could have prevented this tragedy if they’d paused in their partying and drinking for one second.
He approached the casket. He reached out a hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually touch the polished surface.
“Bye, Kimmie,” he whispered hoarsely. “I swear I’ll put the bastard who did this away for the rest of his worthless life.”
He felt a touch on his shoulder.
He looked up. It was Caroline Stallings, the socialite who’d let Kimmie die. What kind of woman drove with the top down three days before Christmas? And let a passenger ride with no seat belt?
“Lieutenant McQuade, please accept my condolences. I feel so bad about what happened.”
He took in her pale face and bruised forehead. It was all he could do to rein in the anger that churned in his gut. He met her gaze, gleaning a grim satisfaction when her eyes widened with apprehension. “Thanks,” was all he could manage.
With Egan and Hayes behind him, he navigated through the crush of attendees, most of whom he’d only met in the past three days as he’d interrogated them about Kimberly’s death.
He’d had no idea that interning on the San Antonio City Board would throw Kimberly into the middle of the city’s wealthiest inner circle. Caroline Stallings was on the board, and maybe that explained it. Kimberly had admired Caroline, had in fact raved about her.
But there was something fishy about the hit-and-run crash that had taken his sister’s life, and before he got through with them, he planned to unearth all these Cantara Hills trust-fund babies’ dirty little secrets.
Just as he reached the rear door he saw a familiar, squirrelly face. Gary Zelke, the SOB who had drunkenly slammed into Caroline Stallings’s vintage Corvette.
Frustration, grief and anger roiled inside him like a toxic stew. He eased past a tall blonde who smelled like money and roses, and confronted the little twerp.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Zelke turned white as a sheet. “Just paying my respects.”
“Why aren’t you in jail? You’ve got a lot of gall.” Brody clenched his fists. His jaw ached. “I ought to—”
“Pardon me.”
It was the blonde. Her tailored suit revealed legs that went all the way to the ground. In heels, she came close to his six foot two.
“I’m Victoria Kirkland. We met briefly at the police station the day after the accident.”
He frowned, trying to place her. Suddenly the memory hit him. She was Zelke’s ambulance-chasing lawyer and a potential witness. She’d driven through the intersection seconds before Caroline and Kimberly had.
“You. You bailed him out. After the dirt-wad left my sister lying in the street.”
Victoria Kirkland flattened her lips and nodded. “Lieutenant, my deepest sympathy goes out to you and your family—”
Brody leveled his famous quelling gaze on her. “But…?”
Her green eyes sparked without faltering, and a tiny quirk of her lips surprised him. She gave him back look for look and her expression clearly said, Don’t even try.
“But I’m Mr. Zelke’s attorney. Anything you have to say, you say to me.”
Brody ground his teeth. “He killed my sister.”
Now her gaze faltered. “He didn’t, but I won’t argue the point here while you’re in mourning.”
Brody clenched his fists and his jaw. “Don’t do me any favors, Counselor.”
“You have my card. Call me and we can discuss the charges you’re bringing against my client.”
All of Brody’s anger and pain transferred itself to the long, cool blonde. Sharp as a stiletto and twice as dangerous. If she were cut she’d probably bleed ice water. Why was she bothering with a two-bit drunk like Zelke?
She wasn’t sleeping with him. Hell, she’d eat him alive.
Brody rubbed his eyes and turned away. One thing he knew for sure. When she tangled with him, she’d lose, because he had the advantage. Her heart wasn’t in it. His was.
He was fighting for justice for his little sister.
Chapter One
Eight months late r
“Hey, Caldwell, get up!” Brody McQuade pushed open the door to the second bedroom of the luxury conference suite at the Cantara Hills Country Club. His fellow Ranger was nothing more than an irregular lump under the fancy bedspread.
“Egan!”
The lump stirred. A rude, muffled comment reached Brody’s ears. “Let’s go. We’ve got another break-in.”
The lump turned into a head with brown hair sticking out every which way. “Another…at the condos?” Egan cursed and sat up, kicking at the bedclothes. He yawned and rubbed his head.
“Yeah. Come on.”
Egan squinted at him. “You’re already dressed.”
Brody didn’t respond.
Egan sighed. “I’ll catch up. What room?”
“Didn’t get particulars. The police are there. Ask at the door.” Brody left Egan sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands.
Grabbing his holster and hat, Brody stalked out to his Jeep Compass. The whine of police sirens echoed in his ears. He could see flashing blue lights in the near distance, over the Cantara Gardens Condominiums, south of the country club.
Adrenaline pumped through him and he had trouble reining in his impatience on the four-minute drive around the back nine holes of the golf course to the condos’ gates. He’d have preferred to sprint across the manicured greens and straightaways. Probably wouldn’t take forty seconds if he ran flat out.
But arriving at a crime scene sweaty and wrinkled wasn’t the Ranger way. Nor was it Brody’s style.
He’d been expecting this. There had been a break-in every month at the condos since January. Seven so far. Two fatalities. Trent Briggs in February, and Gary Zelke three months later, in May.
Deason hadn’t mentioned the name of the latest victim. The San Antonio Police Department Detective Sergeant had sounded frantic.
Did that mean they’d had another fatality?
He pulled up to the gate where an SAPD officer waved him through. Normally the residents used a computerized access card to open the gate. He had a master in his pocket.
Pulling up beside a police car, he headed inside. He didn’t recognize the officer at the front
