LITMIR.BIZ

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him to be. It hadn’t escaped her that he was vying for a Texas senate seat, though she refused to read any of the details of his campaign rhetoric. However, if she’d known he resided in Rushmore proper, and not some other county in the district, she might not have been so quick to take Shirley up on her offer.

      Once she’d realized he was in town, she had assured herself they wouldn’t run into each other, that their lives were on different tracks, both socially and financially. Apparently she’d been naive or had buried her head in the sand. Or both, because he was in front of her, staring at her out of those dark, probing eyes.

      “Hello, Kasey.”

      That deep, sexy voice hadn’t changed. It still had the power to jolt her. Actually, very little about him had changed. He was a mature version of the young man she’d known in college. Maybe his angular features had a few more battle lines, but those were an attraction rather than a detraction. His sun-streaked brown hair remained thick and shiny without any hint of gray, despite the fact that he was forty.

      “It’s been a long time,” he commented into the growing and somewhat hostile silence.

      “Yes, it has.”

      

      “You’re looking well.”

      “So are you.” Kasey didn’t know when she’d carried on such a stilted conversation.

      “You’re living here now, right?”

      “Yes.” His cologne continued to roll over her in waves. She held her breath for a second, then released it. “How did you know?”

      “Does it matter?”

      “Not really,” she said in a cool tone, not about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had disconcerted her.

      “I’m sorry about Mark. I know my condolences are long overdue, but—” He let the rest of his sentence go unsaid.

      “Thanks,” she said in a sharper tone than she intended.

      If he picked up on that sharpness, he didn’t let on. Instead he continued in that same smooth tone, “How’s your son?”

      Her heart wrenched, though she didn’t so much as move. “He’s great.”

      “And in college.”

      Kasey didn’t know if he’d asked a question or stated a fact. “He just finished his freshman year at Baylor.”

      “Good for him.”

      Their eyes met for another millisecond, but that was enough to up the already crackling tension between them. Kasey glanced away from his disturbing gaze, then fidgeted under the boiling sun and the intense humidity. Her body seemed on fire, taking a decent breath impossible. In truth, she suspected the climate had little to do with her discomfort.

      “How did you know Shirley?” he asked.

      “You mean you don’t know?”

      

      Color darkened his face. “No. Regardless of what you think, I haven’t been spying on you, Kasey. I just knew you’d moved back. That’s all.”

      She fidgeted silently and didn’t respond.

      “So did you know the deceased well?”

      “Well enough. She had taken me on as a partner,” she said through tight lips, wanting this conversation to end. She had already told him far too much.

      “My God, I’m so sorry. You must be going through a tough time right now.”

      “I’ve had better days.”

      “Is there anything I can do?”

      She quelled her panic and forced her voice to show none of her conflicting emotions. “No, thanks. I’m going to be all right.”

      “Are you going to remain here and run the agency?”

      Obviously he wasn’t aware that she’d witnessed her partner’s murder. She wasn’t prepared to tell him, either. The less he knew about her and her business, the better.

      “I’m not sure yet.” And she wasn’t. Granted, she and Shirley had a binding partnership agreement, and by law the agency should become hers, but that was nothing to brag about. It appeared she had inherited an albatross instead of an asset. However, she saw no reason to share those thoughts with Tanner, either.

      All that was important to her was putting distance between the two of them. God forbid that another happenstance meeting should occur. As it was, she was barely keeping her head above water.

      “Look, it was good to see you,” she said, anxious to get away. “But I really have to go.” Kasey had taken several steps when he spoke, stopping her.

      

      “Would you mind if I stopped by the agency?”

      Her heart took a nosedive before she swung around.

      As if he sensed she was about to give him a negative response, he added, “I have a business proposition I’d like to discuss with you.”

      Frustration chewed on him.

      Richard Gallain cursed under his breath as he sat at his desk, paperwork piled high around him. In fact, his entire office seemed nothing but a mountain of freaking paper. He was working his ass off without any positive results.

      The Parker murder had his guts tied in a knot. If he could crack that case, then he just might have a shot at the Chief of Detective position that had recently opened. Passing the written test would be a no brainer, but that wasn’t all that factored into the job. He had to be a damned good detective to make the promotion.

      Solving this murder was what he needed to boost him upstairs. In order to do that, he needed Kasey Ellis to come through for him. He couldn’t help but think she knew something vital to the case, though he didn’t think she was holding back on purpose.

      She was scared shitless, and he could appreciate that. However, he had reached the conclusion that the killer hadn’t seen her, or he would’ve made a move to silence her. But he wasn’t ready to take Spiller off protective watch, not just yet, anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.

      The buzzer on his desk sounded. He scrambled to reach the phone underneath all the clutter. The chief’s line blinked back at him. He groaned, knowing he was about to be called into the inner sanctum. He was right.

      Minutes later Gallain was seated in Chief Harold Clayton’s office, eyeing the chief from his position behind his desk. He was a big, meaty man with features to match, including oversized earlobes. When agitated, he had a habit of fingering one or both of them.

      “So what’s the latest?” Clayton demanded in his booming voice.

      Gallain knew what case he was referring to. For the time being, it seemed the entire department was consumed with the Parker woman’s murder. That was why he felt the urgent need to break the case himself. Now.

      “I’m working on it,” Gallain responded, managing to keep his voice even despite his coiled nerves.

      “Apparently not hard enough.”

      “It was a clean hit.”

      “Yeah, yeah, so I’ve been told. But we both know there are no perfect murders.”

      Gallain felt the color drain from his face. He didn’t like the idea that he was being called on the carpet for something that wasn’t his fault. And there sure as hell were perfect murders. They were carried out every day and the chief knew that. So what kind of crap was he pulling?

      “Are you up to the task, Gallain?”

      His stomach clenched, but he didn’t let on. “Of course.”

      “Then get results. Someone’s on the mayor’s ass. He in turn is on mine. Therefore I’m on yours. Get the picture?”

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