Page 24 of Close Quarters

“Did they yield anything useful?”

“Not sure yet. She’s running tests.”

“Okay.” He rapped his knuckles on the stainless-steel table. “I better head out and let you two finish up. Keep me updated.”

“You do the same,” Alex said.

“Yep. Call if you need me.” Seb turned and left with a wave.

“Such strange business, these attacks,” Amos commented, turning back to the body. “And all over these poor children.”

“Yeah, well, someone did some awful things to these kids and doesn’t want it to get out.”

Dr. White’s head bobbed. “True. I just hope your friend can find the person responsible—and Amanda—before something worse happens.”

So did Alex. Forensics wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous job.

Katie flipped over in her borrowed bed, trying to find a comfortable position. The bed was nice, but her mind wouldn’t shut off. Too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

She sighed and sat up. This was ridiculous. Shoving off the covers, she got out of bed and crept downstairs on light feet. She snagged the throw off the couch and opened the sliding door to the deck off the living room. Outside, she wrapped the afghan around herself and sank into one of the deck chairs.

The moon was bright overhead, turning the frosty grass to silver. Her breath puffed white in front of her face, and she stared out over the quiet valley. She loved Alex’s house. Even though they were still in town, it was so peaceful here.

She hadn’t been happy to come home with him, though. It didn’t matter that it was the prudent thing to do. Alex Randall was dangerous to her peace of mind. He was a large part of the reason she couldn’t sleep.

Damn man…

Why couldn’t he be a troll with a scraggly beard, crooked yellow teeth, and a potbelly? Better yet, why did she have to be attracted to older men? Weren’t women her age supposed to want the young, virile ones? Although, she couldn’t say Alex wasn’t virile.

A vision of him in his lumberjack clothes floated through her head. She never thought plaid could be so sexy.

Katie closed her eyes and leaned her head back in the chair. It didn’t matter how attractive she found him. They would never amount to anything. She wasn’t his type. She didn’t know why he kissed her or told her she was beautiful. They were polar opposites. A polished, sophisticated woman like Amanda Pressley was more his speed.

The door slid open behind her with a soft swish. She opened her eyes and glanced back to see Alex standing in the doorway in a pair of lounge pants and a gray t-shirt.

“What are you doing out here? It’s the middle of the night.” His sleep-roughened voice rolled over her like fine whiskey.

She shrugged and huddled deeper into her blanket, looking back out over the valley. “I couldn’t sleep.”

There was a long pause—long enough she thought he went back to bed—before he sank into the seat beside her, another blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“Why can’t you sleep?”

Katie couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled past her lips. “You really have to ask?”

A sardonic smile tilted his mouth. “True. But I’d have thought it would have been worse last night.”

“Yeah, well, I was in my own bed last night.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry. I know I kind of railroaded you into coming here, but my place is safer.”

She waved her fingers at him from where they were curled over the edge of the blanket. “I know. And I’m not really upset. At least, not at that. It’s more the situation itself that has me angry. I mean, this case just doesn’t want to behave normally, you know? Just when we think we have it figured out, it sends something else at us. First, it was Ryan Marsters. Then, Judge Brandt. Now, Amanda’s been kidnapped. Why doesn’t it want to die?”

Alex was silent for a moment. “I think this case has much larger implications than we imagined. April Stillwater did say her husband had some powerful friends. It stands to reason there are people outside of Silver Gap and Boone County who are involved. We’re not that far from several large cities, including the state capital. There could be state representatives or even federal officials who partook of the Paulsons’ services.”

She let out a noise of disgust. “People are sick. And why is it that some of the most powerful ones are also the most deplorable?”

“Probably because many of them are a bit narcissistic and sociopathic. That type of personality doesn’t mind stepping on some toes to get ahead. But it can have a downside, too, in the form of deviant behavior.”

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