Now he wore a badge and asked to be trusted.
Selena hoped he had changed.
The man behind the bar turned while drying a glass with a towel.Roy Tanner had put on weight through the middle and lost more hair, but his face was the same, round and cheerful with eyes that missed less than people assumed.
The towel stopped moving.
“Well, now,” Roy said.“That’s a face I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Selena crossed to the bar.“Don’t make me feel old, Roy.”
“You’ll never be as old as me.”He set the glass down and leaned both hands on the bar.“Selena Raven.Look at you.FBI and everything.”
“Careful.You’ll make me blush.”
“Never saw you blush once in all the years you came in here.”His smile softened.“It’s great to see you.How’s your dad doing?”
The question landed in a place Selena had been avoiding since she arrived.
Her father did not know she was in Harlan County.Two murder investigations, Connor, the case board, and the press of old streets had given her enough excuses to leave the call for later.None of them sounded good when Roy asked it plainly across a bar.
“He’s good,” she said.
Roy studied her for half a second.Still, he nodded.
“Good to hear.”He reached under the bar.“What can I get you?”
“I’m here on business, Roy.”
“That’s a shame.Business ruins most things.”
“I need to find Ray Parkinson.His office said he was here.”
Roy glanced past her toward the back corner.“Sure.Ray’s the one in the Stetson.”
Selena turned.
Ray Parkinson sat alone at a two-person table near a window with the blind half lowered.His hat rested on the chair beside him.A beer glass stood in front of him, already halfway empty.He wore a pale shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a bolo tie that did him no favors.On the table lay a folder, closed and untouched.
“Thanks,” Selena said.
“Selena?”
She looked back.
Roy’s good humor had lowered a little.“Whatever this is, watch yourself.Ray smiles plenty, but that doesn’t mean he’s friendly.A viper that one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”She stepped away.
Ray looked up when her shadow crossed the table.
“Ray Parkinson?”
“Yeah?”
Selena opened her badge wallet.“Agent Selena Raven.FBI.”
His eyebrows rose.A smile followed, practiced and quick.“Now why would a pretty FBI agent like yourself come and ruin a perfectly good solitary moment like this?”
