If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

and reached inside, pulled out the file. Joely’s autopsy report was in there. Reading it had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done. “I know people, King. I know what he did to her—in detail.”
    She held it out to him.
    A heavy sigh escaped him as he accepted it. “How did you get a copy of this?”
    “I know people,” she repeated, shrugging. “And with some of them, I know things they’d rather I not know. I called in favors, I bribed, threatened. Whatever. Does it matter?”
    Ezra frowned. “I didn’t hear that. I swear, I didn’t hear that.” Then he gave the report back. “I don’t need to read it. I’ve already done that. And you shouldn’t have.”
    “I had to.”
    “You had to see that,” he muttered. Then he shook his head. “Okay. If it was me, I would have done the same thing. Maybe you were a cop in your past life.”
    “Please. There’s no need for insults,” she said, summoning up a weak smile. Then, weary to the very bone, she sank down into the overstuffed armchair. There was a throw artfully draped over the arm and she caught one end, dragged it across her knees. “I can’t go home. I can’t. In my gut, I know there’s something more to what happened. I know it. And I’m going crazy just sitting at home—I can’t work. I can’t sleep. I can barely eat. This is dominating my mind and unless I do
something
, it’s going to drive me crazy.”
    “I think it already has,” Ezra muttered. “You realize that if you get involved in any way, do anything that I perceive as interfering in a case, or as dangerous—to you, to others—I’ll lock your butt up. And that’s not an empty threat.”
    She gave him a ghost of a smile. “Hey, how can I be doing anything that’s getting
involved
? The case is officially closed, right?”
    Ezra just grunted. “I meant what I said.”
    He headed for the door.
    “Remember—you see even a jackrabbit, you call.”
    She’d seen him. He’d thought she had—had heard the movement.
    But the police sirens confirmed it.
    Smirking, he wondered what she’d been thinking as he had stood there outside her window.
    Would she leave now?
    He thought about it for a minute and then decided. No. She wouldn’t leave. Not that easily. It would have to be a slow thing, he suspected.
    Terror coming at her in the dead of the night, gradually.
    He’d have to be more subtle next time, though. He shouldn’t have left the footprints. But he’d wanted to see how she would react when she saw him—know thy enemy.
    And his enemy had balls of brass, even if she was a woman.
    It would take a lot to really throw her off. To make her leave. It was a waste really. What he
wanted
was to
take
her. Not chase her away, but to take her, break her. But that would be too risky.
    The sheriff had already left deputies watching her cabin.
    Anything that happened to her now would cause him problems, and he already had enough problems, just having her here.
    Later, though … Yes. Perhaps later. Years later. Down the road.
    Smiling, he tucked that thought into the back of hismind as he climbed out of the shower. He needed to get ready to face the day. He had a present to give to a lovely lady. He had work to do. He had planning to do.
    Busy, busy …
    “What?”
    Ethan lowered the cup of coffee and stared at Law’s furious face. “Ah, well. She saw somebody outside her window. Me and Kyle Mabry had to spend the rest of the night out there—I was covering for Keith, needed the money and—”
    “Forget that, don’t care—what do you mean she saw somebody out her window?” Law demanded.
    “Just that.” Ethan shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.
    Law was about ready to shove the coffee cup down the deputy’s throat if he didn’t start talking. Right before he opened his mouth to make the threat, Ethan said, “Call came in about two this morning. We went out there and I put in a call to the sheriff.”
    “Why call Ezra?”
    “Because he expects us to—just like Nielson did. Weird stuff, he wants to be told. This is weird, you know? I mean, she’s not local, plus she’s related to the woman who died. And …” His voice trailed off.
    “And what?”
    Ethan shook his head. “Shit, I keep talking about this, the sheriff is going to have my ass.”
    “I’m tempted to beat your ass if you don’t talk.”
    “Yeah, but you can’t fire me.”
    “Fine.” Law slammed his mug down on the counter. “I’ll just head over to the