He still saw that skull in his dreams sometimes. Even nine weeks later.
He’d been back to Wyoming four times since the afternoon they’d discovered the body. They’d found a ranch that would work for their herd a few miles from the one where the poor woman had been buried. Phil’s nephew had agreed to run it for them—in exchange for the back half of the property, plus the house.
It would work out well for them in the long run.
And Travis wasn’t stepping foot back on the Beise property again.
Tonight, he’d been asked by the sheriff to meet him at the diner before he and Lacy headed back to Finley Creek in a few days.
After the hell he and Lacy had gone through back home when she’d nearly died, he was a little jumpy when it came to Lacy’s safety in general. Having Lacy anywhere near Wyoming had not been his first choice. But she’d insisted. She didn’t want to be separated from him all that much right now, any more than he did from her.
Since the massive storms that had hit their county back at the tail end of July, she’d been working longer shifts at the ER to help out. It was showing. His wife was exhausted.
Morning sickness wasn’t helping, either.
Lacy sat cuddled up to his side on the bench seat in the diner. Phil’s son-in-law—the sheriff—sat across from them, Phil at his side. The DCI agent sat in a chair pulled up to the end.
All eyes in the diner were on Clint Gunderson. And they weren’t necessarily friendly. Travis shifted his shoulder a bit more toward the other man as a sign of solidarity. Clint hadn’t struck him as a bad guy at all.
Travis felt for Clint. He hadn’t asked to be raised by a monster.
They were waiting. For the FBI. Travis shifted in his seat. They were going to give their statements to the FBI, then hopefully he’d get to take Lacy back to Phil’s and tuck her in. Hold her and forget that being in Masterson was bringing up memories of things neither one of them wanted to think about.
The door opened, and a couple stepped in. Clint tensed and shifted to watch. Travis followed her gaze.
The woman came straight to their table. A man trailed behind her.
The waitress nearby squealed and hurriedly set their food on the table, then turned to the woman who had just entered. Another waitress danced by.
Pretty girls, the lot of them. Pretty soon, there were seven women embracing amid excited chatter.
Clint stood. He stepped toward the new woman; arms open. She pulled back from the gaggle of waitresses and turned toward Clint. “Clint!”
“Come here, honey.”
There was real affection between the two. Travis had no doubt about that. Lacy leaned closer. Travis wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
Gunderson finally pulled back from the woman. Travis got his first real look at her. A pretty woman, with light reddish-brown hair. She reminded him of his brother Rafe’s sisters-in-law, who all had varying shades of red hair. Some even had long curls like that.
The woman looked at the occupants of the table, settling on Travis. She smiled a very pretty smile. Travis relaxed. This woman wasn’t exactly intimidating. Now, the guy beside her—he was a different story. Hard as bricks and sober as a judge.
“Dr. Miranda Talley. I’m with PAVAD. This is my colleague, Supervisory Special Agent Allan Knight.”
Lacy shifted next to him, leaning forward as the woman looked toward her. “I believe we’ve met in St. Louis. At Payton Lucas’s baby shower?”
The woman’s smile widened. “Yes, of course. You’re friends with Carrie Lorcan and Paige Brockman. I work with Paige frequently. Knight here is…acquainted…with the Brockman brothers.”
Some of Travis’s tension lessened at the familiar names. Travis’s oldest brother, Marc, had married Paige Brockman’s sister, Ariella. His brother Rafe had married Carrie Lorcan’s sister.
One big happy family, and he liked it that way.
“All this is fine and dandy, but can we get down to business? Why were we brought here?” the man in a business suit asked.
“Don’t mind him; I suspect he’s chronically cranky.” Dr. Talley smiled at one of the waitresses. “I’m starving, Darcey. I’ll owe you if you—”
“Move you to the front of the line? You know what Grandma will say. No special privileges for family. You can wait your turn. Consider it punishment for not calling ahead. One of us would have stayed behind to get you.”
“I think she’ll understand this once. Help your favorite cousin out.”
Dr. Talley sank into the chair next to Clint. Knight followed her, sitting absolutely straight in the chair. He reminded Travis of his brother Rafe before Rafe’s hellion of a wife had gotten ahold of him and made him a better man. Starchy and precise. And pissed off at the world. Of course, Rafe’s anger had been due to trauma. Travis understood that a little more now than he had at first. Almost losing Lacy had made it clear.
Dr. Talley turned toward the sheriff and Clint. “So what’s going on here? This seems like a strange little mashup.”
Clint leaned forward. “I’m the one who requested you, Randi.”
“I figured as much.”
“We’ll talk more in my office,” the sheriff said. “I don’t think our business needs mentioned here. No offense to your family, Dr. Talley.”
“Please, it’s Randi, Joel. You know that. The first guy I ever kissed was Levi, after all. And you’re the one who caught us on your daddy’s couch—just in time.”
“Who you dumped for Clint here,” one of the waitresses said, putting a cup of iced tea in front of Dr. Talley. “Grandma and Daddy were scandalized. Especially Daddy. How dare you break it off with a Masterson for a Gunderson. The scandal! I tried to tell them you weren’t going to marry a Masterson, a Gunderson, or a Tyler, but…”
“Go away, Marin. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Whatever. But your aura is glowing yellow again. You should really take care of that.”
“Go away.” Dr. Talley was
