She sighed. “For now, yes. Obviously, it was a big price to pay—both financially and emotionally, but he’s trying his hardest to get his life back on track. I have to keep close tabs on him to make sure he doesn’t fall back into bad habits.” She swallowed. “Which will be a lot harder if I’m locked up. Anyway, I didn’t want to drag you into my family mess.”

And that was what hurt him the most, that Cass thought he wasn’t to be trusted. That she couldn’t come to him with her biggest and darkest secrets. “You could’ve told me.”

“Could I, really? Zane, you’re beyond reproach, and everyone knows it. A rule follower. I knew you would not approve of my actions even if they were to help my brother.”

Was that really how she saw him? Yeah, she made jokes about him being too by the book, but this went much deeper. “I’d like to think, after all these years, that you’d see me as more complex than that.”

She sighed. “You are. I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m just telling you how I felt. I didn’t think I could tell you.”

“Cass, you could’ve told me anything. You still can.”

She hung her head. “I know that now, but at the time, I made the decision I thought was best in a difficult circumstance. I wasn’t sure how I was going to help him, given I’d already maxed out everything I had. Then we went on the op. . . .”

He gripped her hand. “Don’t tell me anything about the op, okay? Nothing. We’ll get you an attorney and figure this out. But I can’t be a witness here. Not against you. I care too much.”

As tears started to roll down her cheeks, he couldn’t help himself. He pulled her out of her seat and into his arms. The problem was that he wasn’t just feeling the need to protect her. At that moment, he wondered if he’d fallen in love with her too.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

On Saturday morning, Izzy prepared to meet Ann Marie Martinez, one of the other women the PI had identified from the sergeant’s social media. Ann Marie had initially rebuffed her, but after Izzy pushed, she said that they could meet briefly at a downtown Arlington coffee shop.

Izzy walked into the shop and immediately saw her sitting by herself in the corner, working on her laptop with a deep frown on her face.

“Ann Marie?”

She looked up from her computer. “You must be Izzy.”

It wasn’t lost on Izzy that while she couldn’t tell Ann Marie’s exact height, she was definitely on the petite side, with dark hair. The pattern was holding. “That’s me. Can I sit?”