Page 43 of Forever Gone

Leaving now would prove Selena right about something else. Kelly had come for the case. Whatever happened between them, Karen Sloane still deserved the work.

She put away the compact and got out.

The front office was warmer than the morning outside. A woman sat behind the counter, sorting envelopes into wooden trays. Dark hair had been pinned away from her cheeks, and a pair of reading glasses rested near one elbow.

The woman lifted her gaze. “Can I help you?”

Kelly showed her credentials. “Special Agent Kelly Voss. I’ve been assigned to the Harlan County field office.”

Recognition passed across the woman’s expression, though whether it came from the name or Selena warning her was unclear.

“I’m Cheryl. I handle the front desk and whatever else nobody claims.”

“Nice to meet you, Cheryl.”

“Agent Raven’s already in the briefing room with Sheriff Chase and two deputies.”

Kelly adjusted the strap of her laptop bag. “Thank you.”

Cheryl pointed toward the security door, then pressed a release beneath the desk. “Down the hall, second door on your left.”

Kelly started through.

“Agent Voss?”

She turned.

Cheryl leaned one forearm on the counter. “How are you getting on with Agent Raven?”

“Frosty.”

The answer escaped before Kelly considered it.

Cheryl’s eyebrows rose.

Kelly regretted the word at once. Discussing her supervisor with local staff on the first morning violated every sensible rule of a new assignment.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“That’s been my experience, too,” Cheryl replied. “But I suppose she’s not all that bad.”

A brief smile appeared.

“Don’t tell her I said that.”

Kelly returned the smile without encouraging more. “Your secret’s safe.”

The corridor beyond the security door smelled of paper, floor cleaner, and a heating system that had recently been switched on. Framed photographs of former sheriffs lined one wall. Voices reached her from the briefing room before she arrived.

Kelly stopped outside.

The morning’s confrontation had left her unsettled. Meeting Connor Chase brought a different discomfort. He had been part of the same school world, though older and distant from most of Kelly’s cruelty. People in Harlan County remembered more than they admitted. Connor had married Selena. Whatever Selena told him during those years, he might know every detail.

Kelly smoothed the front of her jacket and adjusted one cuff.

Then she knocked and entered.

Selena stood beside the murder board with a cup of coffee. Connor occupied the opposite end of the table, holding his own cup near his chest. Arnold Shaw leaned against a filing cabinet, while a stocky deputy with gray at his temples sat near the computer with a coffee cup beside his folder.