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Five

“HOW’S IT GOING , DARLIN’?” Greyson asked several hours into their work.

She loved when he called her that. Just the sound of it on his lips ... Though it was said by pretty much every cowboy in town, so it wasn’t said in the connotation she hoped for. She exhaled and chastised herself. She should be focusing on the case and not on the stellar man beside her.

“Ri?” He nudged her.

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “I got all the basics on Kelly running public records—full name, current and former addresses, phone number, lack of arrest record, no bankruptcy.”

“She’s only been in Jeopardy Falls a little while, if I recall correctly. Where did she live before here?”

She stiffened, loathing to even utter the name. “Vegas.”

An apologetic expression shifted on his face, dancing across his five-o’clock shadow. “I’m sorry.” Weight hung in his words.

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “It’s just an address.” Not like they had to go there. Praise God! She hadn’t been back since they’d fled Big Max in the middle of the night, and she never planned to return. Just being there would bring a swarm of brutal memories back—ones she’d been trying to bury ever since.

He dipped his dimpled chin. “You okay?”

“Fine.” She shook it off and propelled forward. “I discovered a lot more.”

“Let’s hear it.” He scooted his chair closer, his woodsy scent lingering in the air.

Great. Him smelling fabulous would make concentrating oh-so-easy, but she tried her best to pin her focus on analyzing the data she’d mined.

“Kelly Frazier looks like your average person. As I mentioned, no criminal record. But in the preceding months she paid off her car, paid off and canceled her three credit cards, closed her local bank account, and I can’t find where she switched it to, and the oddities go on.” She reclined, tossing her pen on top of her notebook. “It’s a lot of change, and I can’t help but wonder why.”

A sexy smile curled on his lips.

She shifted under his gaze, but the tenderness in his storm-brewed eyes only warmed her. “What is it?”

His smile widened. “I’m just trying to figure out if there’s ever a time when you aren’t wondering why.”

She fought to simmer the smirk tugging at her lips. He had her there. “The why and the how are what intrigue me on a case, and once I figure those out, I find my mark.” She hadn’t missed finding one yet. But with what happened with Scarletto... she feared she’d pull back in the face of danger in a way she never had before.

“Agreed,” he said. “I just find your constant curiosity... impressive.”

She blinked. Not the expected answer, especially after she’d ignored his advice when it came to Scarletto.

“You okay?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“Yep.” She nodded. “And I’ll take that compliment.”

He chuckled under his breath as she kept a smile fixed on her lips. “I figured you would. Now, what’s next?” He leaned back in his swivel chair and interlocked his fingers behind his head. His sleeves rolled above his elbows revealed his sinewy forearms.

Warmth rushed up her neck. She swallowed, then cleared her throat. “The question of why she paid things off, closed them up. It’s like she was preparing to run, but I can’t see Kelly doing that...unless she’s in danger as Roni believes. But she made the changes months ago so it couldn’t be a result of the fight she had with Tate there.”

“Yeah.” He exhaled. “My first thought was she didn’t want any debt with the car loan or credit cards. Or she may have wanted to deal with only cash. Without legal means we can’t see her bank statements.”

“Speaking of authorities,” she began, “Deck texted that he was going to run the case by Joel after their hockey game.” Sheriff Joel Brunswick was a great investigator, and even though there wasn’t physical evidence to support Kelly being in danger, it was wise of Deckard to loop him in.

“Smart,” Grey said. “I think we have to work on the presumption that she could have left on her own as the retreat director explained to Roni.”

“True... but there are enough factors that make me curious.”

He chuckled. “There you go again with that curiosity of yours.”

She tried to exude an unamused expression, but a traitorous grin ruined the attempt. How did he always make her smile? Shaking off the thought of Greyson and her deepening—well, bottom-of-the-ocean-floor deep—feelings for him, she forced herself back to the case again .

She rocked back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Let’s look at the big picture and zero in on Kelly’s actions for the last six months. She had a lot of changes between the accounts closing and the move to Jeopardy Falls from Vegas.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“It feels like she was setting something in motion.”

“Such as?”

“It kind of looks like she was preparing to disappear.”

Greyson’s brows furrowed. “But why?”

“Maybe fleeing an abusive boyfriend. Questions about Tate harming her have risen twice. First Roni’s concern and then the coworker the guys talked with before calling in.” She shook her head. “And the way she went about things ... those are specific steps I take when I help people disappear.”

“I’ll dig deeper into Tate Matthews,” Grey said, swiveling back to his computer. “It’s definitely not looking good for him.”

She exhaled. Not good at all.