Selena rested both hands on the bedspread and let the conflicting feelings settle where they wanted.
Unease and anticipation.
A potent mix.
She would have to be careful with both.
CHAPTER FOUR
Selena pulled up outside the Sheriff's department in Elmsview.The morning air was still cool, but she knew things would heat up as the day progressed.
The building sat low and square behind a narrow strip of lawn that had gone yellow at the edges.Two patrol SUVs occupied the front spaces, both dusty from county roads.The flag near the entrance hung limp in the humid air.
Selena cut the engine and sat for a moment with both hands on the wheel.
The last time she had walked through those doors, the town had been carrying the fear of the Nolan Pruitt murders, and she had been carrying fifteen years of history with the Sheriff inside.Now she was back because another body had been found in another isolated place.A different case, but the same county; the same Sheriff.
Her coat felt too heavy already for the Harlan summer.
After opening the car door, Selena took a deep breath.Pine carried on the morning air from the trees beyond the lot, sharp and clean beneath the heat.She removed her coat, folded it over the passenger seat, and checked the file bag beside it.
No need to look armed with paperwork before she had even said hello.
The pavement held the sun and pushed it up through the soles of her shoes.By the time she reached the front door, a thin line of sweat had begun at the back of her neck.
The glass door had closed blinds behind it to block the sun.Her reflection looked back at her, pale and slightly warped.Dark suit trousers.White blouse.Her blond hair less controlled than she had intended after sleeping in a motel with an air conditioner that rattled like loose change in a tin.
Selena frowned at herself.
“Professional,” she murmured.“Let’s attempt that, at least.”
Something had shifted in her since her last visit.Her old home county had woken something she thought Washington had buried.
She gathered her hair and began fixing it into a ponytail.
The door opened fast.
Selena stepped back just in time, the glass missing her face by inches.
Connor stood in the doorway with his hat tucked under one arm, broad shoulders filling more of the opening than seemed fair.His Sheriff's uniform was pressed, though the sleeves had been rolled once at the cuffs.Brown hair, a little untidy from the hat, caught the morning light.Concern moved across his face before anything else could.
“Selena.Did I hurt you?”
“No.”She lowered her hands, ponytail half secured.“I see the classic Connor Chase welcome initiation is alive as ever, though.”
His mouth shifted.Not quite a smile.Enough to soften him.“Usually we save that for new deputies.”
“Generous of you to include federal guests.”
Connor stepped back from the threshold.“I wasn’t expecting someone to be standing right there.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to use the door like a baseball bat.”
That got the smile properly.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Connor offered his hand.
