Page 102 of The Last Close Call

“What?” she asked.

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

She looked startled, and her cheeks turned adorably pink.

“You were saying?” He picked up his sandwich. “There was an article?”

He chomped into his food as she turned and dug a folded printout out of her purse. She put it on the table and smoothed it flat.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I came across this article. Or it’s a brief, really. Round Rock is reopening the investigation of the house fire five years ago. It says ‘new evidence has come to light,’ but it doesn’t specify what.”

She slid the paper toward him, and he leaned over to skim the two-paragraph brief as he chewed his food.

“Is this a problem for you?” she asked.

“It’s not good.”

“I’m worried he might see it. What if he hears about this and then decides to leave? He’ll be in the wind again, and all Dara’s work will be for nothing.”

Jack continued eating as he reread the brief. It didn’t have a byline, but he knew someone over at the paper he could call to find out more. Or he could call the retired Round Rock fire chief and see what he knew about it.

“Have you heard from her? Dara?” Rowan slipped a bite of ice cream off her spoon.

“No.”

“She told me she’s still trying to get an alias for you.”

“Let’s not talk about the case.” He popped a chip into his mouth. “Have you given any thought to that other thing?”

She paused. “Your cold case, you mean? Ramon Huerta?”

“Yeah.”

She went quiet for a moment, poking at her shake. “I’m considering it.”

“Good.”

She gave him a wary look. “What, no hard sell?”

“You said you’re considering it. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“Well, I do.” She stirred her shake, not looking at him. “Police work, investigations—it’s the whole path I’d purposely gotten off of.”

“I understand. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it.”

Hostility flared in her eyes. “It’s not that I can’t.”

The server was back, setting the check in the middle of the table with all the subtlety of a bullhorn.

“Obviously, I can. I’m trying to decide whether I want to get back into this work now.”

“If you decide no, it’s okay,” he said. “You’re not the only one who can help me. I just wanted to try you first because you’re the best.”

She rolled her eyes at the compliment. She was obviously well aware he was using flattery to help his chances. Well, so what? He’d be an idiot not to, and anyway, it was true. He’d never seen anyone with her talent for both the science side and the genealogy side of this work. It was a unique combination that made her extremely good at it.

The conversation dwindled as he finished off his sandwich. He pushed the plate aside and pulled the shake toward him. As he took a big gulp, she snickered.

“What?”

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