“What hotel will we be staying at?”
“Where else?” Miranda smiled again and pointed. No doubt he’d have something to say when he found out the answer to that question. “There. The Talley Inn. My home. My grandmother and family own and run it, as well as the only diner in town. I have my own small suite in the east wing. The far window on the third floor is mine, actually.”
Steel gray eyes narrowed, and his lips thinned before he spoke. “Let me get this straight. We’re staying with your grandmother on a formal FBI investigation? What is this, Mayberry?”
Miranda shot him a grin. He wasn’t going to get to her. Angry or not. She was with the best FBI division in the nation. Allan Knight wasn’t going to intimidate her. Especially not here.
Miranda had always loved going home.
“Oh, it’s worse than that. Welcome to Masterson County, Agent Knight. We have a murder to solve. I just hope you’re ready for it.”
Cinnamon-colored hair blew in the late-September wind. His new partner on this case reached for it absently as she studied the town around them. Her coloring echoed that of the world around them. Everywhere he turned, the autumn colors practically hurt his eyes. He squinted. He’d had a little bit of trouble with photophobia since the shit had hit the fan a while back.
The woman next to him bumped his shoulder as they walked, sending a small flutter of her perfume or shampoo in his direction. Floral and vanilla.
Miranda Talley.
He’d met her a few times; she’d been assigned to the St. Louis field office straight out of Quantico. When PAVAD had branched off, she’d been one of the few locals asked to transfer to PAVAD.
One of the chosen.
He wondered why her. He hadn’t been chosen. There had been questions why.
The woman had faint freckles on her cheeks, an unhurried way of speaking, and big, bold green eyes behind glasses. Eyes that didn’t miss anything.
She’d stared at him for a few brief moments on the plane.
Knight had stared back.
She was a beautiful woman, with the cinnamon hair that hung in curls everywhere, a long, lean body that had more curves than he had noticed before, and lips that were perfectly shaped and just made for kissing.
He looked away from her now to study the inn she pointed at. It was at least three stories and looked to be a traditional 1920s building. Flowers were just now starting to die back in the beautifully landscaped front yard. There was even a little white picket fence surrounding the large property.
He’d certainly stayed in worse.
“Let’s get started then. I don’t want to hang out in Mayberry any longer than I have to.”
The entire idea of small-town wholesomeness really pissed him off at the moment. No doubt, it would continue.
“A word of advice, Agent Knight.” His new partner stepped directly into his path and faced him. Knight barely stopped in time to keep from knocking the fool woman down. “Play nice with the people of Masterson, especially the ones who will be responsible for feeding you. Nice. Especially with my family. I’d be happy to define nice for you, if you need it—anywhere along the way.”
He bit back what he wanted to say. One thing he’d just learned about her—Miranda Talley wasn’t a pushover, despite her Wyoming-farm-girl appearance. She wouldn’t be afraid to challenge the devil in his own hellhole, he suspected.
He had to decide if PAVAD was what he wanted. That was it. He circled around her and kept walking. “Noted. Let’s go.”
She caught up with him within a few steps, her shoulder bumping him again. She was almost whistling. Knight’s teeth ground together.
Sunny wholesome types had always grated on his nerves with their naiveté.
Once, he would have wanted to make her smile. Back then. When he had worked hard for the FBI and played just as hard outside of it. Would have done what he could to see how deep that sunny disposition actually went, or if it was all a front.
He still worked hard, but the play time was well over.
She turned toward him, an almost beckoning expression on her face. No doubt, this woman had lured a few unsuspecting men to their doom in her time. Confidence like that could be extremely attractive.
In another lifetime, he wouldn’t have been immune.
But things had changed for him. A bullet to the skull made quite an impact. Literally. He hadn’t had much use for people since that day. Even women like this one.
Especially women like this one.
Almost dying had given him too many things to still figure out.
“We’ll get our stuff inside, then head by my grandmother’s diner. Get a feel for what’s going on around here lately.”
“And the sheriff and the requesting officer?” Her ex-boyfriend. Knight would admit it—he felt a small bit of curiosity about the man.
He bet the man would be quiet, soft-spoken, and artistic. One who’d been content to let this woman take charge. He suspected she liked to be the one in charge.
Probably had control issues, this woman. It would be interesting to find out. He’d have her pegged by the time they hit the jet for the return flight to St. Louis. Figured out and then forgotten.
“They’re going to meet us at the diner. Clint texted me already. We’ll walk to the sheriff’s office after we eat.”
“Why not right away?”
She shook her head. “Cooperation, Knight. That’s the way PAVAD works. The sheriff has asked that we not make too many waves in the town. Everything’s been in an uproar since the body was found, and the local boys in blue refused to release the identity. We’re here to consult, I think. Clint wasn’t exactly too clear on the request. He never has been extremely descriptive, and I heard about it from Director Dennis. I’m just following along here.”
He just grunted. “I don’t play games, Agent Talley.”
“Doctor.”
“What?”
“It’s doctor. I earned my degree a year ago.”
“Congratulations.” He had his own PhD in sociological studies. Knight knew the amount of work that entailed. And she’d been doing it around her FBI schedule, apparently. That was no small feat.
“I’m a psychologist, actually. In abnormal psych. I’ve always been interested in human behavior. It came in handy around my family.”
“Are you always this chatty?” And did she expect him to answer every time? Knight knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“Hmm. No. But you don’t talk at all. I figured I’d fill the gap, balance us out a bit until we get the ball on this case rolling. What does it hurt to talk, to get to know each other? You’re considering PAVAD?”
“Something like that.”
“What division?”
“Cold Case.”
She shot him a questioning look from those green eyes of hers. “We don’t have a cold-case division.”
“Yet. I’ve been asked to consider heading a new one.” As a personal favor to Ed Dennis. Knight didn’t know what he thought of that yet. Half the time he thought he should just pack up and transfer as far away from St. Louis as possible. Start over. Put what had happened behind him. “Keep that to yourself, though. Director’s orders.”
“I’m sure it’ll be needed. Answers from the past…they’re needed.” His companion had turned suddenly serious. As if there were memories she wanted to suppress.