Page 8 of Final Inning

Chapter 4

They were going to have a problem with the locals. Knight knew it with one look. There was nothing but hostility in the eyes on him and Miranda now. There wasn’t even mild curiosity—he saw resentment, distrust, and outright hostility.

And these were supposed to be the good guys in Helery County.

Knight was deliberately slow in shaking the sheriff’s hand. It was time to send a message. He understood the game of politics in places like this. Knight despised those who played games. The scar on his forehead twitched.

It was a tell he was very consciously aware of.

Sheriff Ted Johnson had the look around his eyes that said he was going to be difficult to deal with. Not every local law enforcement agency wanted the FBI stepping in. Especially PAVAD. Most of the time, it was an ego thing.

It was something Knight had seen before.

Knight shook the man’s hand slowly. “Dr. Allan Knight. Co-head of the PAVAD: Cold Case Unit. Dr. Talley here is my partner. Most say she’s the one in charge. We tend to let them. She scares me too much.”

The sheriff smirked at the little joke, gaze sliding toward Miranda again. Knight knew what the older man was seeing—a very beautiful, confident woman who definitely was in charge of every room she walked into. Of course some men would have problems with that.

Knight wasn’t an expert in gender politics, or workplace politics—that was something their teammate Moncrief was more well-versed in than he would ever be—but he knew enough about the subjects to suspect this might just be at play here today. It bore watching.

And…making certain his partner somewhat controlled herself. Miranda had a problem with sexist men. She loved to goad them as much as she could, too.

Miranda was already gearing up to be difficult, if needed. He knew it with one look.

So apparently, Knight’s role in this one was to be a bit of a peacemaker. Miranda-wrangler. It should be written in the job description.

No man could truly wrangle the sun. Or should even want to.

Miranda was exceptionally good at needling men at times, though. Like she practiced.

It was usually her job to keep everyone all bestie-bestie and lifelong friends bullshit.

Everyone loved Miranda, after all.

Except when they didn’t.

Sheriff Johnson was around six feet or so—shorter than Knight’s own six-six, and right around the same height as Miranda. He bet that rankled the sheriff, right from the outset.

Knight stretched to his full height. Knight was intimidating, and he used that when he had to.

Johnson had his cronies next to him, two on his left, one on his right. They were all younger, mostly shorter—except for one thug-like individual, and a bit less impressive than Johnson. Johnson had a small pot belly, needed to shave and had visible sweat stains on his polo. And if Knight wasn’t mistaken—some of his breakfast still lingered on that polo—to mix with the obvious dandruff.

Knight cataloged every detail. Slovenly and complacent.

A very sharp contrast to the young woman standing at Miranda’s left now—that deputy had a freshly ironed uniform, her hair pulled up neatly into a braid, and took obvious care—and pride—in her position. The rest of the deputies and the support staff fell somewhere in between. And every last one of them except the desk clerk were male.

It was obvious…Ted Johnson was the top dog around here.

He probably wouldn’t take Knight’s presence around here easily. “Doctor Allan Knight, and Doctor Miranda Talley. We’re here to assist on the Harper Wycoff investigation.”

Miranda, Johnson would discount, even though she was not exactly someone who blended into the background—but she was female. And that was all Johnson would need to know. Knight expected him to turn in one of two directions where Miranda was concerned—Johnson would try to appeal to her as a woman, or he would turn downright hostile when faced with a woman in law enforcement who was the same height, confident, and not afraid to challenge anyone. Man, woman or beast.

Johnson was a man who wanted, needed, to feel like he was the top dog. Now, here the big boys and girls had arrived—to fix what he didn’t want to admit was a problem to begin with. This was a game Knight had played far too many times before. “We’ll need space to work out of, and the lead deputy on the case to assist.”

He already knew exactly who that was—and the deputy was the one who had requested their help. After being blown off by her superior.

Knight wanted to understand why. The deputy had been brave—there was a reason she hadn’t let it go.

“Well, now, I suppose you can take our little Hagan here for as long as it takes. Won’t inconvenience my boys too much, I’m sure.” Johnson turned toward Lindhour. Knight knew in that instant that the deputy was facing an uphill battle every day she remained at Helery County. Not because of this case, but because in this man’s mind, a woman—a young, small, very attractive one at that—did not belong in his special orbit. Knight had seen many like them both—the job almost made it inevitable at times. And Sheriff Johnson probably screwed up frequently.