No one knew. Each TBI case was completely different.
He’d made that clear to Ed Dennis when the director of PAVAD had called him personally to offer him the newly forming cold-case division.
Knight probably wouldn’t make himself any friends in PAVAD now. He was good with that. He didn’t want friends. Not any longer.
“Sorry for snapping,” Knight said grudgingly when he realized the occupants of the table were still staring at him expectantly. “I just have a bit of a headache.”
He wasn’t going to use his injury as an excuse. Not by a long shot. But the headaches were real. Infrequent, but they were a visceral, almost tangible reminder of what had happened to him.
A reminder of how alone he had felt in the few moments before he’d lost consciousness back then. That was a memory he hadn’t lost.
Dr. Talley’s gaze went to the scar. Knight fought the urge to touch it, to hide it. He wasn’t embarrassed by it or self-conscious about it. But people liked to stare at it. Far more often than was considered polite.
“Of course. I always get a bit of a headache the first night back in Masterson.” She shot him a gorgeous smile. Damn it. That smile had far too much power. “I think it’s all the fresh, clean air up here. We’re not used to it in St. Louis.”
“Sure. Whatever. Let’s just get out of here.” He turned to the men next to her. “Gunderson, Masterson. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you first thing in the morning.”
He nodded at the other couple and headed for the door.
Dr. Talley could follow him or not. It was up to her.
9
Supervisory Special Agent Jaclyn Jones settled into her seat on the FBI jet fifteen minutes before four a.m. and tried to ignore the man at her side. It was hard to do. Max was six-foot-four inches of solid male muscle right next to her.
He took up a lot of room.
He was hard to ignore, as was the tension between them.
Two profilers probably shouldn’t argue with each other about personal things. It was far too easy to wound one another. To know all the dark secrets and ways to jab a stick into those bruises.
Jac had never been an easy flier; no matter how many times she flew. She forced herself not to think of all the statistics, all the ways planes could crash in rainy weather. She was going to trust the pilot to keep them all safe. No matter what.
That said a lot for her.
Trust had been beaten out of her long ago.
The only one on the plane who knew of that part of her background was Max. And he refused to meet her eyes anymore.
Ever since he’d kissed her just moments after their first real argument.
It had been one of those angry kisses written about in books, but never experienced in real life. One of frustration and pain. And longing.
Jac understood that.
What she still didn’t understand was why it had happened at all. Or why he had avoided her ever since.
Max gave a quick summary about the case they’d been tapped to help with. They weren’t normally on the same team. They’d just happened to be the handful of agents still in the bullpen filling out their weekly reports before Monday’s meeting when the director had walked through looking for available agents to help on a cold case consult.
“Masterson County, Wyoming. It’s near the central west area of the state.”
Jac gave a startled reaction when Max finally spoke. It took her a moment to focus on what he was saying.
“Masterson?”
Max nodded his big, shaggy head. “Population five thousand or so. That covers mostly ranches and a few tiny farming communities. The largest of those, and the county seat, is Masterson.” He answered in his warm, quiet, mellow voice that she had always found nice. Soothing.
It was just another case. So what if Max was there? It was bound to have happened sooner or later.
She wasn’t the one with the problem. He was. He was the one who had shut down. Shut her out. They’d argued. And that had been the end of it. Three years of friendship right down the drain. Three years of trust that had been so difficult for her to give, and he’d trampled all over that after one single kiss. She was going to get over the sting of losing Max, even if it killed her.
But now, it was time to focus. They were going to…Masterson. Wyoming.
“That’s Miranda Talley’s hometown. I’ve been there a few times.” That was one of the few places Jac had felt welcome. It was a beautiful place with wonderful people. She’d been back three times with her friend. She’d even fantasized about returning to Masterson when she retired from the FBI in a few decades. Buying a little cottage of her own near the inn, maybe growing a garden. Getting her own dog and just enjoying the world for once.
Max nodded. “This case has a definite personal twist. Dr. Talley was born and raised in Masterson. We’ll be staying at her family home. She and Agent Knight are already there.”
“At the Talley Inn? It’s a beautiful place. Miranda’s grandmother runs it,” Jac said.
Max glanced at her quickly, then looked away. “It is the only building in town large enough to accommodate us all. The requesting detective on this case is an old friend of Dr. Talley’s.”
Jac flipped open her case file. It was time to get started. By her calculations, they’d arrive in Masterson by eight or so in the morning. Plenty of time to get started on what they had to do.
10
Knight beat her to the breakfast room. He fought the irritation at that. He’d heard her in the bathroom that pressed against his suite. It hadn’t been a huge
