Plus, conflict of interest. They had been dating for nearly three years. She could claim—and she would make it believable—that he was persecuting her because she’d broken up with him. She could easily lay an electronic trail. She’d have to be careful, though. Tell one person, maybe, that Steven wasn’t the upstanding citizen everyone thought he was. Plant doubts. Create conflict. It had worked for her in the past, it could work this time—but she had to be doubly careful because Steven wasn’t stupid.

Plus, she had to deal with Regan Merritt and that asshole podcaster.

Everything they said about Candace was theory and conjecture. But on the subject of Adele, that was something Kim Foster would be able to speak to. And no doubt Kim would throw her under the bus to save herself, if the police talked to her.

After everything Rachel had done for her, Kim would betray her—of that, Rachel was certain. Rachel would lose her job, her beautiful condo, her life at Sigma Rho. She could destroy Kim, but mutually assured destruction would still mean Rachel lost everything.

She might go to jail. That was not okay. She should not go to jail for an accident.

First, she had to start laying the groundwork to discredit anything Steven claimed to find about her. Then she would figure out what to do about Kim.

She walked into Steven’s small den and logged in to his computer. For a cop, he wasn’t all that security conscious. Rachel had learned all his passwords just by watching him. She would simply send herself a couple messages from his email, then respond, then have him threaten her, something like that.

She sat there and thought about how best to do it. Maybe she should have the supposed Steven send emails to a few people that would help discredit him, not just to her. Inappropriate emails, to divide and conquer.

As she was about to execute her plan, she realized his work email could also be accessed from his home computer. This was even better: she could find out exactly what he knew about Candace’s death.

She opened his work email.

As she read, her stomach tightened.

Steven had been removed from the case.

His boss had sent him an email this morning.

Effective immediately, you are removed from the Candace Swain homicide investigation. Please turn over all notes and files to Senior Detective Brian Hernandez as soon as possible, and call me to schedule a meeting to discuss, today if possible.

Her stomach flipped.

Why was Steven being removed?

Her face heated. Regan-Fucking-Merritt.

That bitch must have talked to someone higher than him, had him removed from the case. The whole conflict-of-interest bullshit that was supposed to protect Rachel was now a problem.

How did she become a suspect so fast? No one knew anything about Candace!