going to call Doug Trotter first thing in the morning.”
“I take it that Doug‘s the supervisory special agent over your squad in D.C. So, why do you think he’ll bend the rules for us?”
“Doug’s one of the SACs. And he will not bend any rules for us. If I can persuade Chief Willoughby to play along with us, all he’ll have to do is tell Doug that he suspects the same person who killed Gala Ramirez in Texas also killed Kendall Moore in Arkansas.”
“You know what will happen if we find out that there were other murders before Kendall and Gala,” Griff said.
“There is a distinct possibility that once all the law enforcement agencies in the states where the bodies were found are informed, then the FBI will become directly involved and a task force will be formed.”
“When that happens, you’ll want to cut me out of the action.”
“You’re smiling.” Nic really hated that smug look on his face. “As much as I do not want you involved, you will be. Not just because you make a habit of sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong, but because the man who called you and me isn’t going to allow me to cut you out of the action.”
“Already figured that out, have you? Yeah, for some reason he wants us to be a team on this one.”
“Maybe he has a giant ego and outsmarting just one of us isn’t enough of a challenge.”
“Maybe.”
“After we finish up here and talk to the first officer on the scene, I want to call Chief Willoughby in the morning and see if he’ll contact Doug.”
“Make it early, okay? I want us on the plane and heading for Stillwater by nine.”
Griff sure as hell hoped that Nic didn’t think he had requested this special romantic dinner. Miss Cleo had pulled out all the stops in arranging an evening under the stars for them. It seemed when she had remodeled the old hotel a few years ago, she had added a rooftop garden and that’s where he and Nic were now. Their hostess had opened a bottle of wine and poured the rich, red Bordeaux into their glasses.
“You two take as long as you like up here this evening and when you’re finished just leave everything,” Miss Cleo had told them. “I have a girl who comes in every morning and cleans up for me.”
With that said, she had disappeared.
Soft music drifted along on the warm evening breeze, it, too, no doubt, compliments of Miss Cleo.
Griff looked directly at Nic, who sat across from him at the small table decked out with a linen tablecloth. “I hope you know that I didn’t—”
Nic burst into laughter.
Griff grinned. “It seems Miss Cleo is a romantic.”
“Undoubtedly. And delusional as well. How anyone could think that you and I…” Nic laughed again. “We are the last two people on earth who’d ever be a couple.”
“Yeah, I agree. But neither of us ever thought we’d become crime-solving partners, either.”
Nic’s big brown eyes widened. Her eyes were such a light brown that they were almost tan. A dusty golden brown.
Get a grip, Powell. What’s the matter with you? Yeah, sure, Nic’s not a bad-looking woman, but she’s not your type. You have to remember that she’s an A-Number-One ball-basher.
“I don’t like to think of us as partners,” Nic said. “There’s just something unnatural about it.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s an unholy alliance.”
Nic smiled; and when she did, Griff realized that in all the years he’d known her, he had seldom seen her smile. She was downright pretty when she wasn’t frowning.
“We aren’t friends,” she reminded him, her smile vanishing. “We don’t even like each other, so there’s no point in pretending otherwise. But I can and will act in a professional manner, if you will. And I’ll try my best to be civil, even cordial, if at all possible.”
“Tell me why you dislike me so much?” Good God, why had he asked her that?
“Do you really want to know?”
He nodded.
“You’re an arrogant, egotistical, womanizing bastard who
“I take it that Doug‘s the supervisory special agent over your squad in D.C. So, why do you think he’ll bend the rules for us?”
“Doug’s one of the SACs. And he will not bend any rules for us. If I can persuade Chief Willoughby to play along with us, all he’ll have to do is tell Doug that he suspects the same person who killed Gala Ramirez in Texas also killed Kendall Moore in Arkansas.”
“You know what will happen if we find out that there were other murders before Kendall and Gala,” Griff said.
“There is a distinct possibility that once all the law enforcement agencies in the states where the bodies were found are informed, then the FBI will become directly involved and a task force will be formed.”
“When that happens, you’ll want to cut me out of the action.”
“You’re smiling.” Nic really hated that smug look on his face. “As much as I do not want you involved, you will be. Not just because you make a habit of sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong, but because the man who called you and me isn’t going to allow me to cut you out of the action.”
“Already figured that out, have you? Yeah, for some reason he wants us to be a team on this one.”
“Maybe he has a giant ego and outsmarting just one of us isn’t enough of a challenge.”
“Maybe.”
“After we finish up here and talk to the first officer on the scene, I want to call Chief Willoughby in the morning and see if he’ll contact Doug.”
“Make it early, okay? I want us on the plane and heading for Stillwater by nine.”
Griff sure as hell hoped that Nic didn’t think he had requested this special romantic dinner. Miss Cleo had pulled out all the stops in arranging an evening under the stars for them. It seemed when she had remodeled the old hotel a few years ago, she had added a rooftop garden and that’s where he and Nic were now. Their hostess had opened a bottle of wine and poured the rich, red Bordeaux into their glasses.
“You two take as long as you like up here this evening and when you’re finished just leave everything,” Miss Cleo had told them. “I have a girl who comes in every morning and cleans up for me.”
With that said, she had disappeared.
Soft music drifted along on the warm evening breeze, it, too, no doubt, compliments of Miss Cleo.
Griff looked directly at Nic, who sat across from him at the small table decked out with a linen tablecloth. “I hope you know that I didn’t—”
Nic burst into laughter.
Griff grinned. “It seems Miss Cleo is a romantic.”
“Undoubtedly. And delusional as well. How anyone could think that you and I…” Nic laughed again. “We are the last two people on earth who’d ever be a couple.”
“Yeah, I agree. But neither of us ever thought we’d become crime-solving partners, either.”
Nic’s big brown eyes widened. Her eyes were such a light brown that they were almost tan. A dusty golden brown.
Get a grip, Powell. What’s the matter with you? Yeah, sure, Nic’s not a bad-looking woman, but she’s not your type. You have to remember that she’s an A-Number-One ball-basher.
“I don’t like to think of us as partners,” Nic said. “There’s just something unnatural about it.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s an unholy alliance.”
Nic smiled; and when she did, Griff realized that in all the years he’d known her, he had seldom seen her smile. She was downright pretty when she wasn’t frowning.
“We aren’t friends,” she reminded him, her smile vanishing. “We don’t even like each other, so there’s no point in pretending otherwise. But I can and will act in a professional manner, if you will. And I’ll try my best to be civil, even cordial, if at all possible.”
“Tell me why you dislike me so much?” Good God, why had he asked her that?
“Do you really want to know?”
He nodded.
“You’re an arrogant, egotistical, womanizing bastard who
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