“Anyone in here?” Miranda called one more time.
The inn was huge, with almost forty bedrooms on three floors. Someone was always around somewhere. Well, mostly.
They didn’t have any guests right now. Not since everyone from PAVAD had left.
Grandma had put the sign on the front desk to walk the block up to the diner or to call the diner and someone would be with them shortly. There was a good chance the inn was deserted at the moment.
It truly was a different world in Masterson sometimes. She liked it just like that.
She would check for Chloe in Dusty’s room, then head over to the diner to see if Dusty or her grandmother knew where the dog was.
Miranda entered the kitchen, just as something hard slammed into the back of her head and sent her sprawling across the tile.
That’s when she saw the blood.
Her cousin, Dixie, slumped just inside the back door.
“You bitch! You think you’re so clever, so perfect, don’t you, Randi?”
A foot slammed into her already broken ribs, and fire shot through her side so fast Miranda screamed. Another blow to the back of her head came next.
Miranda went down to the floor just as something slammed into her shoulder, an inch above her breast.
62
Knight was more than ready to get out of this Little House on the Prairie town and back to reality. As soon as he grabbed a sandwich and thanked his hostess—he did know the proper manners for when someone had gone out of their way for him like Flo Talley had—he was going to accept Joel Masterson’s offer to drive him to a car rental place a few hours away. He’d get a hotel room there and drive home early in the morning instead.
Miranda had already taken care of the end-of-case protocols, despite him telling her he wanted to be included. He’d found that out minutes after the woman had left.
No doubt she’d done it on purpose.
That irked him. But he got it.
She was hiding from him, too. Maybe it hadn’t started out that way, the two of them attracted to one another, but neither one of them was naive enough to misunderstand what was happening. Nor stupid enough to not stop that attraction from growing.
Miranda’s strategy was to hide, apparently.
He was going to accept Joel Masterson’s offer to drive him to the nearest car rental place. He’d use the drive back to St. Louis to come up with an actual game plan. He wasn’t giving up the new division. Not because of her.
He also wasn’t about to hide because of a woman ten years his junior who had a gorgeous smile and a killer body.
If he was going to take the PAVAD appointment, he was going to have to work with her occasionally. He didn’t want that to be on a sour note, or anything like that. One thing he could say after this case—he respected how that woman worked. She was very, very good at what she did. Had it not been for the inconvenient fire that burned him whenever she so much as breathed in his direction, he’d be requesting her on his team. As his second-in-command.
Now, he understood why she’d been one of the few St. Louis agents who hadn’t been reassigned when PAVAD had been formed.
He was halfway to the Talley Inn after leaving the sheriff’s office, where he’d stashed his duffel bag that morning, when he saw the dog.
Saw the blood.
Knight recognized the pile of fluff immediately. “Chloe?”
At first, she didn’t move, and he was convinced the Talleys’ dog was dead. He’d expected her to keel over at any moment the entire time he’d been in town. Almost would have made bets on that.
He didn’t want to be the one to have to tell Miranda that her dog was dead. She loved the animal very much. “Chloe, baby? Are you ok? Damn it, dog. Don’t do this today. As pissed as I am at her, I don’t want her to have to deal with this today.”
He dropped his bag on the sidewalk and stepped closer. Just as the furry head raised and she gave a whimper when she saw him.
There was blood on her face. Her muzzle. She pulled herself to her feet. Knight knelt down next to her, running gentle hands over her. The dog was mostly fur. It was hard to tell if she was injured. Had she been hit by a car? The dog never got in the road that he’d noticed. She mostly just laid inside the white wood fence he’d found so stereotypical when he’d first seen it. Just laid there, watching the world go by.
She whined again. Knight ran his hands over her body, checking for any injuries.
He didn’t find one anywhere.
Until the dog started walking back toward the inn and he saw the way her front leg dragged.
He swore and scooped the dog into his arms.
The vet’s office was just up the street; he’d carry her up there, and then find one of the Talleys and let them know where he’d taken their dog. That would be the end of his obligation. “It’s ok, baby. The vet probably knows what he’s doing. He’ll fix you up in no time.”
Chloe growled, shocking him. She twisted in his arms until he put her down, afraid he’d hurt her worse by trying to hold her and her squirming loose. She was old and frail but determined.
She took off at an awkward run—back to the inn, growling the entire way.
Knight just followed. There was always a lead hanging next to the door in the kitchen. He’d leash her and get her to the vet. Talley women, even the canine kind, were just far too stubborn for their own good sometimes.
63
Miranda spit the blood from her mouth and wiped her lip with the hand she didn’t have attempting to
