Will chuckled. “Well, maybe you need to go back to Quantico to get a lesson on protective detail.”
“Why do you say that?” Zach asked.
“Because your girl’s on the move.”
Zach turned around and saw Jessica taking long strides down to where the body was lying near the edge of the water. They’d covered it out of respect. He took off in a jog to catch up to her.
“Jessica,” he yelled. “Wait up.”
She turned around and looked at him and then kept walking. It only took him a moment to catch up to her. “What do you think you’re doing? We agreed that you’d stay back until the team got done with their initial work.”
She shifted her weight. “No, Zach. You told me that was what I was going to do. I never said that I’d just follow along with your bidding.” She smiled at him and kept walking.
Seriously? She should know his directions were intended to protect her in any situation, but she wasn’t going to take to his command easily. This woman was going to be a challenge. He grabbed on to her arm before she got too far and pulled her back, noticing once again that she flinched when he touched her.
“You can’t go any further. We can’t risk any more contamination to the crime scene.”
“This is a public beach. The damage has already been done with all the hundreds of onlookers about before the police even made it to the scene.”
“Regardless, what is it you hope to gain by getting closer?”
“I just want to get a better feel for what happened here.”
He ushered her away from the body and back up the beach. “What happened here is that the Hernandez family killed Denise Landers and purposely put her body where they knew it would wash up onshore sooner rather than later.”
“They had to know that Denise was the star witness for the prosecution. As the accountant for the family, she was a treasure trove of information. They take her out, and it’s a much different case I’ll be making. A much harder one.” Jessica paused and looked up at him. “I think they also did this to send a message.”
“You aren’t really fazed by much, are you?” He appreciated her tenacity, but he thought she was still a bit too cavalier about her security and their investigation.
“I’d rather get to the bottom of this and then get back to work.” She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “The Hernandez family needs to answer for this senseless murder. The taking of a completely innocent life. Denise was doing the right thing, and it got her killed.”
He watched Jessica bite her bottom lip. While she was trying to keep up a strong face, he could tell this murder impacted her. And he wanted to reassure her that law enforcement was on it.
“That’s why the police are here now,” he said. “They will help build a case.”
“But nothing will bring her back. She’s gone and that’s a reality I know I have to deal with but I really don’t want to face right now.”
* * *
Later that evening in her office, Jessica took a deep breath as she looked into Zach’s eyes filled with a bit of wariness. But she wanted to see things for herself and make her own assessments. That’s why she’d tried to get a closer look at the crime scene. But with the body covered up, she hadn’t been able to garner much information.
“I understand we both have a job to do here,” she said.
“I agree, and that’s why I think it’s important for us to work together and not against each other. I get that you don’t want me to be your shadow, but given you want to stay on this case and I have no alternative, we need to call a truce.”
She couldn’t help but smile. He did have a disarming quality about him. “Let’s talk about what happened to Denise.”
“This has the Hernandez family’s mark all over it.”
“I agree. Why don’t we discuss the family? We haven’t had a chance to really pick each other’s brains yet about what we know.”
“That’s a great idea.”
She nodded. “You start.”
“All right. The head of the family is Mick Hernandez. Ultimate crime boss who calls all the shots but rarely gets his hands dirty. He’s married to Fern Hernandez. She largely stays out of the spotlight, but my hunch is that she plays critical roles behind the scenes.”
“Right, and then there’s Simon. The son that I’m prosecuting. Although without Denise serving as my witness who can testify about the forgeries and money laundering given her role as their accountant, it’s going to be super tough to present the level of proof we need for a conviction.”
“I’ll see if there’s anything we can add that could be helpful given these latest developments.”
“They’re not going to stop until they squash this prosecution,” she said more to herself than to him.
“We’re not going to let that happen.”
“And what about the other two siblings?” she asked. “I also have my eye on the sister, Ana. But I’m trying to focus on this case first before I attempt to build another one and charge a second member of the family. Depending on how this trial goes, though, Ana would definitely be next on my list.”
“Funny you say that, because Ana is our prime focus right now.”
“Then maybe we can help each other.” This might actually work out after all. Especially if her prosecution of Simon got railroaded, then maybe with the FBI’s help she’d be able to start working up evidence against Ana.
“Ana is dirty—there’s no doubt about it. She’s known on the streets as the most ruthless sibling, but she’s working with someone in the organization to make sure she stays as clean as possible. But she can’t hide forever.”
Jessica’s pulse quickened just thinking about constructing arguments against Ana. “She has a few businesses in town that she uses as fronts, right?”
“Yes, two actually. A dry-cleaning service and a restaurant.”
“You know who we haven’t talked about yet?” she asked.
“The only person in the family who supposedly isn’t a criminal?” Zach raised an eyebrow.
“You’re skeptical that the golden boy is really golden?”
“Luke Hernandez may be a cop, but I don’t trust him.”
She shook her head. “Everything I’ve researched has him coming up completely clean. The only member with zero ties to any family business or any crimes at all. Got out young and never looked back.”
“Why would Mick Hernandez let his youngest son become a cop? I’m sorry, Jessica—I’m not buying it. There’s an ulterior motive going on even
