His bearing told her he was law enforcement, and she would bet money he was wearing a Texas Ranger star. Those guys were tall, muscular, well over six feet, and they had a don’t-screw-around-with-me air. Given a different setting, she might have inquired about his name, searched for a wedding band, and asked him to help her out with her yearlong sexual dry spell.

But they were in court, and she kept wondering why a Texas Ranger cared about Marco Walker.

A man wearing an expensive suit took a seat at the defendant’s table seconds before Walker was escorted into the room. The suit was Harold Sunday, Walker’s attorney. The two nodded to each other, but neither spoke.

The bailiff announced Judge Trace Martin, everyone rose, and the side door opened to a tall rawboned man wearing a black robe. Martin’s salt-and-pepper hair and mustache set off his deeply tanned skin, and when he sat, he surveyed the room carefully. This judge had a reputation for going tough on domestic abuse cases. Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez were lucky to have Judge Martin.

The prosecutor introduced himself as Victor Ingram. Harold Sunday stood, said good morning to the judge, and then swept the courtroom with his gaze. He locked eyes with Jordan, nodded, and then sat back down. Sunday was a sharp lawyer, and his specialty was getting the bad guys out on bail.

Jordan had crossed paths with Sunday two years ago when she was still with narcotics. He had waited for her outside the courtroom and, flashing his million-dollar smile, told her she was pressing her luck. She had ignored him. The next morning, she had found a dozen strangled rats on her front lawn and her tires slashed. Nothing could ever be linked to Sunday, but she knew he had been behind it.

The judge sat, and so did everyone else in the courtroom. As the ranger took his seat, he looked back at her. She guessed he had seen Sunday’s nod and wanted to locate the recipient.

Jordan looked at the ranger, raised a brow in question. His frown deepened, and he turned.

Harold Sunday painted an unflattering picture of the victim, Elena Sanchez, and documented her drug issues as well as her public fights with her boyfriend. Sunday claimed that the single blow Walker landed on his girlfriend had been in self-defense. She had stumbled back and struck her head on the stone hearth. She was dead before the ambulance arrived.