Classified Cowboy. Mallory Kane
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ridges. “So, Professor, I guess you need your students and their spotlights to help you get the platform built and extract the bones.”
“That’s right, cowboy.” Her eyes glittered with triumph as she stood and pulled a cell phone out of her pocket.
He stood, too. “Tomorrow.”
“Tonight. You just agreed that I need them.” She flipped the phone open.
“Tomorrow.” He folded his hand over hers, closing the phone. A funny sensation tingled through his fingers. For a second he thought the phone had vibrated.
She looked at their hands, then up at him. “Give me one good reason why not tonight. I told you I need some more pictures, and I do not want anybody disturbing the bones.”
“Because I’ll be overseeing every stick, every bone, every clod of dirt that’s removed, and I need some sleep.”
“Speaking of clods,” she muttered, pulling her hand away from his. “It’s dangerous to delay. This rain could turn into a deluge and bury the bones again. Any disturbance of the site increases the chances for contamination.”
A pair of headlights appeared, coming around the curve beyond a thick stand of evergreens.
Wyatt checked his watch. “That’s Deputy Tolbert. I didn’t realize it was midnight already. That settles it. He’s here to guard the site tonight. He’ll make sure it’s not disturbed. You and I are heading into town.”
“I’ll stay with the deputy.”
“No, you won’t.”
“But the weather—”
“No more rain in the forecast.”
“I need to—”
“I said no.” He didn’t raise his voice, but there went her eyes again, going as wide as saucers.
He gave a small shrug. “You’ll get more done in the daylight.”
He could practically see the steam rising from her ears, but she pressed her lips together and nodded once, briefly. He knew she’d been informed that as the senior Texas Ranger on the task force, he was in charge, even of the civilian members.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Can I at least call my team and let them know what I’ve found and what I’m going to need in the morning?”
“Be my guest,” he said, putting his hand to the small of her back, his gentle but firm pressure urging her away from the crime scene.
They stepped over the yellow tape as Deputy Tolbert’s white pickup rolled to a stop and he jumped out.
“Deputy.” Wyatt held out his hand.
Tolbert ignored Wyatt’s hand and eyed Nina appreciatively.
Wyatt watched him with mild distaste. He’d sized up Shane Tolbert the first time he’d met him, over two years ago. The designer jeans and expensive boots, plus what Wyatt’s sister called product in his hair, had pegged him as a player back then, and from what Wyatt could see, nothing had changed.
“Nina Jacobson. Gorgeous as ever. I didn’t know you were going to be here.” Tolbert touched the brim of his hat, then glanced sidelong at Wyatt. “Lieutenant Colter.” His voice slid mockingly over Wyatt’s rank.
Wyatt stopped his fists from clenching. Tolbert grated on his nerves, but Reed Hardin had hired him, and the sheriff seemed to be a good judge of character.
Tolbert and Marcie James had dated, although they’d broken up by the time Marcie was tapped to testify. It didn’t stretch Wyatt’s imagination to figure out that Tolbert was one of the people who blamed Wyatt for Marcie James’s death.
“So, Nina,” Tolbert continued, “what did you find? Doc Hallowell thought there might be two bodies in there.”
Wyatt shifted so that he was a half step between Nina and Tolbert. “She’ll be back in the morning with her team to start examining the evidence.” He felt rather than heard Nina take a breath, so he spoke quickly. “We’re heading to town. I’ll be back here by nine in the morning, if not before. You know the drill. Don’t let anyone close except Dr. Jacobson and her team. Call me if anything happens.”
Tolbert’s eyes narrowed. “I do know the drill, Lieutenant. Happy to oblige.”
Wyatt directed Nina toward his Jeep. He’d talk to Sheriff Hardin first thing in the morning about the burr under Tolbert’s saddle. If Shane Tolbert was going to be a problem, Wyatt needed to know.
“I DON’T LIKE leaving the burial site unguarded all night,” Nina said.
Texas Ranger Lieutenant Wyatt Colter took a sharp right onto the main road into Comanche Creek. “The crime scene is guarded. Or did you miss your buddy Deputy Tolbert? He was the one in the black cowboy hat.”
“I don’t trust him.”
Wyatt’s head turned slightly, and she felt his piercing eyes studying her. It took a lot of willpower to meet his gaze. Finally he turned his attention back to the road. “Any particular reason?”
“Other than how mean he was to Marcie when they were dating?”
“They dated for how long? A year?”
“Something like that. Maybe eighteen months. Long enough for Marcie to figure out what kind of man he was.”
“And what kind of man is that?”
“A loser. A coward. An abuser.”
“He hurt her?” A dangerous edge cut through Wyatt’s voice.
Nina bit her lip. She shouldn’t have gone that far. She really didn’t have any proof of abuse. Marcie had never admitted any specific mistreatment. “She just said he could be mean.”
“Mean how?” He slowed the Jeep as they passed the high school and turned onto Main Street.
She should have known better. Wyatt Colter wasn’t the kind of man to dismiss anything he heard or saw without sticking it under his personal microscope. Right now he was focusing that scope on Shane Tolbert, and she understood why.
Tolbert was guarding his crime scene. Wyatt considered it his duty to know everything there was to know about the deputy.
Nina wasn’t sure how or why she had suddenly become an expert on Wyatt Colter. But she was definitely not comfortable with her newfound insight.
Time to change the subject. “I’m supposed to have a room at the Bluebonnet Inn.”
In the watery glow from the streetlights, Nina saw Wyatt’s jaw flex. She almost smiled. He was upset because she’d deflected his question.
“With your students?” he asked.
“No. They’re staying on campus at West Texas Community College. The college made arrangements for us to have one of their chemistry labs as a temporary forensics lab, so we don’t have to drive for an hour each way to the Ranger lab each time we need something. That’s why I was so late getting out to the site. I was setting up the equipment.”
“Is a community college lab going to be good enough? I can arrange for a driver—”
“It’s really nice. Brand-new. All the chemicals a girl could ask for, as well as sterile hoods and some very nice testing equipment. Obviously there will be specific sophisticated tests that can be done only at a forensics lab, but for the most part, it’s got all the comforts of home.” She smiled.
For a few seconds, Wyatt didn’t speak. “So you’re the only one who rated a hotel room?”
“Perks of the job,” she murmured as he pulled into a parking place in front of the Bluebonnet Inn, a two-story Victorian with double wraparound porches and sparkling clean windows. It was one of the original buildings in town. “Wow.