“He’s not going to do anyone any good if he burns out at the start of this case.” I muttered the words, which were eerily similar to the ones he’d said to me when he picked me up off the floor of the bar.
Crew shrugged. “Hill’s been doing this a long time. I’m sure he knows his own limits. I know all of us will breathe a little easier once he has a suspect. Case is practically chomping at the bit to butt in. You know it’s got to be torture for him to watch the investigation from the sidelines.”
I nodded absently in agreement as the door to the viewing room opened once again. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until an unknown woman entered the space. I let it out in a whoosh as the stranger looked around, slowly making her way into the room. I guess I’d been waiting for someone after all. Only I hadn’t known it until each new arrival had proved to be someone other than the grouchy Texas Ranger.
“Who is she?” Crew’s voice was louder than called for, causing several heads to turn in the direction of the new arrival.
The woman was probably around my age, dressed in a sharp black suit and a pair of sky-high heels. She was carrying a designer purse, the kind I couldn’t afford even if I saved for a year, and her strawberry-blond hair was pulled back in a chic twist at the base of her neck. Even though she’d come into the viewing room, she’d left on a pair of very dark sunglasses that covered half of her face. She looked like one of the executives who worked for Della at her cosmetics company. She definitely wasn’t a local, and almost as soon as she crossed the threshold, whispers and low murmurs started up. Apparently Crew wasn’t the only person wondering who the woman was and where exactly she came from.
“I have no idea who she is. Should we go ask?” I took a step forward, only to be brought up short by Crew’s hold on my elbow.
“This is a funeral. Don’t start shit today, Kode. If she’s someone we need to worry about, we’ll find out sooner or later, but there’s no need get worked up over it today.” He shifted his hold so he could pat me on top of the head, much like he had done when we were little. “Let’s find a place to sit down and get this show on the road. The sooner this is over, the better.” He tilted his chin in our older brother’s direction. “Case is about to grind his teeth into dust. I’m going to tell the funeral director to move things along before he ends up needing dentures.”
I nodded and made my way to the rows of chairs. We didn’t expect much of a crowd. Sure, half the town had come to poke their heads in and offer quickly spoken words of condolence, but the number of people sticking around for the actual service was minimal. Which was why I found it odd that the redheaded, well-dressed woman unobtrusively took a seat toward the back. My father had made a lot of enemies in his time and burned a lot of bridges. I supposed she could be one of the victims of his shortsightedness and corruption. It wasn’t much of a reach to imagine the folks he’d screwed over wanting to hang around and wish him a speedy trip to hell, but something about this woman made me uneasy. I wanted her to take her sunglasses off so I could at the very least meet her gaze head-on.
I jumped in surprise when I was suddenly surrounded by my family. Crew and Della sat on one side, Case, Hayes, and Aspen on the other. Before I could tell my brothers I was fine, each grabbed one of my hands and held on tight. It took me back to all the times we’d hidden in the dark when our dad came home in a foul mood. We’d huddle together, quiet as we could be. Back then they’d hold on to me like this and promise me everything would be all right.
I swallowed back against the emotion crawling up my throat and blinked at the moisture collecting in my eyes. God forbid anyone mistake the tears for signs of sadness over the loss of the old man. That simply wouldn’t do.
The funeral director droned on about our father’s legacy and the perceived good things he’d done for the town of Loveless. He mentioned Conrad being survived by us, and how his kids were his greatest accomplishment. With so few people in the room, Case’s loud snort of disgust echoed. I had to bite down on the tip of my tongue to keep a laugh back and felt Crew’s hand tighten on mine. All in all the service was short, but filled with enough bullshit about Conrad Lawton’s accomplishments to fertilize several football fields. When the funeral director asked if anyone had any memorable stories or anecdotes to share about our father’s life, it was no surprise absolutely no one came forward. My brothers and I had been trained from birth not to share what happened inside the farmhouse walls with anyone. Our stories about growing up under Conrad’s thumb weren’t the kind to be shared. They were the kind we’d survived…barely.
I was glad when it was all over. And if the deep sighs both my brothers exhaled were any indication, so were they. Now all that was left was to move Dad to the farm and lay him to rest.
When I got to my feet and looked around the room, I noticed the well-dressed redhead was gone, but a new addition had snuck in during the time the funeral director was talking.
Leaning against the back wall dressed in black jeans and a black button-up, with his Stetson in his hand, was Hill. He was standing next to another man, one who was younger, probably Crew’s age, and who also just happened to be ridiculously attractive. He didn’t look like a guy from small-town Texas. He had slicked-back hair and wore skinny jeans with a hole in the knee, a light pink V-neck, and a pair of Air Jordans. He looked like he should be onstage as part of a popular boy band, not standing next to the glowering, grumpy-looking Texas Ranger.
Strangely enough, some of the tightness and unease locked in the center of my chest felt like it loosened when my eyes met the soft gray of Hill’s. Why I could breathe easier when he was around was a mystery. One I didn’t plan to investigate too thoroughly because I knew the answer would scare me to death.
We filed out of the chairs and all slowly made our way to the back of the room, where Hill was waiting with the other man.
Hill nodded at us and said, “This is Johnny Hearst. He’s the special agent heading up Conrad’s case.” Handshakes went around as I studied Hill.
He looked even more tired than he had a few days ago. The whites of his eyes were lined with red, and the skin under his scruffy silvery-blond beard was pale, with alarming shadows making his eyes look sunken in and his cheekbones gaunt. Someone needed to put his ass to bed and keep it there.
I flushed at the heated image the thought brought to mind and pulled myself together when it was my turn to greet the Texas Ranger in charge of finding my father’s killer. The younger man had an easy, charming smile that I would have appreciated under different circumstances.
“Did you find out who the driver of the Tesla is?” I didn’t mean to sound so snappy and abrasive, but I was holding on to my composure by the skin of my teeth. I wanted this day to be over with, and for things to go back to normal as quickly as possible.
The younger guy with the slicked-back hair gave a quick nod. “We did. I think we’re both cross-eyed from watching endless hours of surveillance footage. Tracked the owner to a small suburb of Austin, but she hasn’t been home, and according to her neighbor she took a leave of absence from her job a few weeks ago. Still trying to pin her down. But it puts us one step closer to getting some answers.”