Call it breaking the news gently. She just felt better with that approach.
Locking the tin in the safe-deposit box, she left the bank with a livelier spring in her step than when she’d entered. She’d stop at the sheriff’s office and pick up the Neville case file. She would also ask Margaret, their office manager, to send Ella’s clothes in for more modern testing. Then she’d head for the airport.
* * *
Kadin had moved his office to a bigger building. Jamie read about his first office, an unassuming downtown building with barely one office and a place to hold meetings—he and his wife had lived on the floor above. The new building was a restored mercantile building, the old sandstone exterior walls covered with white glazed brick. Three rows of six casement windows ran the length of the front. He could see a chandelier hanging in the middle of the upper two rows, revealing the open architecture of what must be a nice home with lots of light. A stone railing on each upper corner indicated the location of rooftop balconies. The building sat on high ground, with open space in the back.
The covered front walk on the first level shaded tinted windows and a double-door entrance with an inconspicuous and prettily written Dark Alley Investigations on the right door. Jamie stepped inside, ready for his first day of work.
An artsy lobby housed a young and beautiful, dark-haired woman behind a white marble-topped counter that matched the floor. A few plants warmed up a seating area and several paintings hung on high walls.
“Jamie Knox,” he said to the woman.
She smiled, baring a mouth of pearly white teeth. “Go on back, Mr. Knox. Mr. Tandy is waiting for you. He’s in the far right corner office.”
The inner door buzzed, unlocking for him. He stepped from the lobby into the office-lined interior. Four conference rooms took up both sides of the front. A square area in the middle was filled with cubicles. People walked the halls and stood at printers or worked away at their desks.
Jamie went down the middle aisle, the smell of new carpet and leather accompanying him on the way. Everyone dressed business-casual, some of the men in ties with no jackets.
The far wall had a row of windows like the front, and as he turned to the right, he enjoyed a view of White Mountain and Pilot Butte. Before moving here he’d read that wild horses still ran in those hills. Nothing he’d see in a city, and the notion intrigued him.
Kadin emerged from his spacious office and greeted him. “Let me show you to your office.”
Jamie followed him to the opposite side of the building and into the opposite corner office with the same view as the boss. He went to the window. “This gives me an adequate idea of your expectations.”
Kadin smiled wryly. “You’re taking on an important role in this organization. The safety and protection of my detectives and the victims’ families are of utmost importance. The more notoriety I get, the more of a threat we are, and the more high risk the case, the more danger we attract.”
“Risk is my résumé.” This new role would present plenty of challenges, but Jamie would thrive. This was exactly what he was looking for—a way to get his life back on track, for the good.
“Mr. Tandy.”
Jamie turned with Kadin to see the beautiful receptionist at the door.
“Sorry to interrupt. There’s a Ms. Reese Harlow here to see you. She says she’s a sheriff’s deputy from Ute County, Colorado, and she’s got a forty-year-old cold case she’d like to discuss with you.”
“Put Roesch on it. I can’t seem to give that guy enough work.”
Kadin had a lot of top-notch detectives working for him, Jamie thought, but the one named Roesch must be one of the best if he completed his cases so fast the work didn’t keep up.
“She insisted on speaking only to you, sir.”
Many must request him personally, but he couldn’t possibly solve every case that came to DAI.
“She said it was personal.”
Speaking to Kadin or the forty-year-old case? Her insistence on speaking only to Kadin must be the personal part. But why?
Kadin stared at the receptionist for a moment. “Bring her back.”
Evidently he wondered the same.
Holding the Neville case file binder, Reese followed the receptionist through the cubicles to an office on the far side. At the door, the slender woman let her pass. She caught the name sign and grew confused until she spotted two men standing in the middle of a seating area, waiting for her. She hadn’t expected two detectives. Both big men, the one with sexy blue eyes and short black hair captured her attention first.
What was Captain America with dark hair doing in Rock Springs, Wyoming? He stood with his hands at his sides, tall and unflinching, rippling muscles beneath a tight Henley shirt tucked into black jeans. This must be his office. Apparently he ignored company dress code. He seemed out of place in such elegant surroundings. Something more rugged would suit him better, like a battleship or a city riot. She gobbled up the sight of him, so hardened and forbiddingly handsome.
Why did he magnetize her so completely? He wasn’t even wearing a cowboy hat. She’d have thought a man more country than him would be the one to catch her eye as undeniably as this man had.
The receptionist closed the door, jolting Reese out of her sudden affliction of man hunger. She looked to the man next to him and recognized him instantly. Kadin. Her father.
Her heart beat so heavily a lump formed in her throat.
You’re here to explain the case...
She cleared her throat and swallowed. “Um, hello.” She stepped forward, tripped on her shoe heel and had to take a few extra quick steps to catch her balance, nearly dropping the binder. She’d worn her only suit jacket and skirt today, gray with a white blouse underneath.
The man beside Kadin reached out for her at the same time he moved toward her. But she caught her balance before he touched her.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
His deep, raspy voice transfixed her. She melted into his blue eyes. “Y-yes.” Feeling as though her breathy, stuttering answer revealed too much, Reese fought a flush and turned to Kadin with an outstretched hand. “I’m Reese Harlow.”
“The deputy sheriff from...?” Kadin shook her hand.
She found herself transfixed again, this time for different reasons. Now she studied her biological father. The hugeness of the secret she carried pushed her awkwardness away. She looked for similarities. He must be where she got her five-nine height from. Other than that, she didn’t see much resemblance.
“Never Summer, Colorado, which is in Ute County,” she finally said, trying to gather the rest of her wits.
Kadin smiled politely. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Not
