The conference room door opened and Cindy bustled in. The sheriff had hired his niece as his secretary after she finished college several years ago. Her ash-blonde hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail and her floral dress was feminine and understated. Cindy was young but ran the office with graceful efficiency.
She set a neat stack of papers down on the table. “Okay, here’s the final batch of interviews. The copier has been on the fritz and the repairman just arrived, so I’ll take a small break while he looks at the machine.”
“Thank you, Cindy.” Megan lifted the hole punch. “And I hate to ask, but if you get a chance, can you rustle up another one of these? This one is on its last leg.”
“Sure thing. If you need anything else, give a holler.”
She closed the door gently behind her.
Megan reached across Luke to shift the new pages closer to her and he caught a whiff of her honeysuckle perfume. The soft pink sweater brought out the color in her cheeks and made her green eyes shimmer like emeralds. Her arm brushed across his knuckles. Luke’s pulse jumped, and he moved back to give her more room.
“So…” Weston wagged his eyebrows. “As happy as I am to give you folks an update, this is all stuff we coulda talked about on the phone. Luke, you mentioned you needed to have something delivered to the lab?”
“Yeah.” He went to the end of the table and found the right evidence bag. “These are the bullets used to kill Franny. They were never sent to the state lab for testing because Wade confessed. I’m hoping we can get good striations.”
“But the gun used to shoot her was never found,” Megan said.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find it. There’s also a possibility Franny’s killer has used the gun in another crime. If we’re lucky, the striations from these bullets will be in the database.”
When bullets were shot, the barrel of the gun created grooves and nicks also known as striations. They were as unique as a fingerprint. Luke hoped they could lead to a suspect.
“You called me on a good day. I was heading to the lab with evidence on another case I’m investigating.” Weston checked his watch. “I’d better get a move on.”
Megan smiled sweetly. “You mean, you don’t want to stay and help us with all of this?”
“I’d love to, doll, but paperwork and I are like oil and vinegar.” He picked up the evidence bag before tipping his hat and flashing his dimples. “Besides, who would get your bullets to the lab?”
Doll? Luke shot his friend a glare, but Weston’s smile only widened. Oh, it was on.
“Megs, did I ever tell you the story about how Weston tried to subdue a subject with pepper spray and ended up hitting another trooper instead?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
“Yep.” Luke grinned. “He followed that doozy up a day later by getting locked out of his patrol car.”
Weston glowered, but there was no real heat behind it. “In my defense, I had the flu that week.”
“That’s a good excuse.” Megan pressed her lips together, probably smothering a chuckle. “How long did it take before the trooper you pepper-sprayed talked to you again?”
“It only took a week because he got revenge. At a training seminar, they needed a volunteer to be zapped by a Taser. He told the whole class about what I’d done. Guess who ended up being the guinea pig.”
They all laughed. Weston tipped his hat to Megan one more time before they went into the bullpen to handle paperwork for the evidence transfer. Luke walked him out to the parking lot.
“Megan’s nice. And smart,” Weston said. “Ain’t too bad on the eyes either—”
“If you don’t want to be kissing the concrete, I’d stop right there.”
Weston chuckled. “Don’t get all riled up. I just understand why you put a ring on her finger.”
Any man in his right mind would. He nearly said the words aloud before catching himself. Nope, he wasn’t going down that road. Still, a sharp pang struck his chest at the thought of Megan married to someone else.
Weston pinched his lips together and scanned the parking lot. It was empty. His fellow ranger took a step closer to him. “What’s with the evidence being all messed up?”
“I don’t know yet. Could be a simple mistake…” Luke tucked his hands in his pockets. “Still, I’m not sure everyone in the sheriff’s department is on our side. The real question is why?”
Megan paused from fighting with the hole punch and stretched her cramped muscles. The window in the conference room overlooked the parking lot, and she glimpsed Luke talking with Weston.
Both of the rangers were handsome, but her gaze lingered on her ex. She rarely had a chance to look at him when he wasn’t aware. Her eyes trailed over his broad shoulders, the strength in his hands, the cut of his jaw. Luke wore authority—even while in casual conversation—like a second skin, but there was no hint of arrogance. It was a simple confidence, as natural as breathing, and it was as attractive to her now as it had been when they first met.
She needed to be careful. Returning home had cracked open a door she’d thought was closed and bolted long ago. She couldn’t allow herself to fall back in love with Luke. Too many complications and too much hurt existed between them for it to ever work.
Megan tucked the last of the reports into the binder and scanned them. The one she was looking for wasn’t there. She flipped through all the sheets again, just to be sure, before stepping out of the conference room.
The door to Sheriff Franklin’s office was open. He looked up from a document when she approached, peering at her over the tops of the reading glasses perched on his nose. “You looking for me?”
She pointed to the
