“It isn’t a one-way street, Hunter. I’ve been through dark days too. I’ve done things I wish I could change. But knowing that we’ve been given another chance—a fresh start—is just a glowing example of God’s love and His perfect timing.”
He hated that he was driving, because what he wanted to do more than anything was to pull her tightly into his arms and hold her. To tell her how much he still loved her and wanted to build a life together. But that would have to wait.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
The next morning Izzy sat across from Detectives Stewart and Bryant again with Piper by her side.
“Agent Cole, we called you here because we have a concern,” Detective Stewart said.
“We’re listening,” Piper responded.
Detective Stewart cleared her throat. “We believe Agent Cole has been conducting some sort of side investigation in regard to the sergeant’s murder. Is that possible?”
Izzy should’ve known she’d get caught at some point, but she wasn’t just going to roll over. “Last time I checked, there’s nothing wrong with looking at the facts of a case.”
“When you’re the suspect, it’s also called witness tampering,” Detective Bryant chimed in.
Piper groaned. “C’mon, you two. You’re better than this. You have a federal agent sitting in front of you, and you’re baselessly accusing her of witness tampering.”
“It’s not baseless,” Bryant said.
“Then, what do you have?” Piper asked. “I want to see hard evidence, not your wild-goose-chase assertions.”
“We have the fact that Agent Cole hired a private investigator and has also been meeting with people she believes have relevant evidence to this case.”
Piper frowned. “I need a minute to talk with my client.”
“I bet you do,” Detective Stewart said. “We’ll leave you the room so you two can have some privacy.”
Once it was just the two of them, Piper turned to Izzy, her blue eyes icy cold. “Please tell me they’re wrong.” When Izzy didn’t immediately answer, Piper threw up her hands. “How in the world am I supposed to help you if you go rogue? What were you thinking?”
Izzy had known her attorney would be ticked, but she’d kept Piper in the dark for her own good. “I was thinking that I need to get to the truth.” She wasn’t going to pull any punches.
“And you don’t think that’s what they’re trying to do?”
“I wasn’t going to take that chance. We’ve talked about this before. The innocent aren’t always vindicated. I couldn’t take that risk. I had a feeling about the sergeant. Men like him are not onetime offenders, and I wanted to see who else he may have hurt.”
Piper’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess. You found other women?”
Izzy nodded. “Yes. I should also tell you I spoke to a former officer at Arlington PD. Then the PI found two other women, and I’m fairly certain they were both abused by him.”
“Exactly when did you plan on sharing this information with me? Your attorney! Didn’t I tell you at the beginning that I would fight to the death for you, but that you had to be honest with me no matter what it was?”
Izzy forced herself to make eye contact. “I was still trying to figure out some things. I didn’t want to bother you without something concrete.”
“You can’t hide critical information from me.” Piper’s tone had sharpened with each word out of her mouth.
“I’m sorry.” What else could she say? She was clearly in the wrong.
“Where do you plan to go with all of this?” Piper asked.
“It’s likely that one of the sergeant’s victims or someone who knew about what he had done could be responsible for his murder. And while I’m not looking to get anyone else in trouble, I believe just the idea and the pattern of behavior is enough to muddy the waters, and that would provide reasonable doubt, if it ever came to that.”
Piper threw up her hands. “You really are something. I should withdraw from this case.”
Izzy leaned toward her, ready to plead, but Piper lifted her hand to stop her from talking.
“But I understand why you did what you did. From here on out, there can be no more secrets, and if I find out that you’ve been hiding something else from me, I will withdraw. Is that clear?”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m sorry again.” Piper was being more than understanding about the situation. “How do we handle this now?”
Piper gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. “It’s going to be okay. I assume they’ve figured all of this out, so we just have you own up to it.”
“I did ask the women I talked to if they would speak to the detectives. I think only one of them was game, my former colleague at Arlington PD, and I don’t know if she ever reached out.”
“Let’s find out.” Piper stood and opened the door for the detectives.
“Are you ready to talk now?” Detective Stewart asked as she and Bryant retook their seats.
Izzy looked at Piper.
“My client has done nothing wrong, detectives. I believe you’ve already discovered what she has done, and hopefully you’ve quickly followed up on the leads and information she uncovered that might be relevant to this case.”
“And what would that be?” Detective Stewart asked.
Izzy jumped in before anyone else could speak. “If you haven’t found out yet, it’s only a matter of time before you determine, just like I did, that the sergeant had a pattern of abuse with women. I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg, but I’ve seen enough to know that there are plenty of people who would’ve wanted him dead.”
“Are you going to give us
