“And he was your escape from that?”
“Yes. More than Levi. Mastersons also tend to draw attention, and Levi wasn’t that much older than I was. Not like Clint. Clint was the antithesis of attention-seeking.”
“So what did you have to offer him? Besides the obvious?” She would have been considerably younger then. Seven years between her and Clint. Clint was a few years younger than Knight was. She was a good ten years Knight’s junior, then. That could explain it. The woman just wasn’t seasoned enough yet—that was why she was sunny all the time. “You were too young for him back then.”
“Hardly. I might have been young, but Grandma ensured the eight of us—I have one cousin you haven’t met yet who lives in Texas—weren’t naive where men were concerned. I was nineteen when I started dating Clint and twenty-one when he broke it off.”
Knight did the math. He suspected he knew what Gunderson got from being with a young innocent—and despite what she said, he suspected she’d been all rosy-cheeked and gullible—affirmation that he was a man. Someone to protect. Someone to help him fight the jaded cynicism the man no doubt suffered from.
He and Clint did have a lot more in common than he’d first thought.
No wonder Knight was attracted to her. There was some basis for opposites attracting. At least, he’d seen it before. Many times.
Knight wasn’t going to fall for it himself, though.
“So why did Gunderson call PAVAD?”
“Conflict of interest, I think. He’s been investigating some internal affairs issues within the Wyoming State Police. Clint’s stepfather Clive was the former sheriff of Masterson County before Joel. He also almost killed Perci Masterson. She’s the wife of Nate Masterson.”
“He’s the one who did the autopsy.” Needed a score card around here. Small towns. He really hated small towns.
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Because of that, Gunderson asked for PAVAD?”
She nodded. “He is covering his bases. Apparently, his stepfather and Luther Beise were close friends for years. Distant cousins, I believe.”
“Probably a smart bet around here.” Clint was definitely not well-liked in Masterson. “Have the townsfolk always been so against your boyfriend?”
“Not always. His father was an asshole, and many people thought that. But people respected him because of his position. There was a lot of cronyism around town back then. Certain men—most have died, moved away, or been imprisoned—who often bullied others. Most in town probably didn’t see it, but Grandma did. She and the Masterson brothers’ parents have always been close friends. She saw a lot that others didn’t. Clint mostly stayed to himself at his own grandmother’s place. He inherited her ranch about the time I turned twenty, I think. But it needed a lot of work.”
“He going to try ranching?”
“Not full time, I don’t think. He’s always said there isn’t much money in it. And it’s a really small place. I don’t think he had any stock there eight years ago. Everything needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. But it had been in his mother’s family since Masterson was first founded. He wasn’t willing to give it up back then.”
“Good for him. Something from his family like that, I can see where that would matter to some men.”
Knight had nothing from his family, except for his name. He had long ago resigned himself to that. Even his name wasn’t all that unique, either. He’d met another one in his teens—a teacher in his eighties. There were more out there, he was certain.
“It does. And Clint is fiercely protective of his ranch. It’s what remains of his family. His brother is dead, as is his mother. His stepfather is in prison. Clint was the one to arrest him, Grandma said. It was all over town when it happened. Perci Masterson came very close to dying. It was a big deal around here.”
“I’m sure it was. Seems like everything is a big deal in Masterson County.”
26
Sheriff Karr was a nice guy. Rough and rugged, but with a core of honor that Miranda sensed ran deep. Sheriff Karr had an easy way about him. He’d welcomed them into his tiny precinct immediately, while having his deputy process Pauline Beise. She’d apparently turned into a real problem in the squad car, clawing at Max’s neck through the metal grate. The woman was still ranting and raving when they’d pulled her from the vehicle once they’d arrived in the Della station parking lot.
What had taken the cake though, was when Pauline had sunk her teeth—both upper and lower dentures—into the flesh on Max’s left arm.
Max had a real problem with biters—he’d probably never read a vampire novel and enjoy it, that was for sure. Pauline was lucky Max hadn’t charged her with attempted murder or something. Assault with deadly dentures, maybe. If that was a thing. She’d bet Max would make it a thing, if he could.
Even hero-type men like Max had their weaknesses. His was biting. And Jac. Always Jac.
Well, first Pauline had been a person of interest in the murder of her mother. Now, she had attempted assault charges. Followed by resisting arrest. Some people just didn’t think things through. Miranda figured Pauline was going to be more difficult as time went on. They needed to come up with a game plan
