dark eyes focused solely on her. “You obviously know that you’re in danger or else you wouldn’t be here.”

“Right,” she said.

“But I don’t think you realize how intent my father is on making sure my brother’s trial doesn’t move forward. He’s not going to stop until he brings this prosecution to a screeching halt. And his methods have no boundaries. He’ll persevere until his goal is reached no matter what the cost or the collateral damage along the way.”

“And you needed to come here in person to tell us something we already knew?” Zach asked. He wasn’t buying any of this coming from Luke. There was something else going on here.

“No. But I did want to tell you that it’s only a matter of time. I give it forty-eight hours max before the people that work for my family find this house. You’re not safe here for long. You need to go off the grid.”

“I’m not going to do that,” Jessica said, her voice louder than normal. “I’m going to move forward with this case.”

Luke nodded. “I figured you’d say that, but I thought the more information you had the better. And that maybe the FBI could be more cautious given the circumstances.”

“What’s your angle in all of this?” Ian spoke up.

“It’s no secret that I’m the only member of my family who hasn’t chosen a life of crime. And I hate to see innocent people hurt. It’s one of the reasons I became a cop. If there’s something I can do to help Ms. Hughes, I intend to do it.” He paused and looked directly at Zach. “Even if my assistance isn’t wanted.”