Jac took the list of five names he’d given her and stood. “I’ll get…on these.”
“Jac…sit for a minute. Talk to me.”
Jac sat. “Ok. Shoot.”
A look of frustration went over Max’s handsome face. Jac just waited.
“I don’t think Lesley Beise had a clue,” Max said. He leaned back, his strong arms crossed in front of him. “He seemed shocked to find out the woman was dead.”
“She’d be seventy-three now. That’s not exactly ancient. And he hasn’t talked to her in all that time.”
“If we believe his story, he probably assumed she didn’t want a thing to do with him or her other grandchildren. If she had a habit of abusing the kids, they may not have thought cutting off contact was a bad thing.”
“Do we believe him, though?”
“I’m not sure.”
“So basically, he walked in and was told to pack.”
“It happens. I’ve heard of families being evicted on Thanksgiving before.”
“And he didn’t see Helen after that. I bet she was already dead.” Jac made a note of the times Lesley had given them. “Dead and buried.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
She thought for a moment, mind organizing all the details Lesley had shared until she had some semblance of an idea where to go next. “I suggest we start in the morning with Luther Beise, Junior, otherwise known as Luke Meynard.”
“Great. The brother who was puking everywhere.”
“We get all the fun stuff, don’t we?” She smiled at him. His eyes heated, reminding her that things had changed between them. He wasn’t the same Max that he used to be. Not anymore.
Jac grabbed her notebook and scurried away.
35
Miranda texted Jac back quickly, a small smile touching her lips, several hours after the attack. Jac cared. It was why she was being so obsessive. She must have sent ten texts since Miranda had been released from the hospital. Miranda got it.
Jac had very few people in her life to care about. Miranda and Natalie, Jac’s younger sister, topped that list—along with Max and his daughter, Emery. Always Max.
“Everything ok back with the troops?” Knight asked quietly. He hadn’t said much since she’d stepped back out to the waiting room at the Evalyn hospital. Neither of them had mentioned the half-second kiss. Brief, fleeting, completely unprofessional, but Miranda wouldn’t be forgetting it anytime soon. “No one got attacked by ducks or anything?”
“Marin’s little flock isn’t aggressive.”
“No kidding. They follow that dog everywhere.”
“Of course, they do. She raised them. With help from Marin and Dusty.” Miranda leaned back and closed her eyes. Just for a moment. They’d given her a mild pain killer, and it was actually starting to help. She was glad she had a chauffeur tonight. Even if Knight was starting to freak her out on a personal level. “Dusty brought them home for Marin to use in the garden last year. The post office received a shipment too late to forward them to the original purchaser. So the vet’s office found them a home. With us. Dusty works as a tech for Matt Masterson on the weekends. They are great pest control. But Chloe went crazy over them. They’re her little herd. She brings them in from the garden and the pond every evening. It’s her job.”
“The dog can barely walk.”
“I know.” The time would come when she’d have to say goodbye to Chloe, but Miranda wasn’t going to think about that right now. Not tonight. “Jac and Max just headed back to the inn.”
“What’s the deal with them?”
Miranda closed her eyes. Knight…exhausted her. Especially now. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do. You’ve been trying to mess with Max Jones’s head from the time they got here. Throwing the two of them together. So, spill.”
Miranda sighed, fighting irritation. She wanted to use the time on the drive to sleep. Not talk to him about her friends. But Knight was the relentless type. Probably always got what he wanted when he pushed. “They were super close, but they argued. And they’ve yet to make up.”
“Romantically close? Hear there’s a lot of that in PAVAD.”
“Not statistically. Just more often than other divisions, because PAVAD tends to draw the more adventurous, who are often still single. Things happen sometimes. And, no. Jac and Max were not romantically involved. They just argued. Any more than that, and you’ll have to ask them. I don’t gossip about my friends’ business. Because they matter to me.” She yawned once she was finished speaking.
Knight reached out and turned up the heat. “Sleep it off, Talley. You can pick at me later.”
“Just don’t get us lost. I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. It’s really good to be home. St. Louis just isn’t the same.”
“No. No, I guess for you it wouldn’t be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t get you, Knight. I just don’t get you.”
He knew the instant she fell asleep. She stopped fidgeting as much, for one thing. For another, one soft hand slipped to the console between them. Knight wrapped his fingers around her wrist before he stopped to think about it and moved the offending appendage back to its own side of the truck. He should not be touching her in any way, shape, or form. He’d sat in the waiting room of that hospital and made that very resolution.
Hands off Dr. Miranda Talley. Period.
The woman was dangerous. Soft. Beautiful.
He reached into the backseat where he’d tossed his suit jacket earlier. Before the next turnoff, he spread it over the sleeping temptation next to him. It was too dark to see her face as he drove, but he didn’t need the light. He knew exactly what Miranda Talley looked like, face soft with sleep, now.
He wasn’t going to take the PAVAD position. He couldn’t. Not if he was going to be anywhere near this woman. As he drove, Knight argued with himself over that decision.
She was just a woman. He shouldn’t be this drawn to a woman so quickly. Unless it had something to do
