Page 12 of Close Quarters

He shrugged again. “Maybe. But she isn’t going to change her tune, and I can’t see either of us wanting to move for the other, so it’s moot.”

Katie hummed and closed her eyes again. “Well, I think you make a cute couple. You should work on that.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “I’ll get right on that, thanks.”

Her mouth quirked. “Good boy.”

He couldn’t help himself and laughed.

“Shhh. I’m trying to sleep.” She waved a hand at him, fighting a grin.

“Mmm-hmm.” He shook his head, smiling, but stayed quiet. The peace in the van was nice compared to the hectic pace of their day. Not to mention the heartbreak. A couple of those skeletons were rather small. He couldn’t imagine how depraved someone needed to be to rape and murder a child. He, Amanda, and Katie would do everything they could to give those children justice.

Chapter 3

Alex nudged Katie awake as he turned off the van. “Hey. We’re back.”

She drew in a deep breath and stretched. “Oh. I really did fall asleep.”

“You did. Now I’m doubly glad you let me drive.”

She rolled her eyes and took off her seatbelt, pulling on the door handle to get out. “I would have stayed awake fine if I’d driven.”

“Maybe.” He pushed his own door open and climbed out.

Another set of headlights lit up the parking lot as Devin pulled in. He parked beside the van and the forensic techs poured out, yawning and moaning about being stiff.

Katie clapped her hands. “Let’s get unloaded so we can all go home and get some sleep.”

Two more vehicles pulled in, carrying Dr. Pressley and her team. Her car was barely in park before she jumped out and hurried over to the forensics van.

“Be careful! We don’t want to cause any damage to the bones.”

Alex frowned as he eyed the forensics team. They were doing fine. They hadn’t even touched the remains yet.

Katie stepped forward. “My team knows what they’re doing, Amanda.”

The other woman frowned but nodded. “I’m sure they do. I was just cautioning them. Damage could make it difficult to determine cause of death.”

“We’re aware,” Alex said, stepping forward. He didn’t like her tone. “Do you have a problem with the way my people work?”

Amanda smiled, her expression forced. “Of course not, Alex. It’s been a long day. How about my team gives you a hand?” She stepped around him, motioning to her techs before he could say anything.

He turned to watch her, wondering why she was acting so peculiar.

“What’s her problem? She was all perky at the site.”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what’s going on with her. She’s not normally so—”

“Shrill?”

“Yeah.”

She glanced up at him, and he looked down to meet her gaze. “Well, you might want to caution her to be nice to my team. It might be your lab, but those are my people. I won’t stand for her being rude or dictatorial to them. I’ll throw her ass out, case be damned. She’s not the only forensic anthropologist in the western states.”

“Noted. I’ll talk to her. Maybe she really is just tired.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” She cast one last look at him before sauntering away to help her team.

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