“Brynlock’s on a two-week break. They go year-round and break frequently. He likes to spend as much time in Masterson as he can. I took him up with me when Ed Dennis sent me home for that OPJ case and left him with my dad.”
And the bruises had barely faded for that one.
She’d ended up in fender bender on the ice. Knight hadn’t breathed right until he’d heard from Jac that she was okay.
“Then, go make the kid happy and call him. I’m going to check in with PAVAD. We’ll meet back at eight?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She sent him a cheeky grin. “I don’t know what I’d do without you to keep me on the right path, Knight. You’re just so…knightly.”
“Go.”
Before he did something he would regret. Like tuck her into his bed and not let her out until morning. She just gave him a little wave and a sleepy grin that had him scowling. “Go.”
She went.
Taking the sun with her.
Damn it.
The woman was going to ruin him one day. It was a given.
Chapter 11
Knight knocked on her door at 7:55 sharp. Miranda was ready to roll, but she was never at her best first thing in the morning. He smirked at her, knowing it would irritate her.
"I see you've lost the infernal sunshine. Pity. But at least I may get some real peace today."
"Haha. Breakfast first. Then we'll get started. I can stay here with Pierce if you want to run the evidence back to St. Louis.” Pierce had requested the state lab in Indianapolis return what physical evidence they felt was probative. It would be reprocessed by the PAVAD lab, using more sophisticated, updated technology. Knight and Miranda would have to go over it and sign off chain of custody before it left Indiana.
"No need; I called Ward. He is on his way to pick it up. That will save us some time." He'd been up and ready to roll two hours ago. But after the first time they'd worked a cold case together and he'd woke her at six-thirty, she'd practically shredded him. “He’ll be here by one.”
She might look all sweet and farm girl wholesome, but the woman had some serious claws.
In any other lifetime, he would have fallen head over heels for this woman. Even before he'd nearly been killed by that damned sociopath several years ago—Miranda would have been the kind of woman he adored.
Then.
Not any longer. He had to remember that.
He tended to avoid working with her as much as he possibly could. Best to avoid temptation. But it wasn't possible to never work with her, either. PAVAD just didn't work that way. And he respected the woman's mind far more than he did anyone else's on the planet.
He just wished she didn't look so damned tempting just by breathing.
"Going on the theory that this wasn't his first kill, I think we need to call Dani. Have her check surrounding states, going back at least twenty-five years." She flashed him a pointed look, then tossed him the car keys. "You drive. I know you have control issues."
Knight just grunted. That wasn't what he'd call it. It was mere self-preservation. The woman was just the most menacing thing behind the wheel he had ever seen. He feared for his life every time she drove. "So what's on the agenda today, boss? Meeting your big blond boyfriend?"
"Not for a while. He was called out to a domestic incident that resulted in shots fired down in a place called Shoals. He was griping about the roads up there being overgrown and nothing but gravel and probably still iced over. He said some of the damned shit roads have grass growing down the middle. Get this, the school mascot for Shoals is a rock. Based on some weird rock formation, I think he said. I mean, can you imagine? The rocking rocks? Mascots can be so weird. I really love small towns. I may go over there and poke around when we are finished with this one. For my future book someday. He'll probably be there for hours. It's just us today. I made copies this morning in the hotel's office. Of Aimee's day planner. She was the center of their social planning. Coordinated everything. That's not an uncommon role for the mother in a family. It's one reason why men who are widowed suddenly as seniors tend to be adrift socially for several years. Or remarry extremely quickly."
"So...what are we going to do with this information?"
"We're going to retrace Aimee's steps over the preceding week."
Asher had already done that, but they’d go over everything and look for what was missed. Cold Cases had a lower solve rate than the other PAVAD units—the cards were stacked against them simply because of time. But she was very dogged when she was working. If a case in their unit could be solved—it would. They were all committed to that. "So you're taking point on this case?"
"Something like that. Aimee was the target, Knight. I'm almost one hundred percent certain it was her that drew him first. The sexual assault and stabbing were his end results. His end purpose. He wanted Aimee. She was an attractive woman. He kept her alive for hours after killing her husband and son. He assaulted her multiple times and ways, only to mimic the sex-act by stabbing her repeatedly. I'm going to have an easier time getting into her head than you will."
"I saw the similarities." Aimee Gibson had been five-ten, athletic and curvy. She'd had long strawberry blonde hair, and big blue eyes behind wire-framed glasses. Her son had been just over two years older than Miranda's when Cruz had been killed. Yes. Knight had seen the similarities. They were impossible to miss. "We'll share point, Sunny. You are not doing this alone."
