Page 20 of Taken by the Lawman

“Here’s another.” RayAnn handed over several more.

“Who’s this guy?” Deegan pointed at a man Annie was standing with at a Halloween party. The man wore nipple rings and leather pants with his hair slicked back.

“That’s Everest. She worked with him for a while until she got the job with the Senator. As far as I know, they were still friends. They both liked to party, and Everest, well, he’s the life of the party.” She giggled. “We used to joke and call him “Daddy” because he was so old…like thirty-five. I think he liked being called daddy though.” She wagged her brows.

“Do you have his number so that we can ask him a couple of questions?” Kiersten asked.

“No. I didn’t like him much and we never hung out but a few times. I thought he was creepy.”

“How about where they worked together?” Deegan placed the pictures back on the table.

“Nope. I can’t remember. Some corporate office downtown, like an advertising group or something.” Her cell buzzed from her purse across the room. “Hang on a minute. I need to get that.”

Kiersten turned in time to see Deegan take the picture of Everest and Annie, fold it and stick it into his jacket pocket then he shuffled the pictures back into the stack.

*

“Well, I guess it wasn’t a complete loss,” Deegan said as they got onto the Interstate heading toward home.

“So, what about the wife? RayAnn seemed pretty adamant that Senator Kline’s wife might have been involved.” Kiersten asked from the passenger seat.

He shot her a quick glance. “Lisa? No. I’m sure she was shocked to find out her husband was unfaithful, but I know her.”

“As much as you know Max Kline?” She raised a brow.

“Yes, as much as I know Max. We were all friends.” He knew where this was headed. “I am looking at this objectively.”

“Okay. If you say so. But no one is off the table of suspects until we have proof that they weren’t involved,” she said stubbornly.

“So far we don’t have much to go on, but maybe this Everest fellow has some answers.”

“He’ll be easy to find. Party guy. Thirty something. You can track him down and talk to him.”

“Wait, I can talk to him?” He looked at her across the seat. “I thought we were doing this together?”

“I have something else I need to take care of today.” She kept her gaze turned away from him.

“More important than speaking to this guy?” Why was he disappointed? He was on vacation and she wasn’t. Did he really expect that they would hang out together? He needed a break from her to clear his head of all the cobwebs.

After he dropped her off at the bureau, he still felt a stab of displeasure. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the case alone, but he’d enjoyed her company. Usually he liked working alone, and for an undercover agent, it always worked out for the best. Even living alone was for the best because most women wouldn’t understand his schedule. Sometimes it required him to be gone for weeks, sometimes for months. Privacy was his middle name. Confidentiality was his game. The last five-minute relationship he’d had, he came home from a mission and she was waiting for him at his apartment to break up. She thought he’d cheated, but any woman who knew Deegan, really knew him, would know he wasn’t a cheater. If he promised something, it would happen. If he was committed, he was as loyal as a newborn pup.

He blew out a long breath and looked at the scrap piece of paper on the passenger seat. “Everest Gilbert. I hope you have some useful information.”

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