She snuggled into my chest. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“You never need to thank me for being here for you. It’s my privilege, not a burden.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Elle pulled back, her smile wobbly again.

“No more tears, sweet thing.”

She nodded. “I’m good. I promise.” She paused before adding, “I left my purse at the shop. It’s in the office. Do you mind getting it?”

“Of course. Anything you need.” I pressed another kiss to her forehead before releasing her and turning toward to the hallway. “I’ll be back soon.”

Before I hit the kitchen, the doorbell rang again. Margaux hurried to the door.

“Detective, was there something else you needed?”

Fuck. Hennessy. My earlier thoughts came back in a rush.

The door opened wider, and Hennessy shoved a guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties into the house. The kid stumbled, but righted himself before face planting on the floor of the foyer.

“What in the world?” Margaux hissed.

“DJ?” That came from Elle. Which meant this was the stepbrother.

His shirt was untucked and soaked down the front.

“A unit picked him up in a bar fight about twenty minutes ago. They called me because they recognized the name from today’s … events. I thought I’d deliver him home rather than toss him in the drunk tank.”

Damn. The kid worked fast. He was wasted.

I wasn’t sure if he’d mainlined moonshine, or what, but I could smell the booze coming off him from where I stood.

Margaux was ringing her hands, and I stepped up. “Where’s his room? Hennessy and I will get him up there.”

Elle led the way up the stairs to a bedroom at the far end of the hall and pushed it open. We dumped the kid on the bed. Margaux fussed, pulling off his shoes and yanking the covers out from beneath him.

No one said anything.

No muttered comments about his behavior, which we all recognized as a kid going off the rails because he just lost his dad. Again, it made me think about Elle and what she’d been through.

Hennessy and Elle followed me back downstairs. I paused by the front door and pulled her against my side.

I reached out my hand to Hennessy. “Thanks for that.”

“Sure. Kid’s having a bad fucking day.” He reached for the door handle. “You want to walk me out, Lord?”

I looked down at Elle. “Want me to stay for a while before I get your stuff?”

She bit her lip and considered. “What would you say about staying here tonight with me? When you get back?”

“Of course. I’ll hurry.” She rose on her toes to press a kiss to my jaw.

“I’ll see you in a little bit then.”

Hennessy pulled open the door, and I trailed him outside. As soon as the latch clicked behind me, I dove in. No use beating around the bush.

“Was it the same as the other two?”

“I can’t give you anything that’s not already public, but since this one’s a mess because the guy who found him posted a pic on Facebook, I can tell you he was shot in the back. No ID on the gun yet.”

“Fuck.”

“You know this looks bad, right?” Hennessy said, fixing his stare on me.

“You think I don’t know that? I’ve got alibis for the others, so there’s no way you’re looking at me for this. When the hell was he killed anyway? You got a time of death so I can get you yet another alibi?”

“Last night. Around eleven. You’re the only solid tie I’ve got to all three, man. I’m coming up empty otherwise.”

“You want to bring me in for questioning a third time to make you feel better? I didn’t fucking kill them, and I don’t know who did.”

“I suggest you think hard, because this shit just got a hell of a lot more high profile now that we’ve got a white lawyer who was murdered. Bree and Jiminy? No one cared about them … but this guy? He’s news. And it’s going to come back on your shop and your girl if the firearms ID supports what I’m thinking. And I’d hate to have it come back her.”

Hennessy’s words chilled my blood. “She’s got no motive. You leave her out of this.”

He stopped beside his car door. “It was her stepdad, and from what I’m hearing, they didn’t get along.”

I grabbed him by the arm. “She didn’t have a fucking thing to do with any of it. So you step off that path right the fuck now.”

He shook me off and straightened his suit jacket. “I have to do my job, and if that bothers you, it ain’t my problem. If she didn’t do it, she’s got nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, because the fucking justice system is so perfect.”

Hennessy yanked open the door to his sedan and climbed in. “I’ll be in touch, Lord.”

I collected a few more of Elle’s things from my place, and headed for the shop. I needed to throw off this mood before I got back to her, because fuck, I needed my head on straight before I explained that she might have to answer some really uncomfortable questions. The thought of her sitting in the interview room like I had, facing Hennessy, was not something I wanted to see happen.

It was already after closing, so the place was dark and empty. I unlocked the back door, and slipped inside, hitting the light as I made my way to the office.

I pulled open the filing cabinet drawer where Elle always left her purse. It was a big white thing, with silver chain handles. I lifted it, shut the drawer, and turned to leave.

The chain got stuck on the filing cabinet handle and jerked me to a halt as it tilted sideways and spilled the entire contents.

“Shit.”

The thunk caught my attention first.

In the middle of the change, tampons, wallet, and makeup scattered on the floor was Elle’s gun.

Fuck. I was lucky the thing didn’t misfire. I grabbed it off the floor and pulled back the slide to pop the round out of the chamber. And froze.

It was a .32 ACP.

Hennessy’s words echoed in my head.

The bullet.

That Elle was the only one with ties to all of them.

No. Fucking. Way.

She had no motive.

At least not for Bree and Jiminy.

But her stepdad … last night. She’d stayed at her apartment.

No. No fucking way.