Despite everything going on, Charlee grinned like a kid when they arrived at the carnival. Maybe it was because she needed a break from the constant tension, but whatever the reason, there was just something about it that made her feel like she was twelve again. She looked up at the huge Ferris wheel rising up in the center, blinked at the flashing lights of the midway. Bells rang and barkers hawked their games while the smell of hot dogs and elephant ears mixed with the scent of animals and too many people. It was heavenly.
Beside her, Hunter kept a hand at the small of her back so they weren’t separated in the crush. They wove their way past the merry-go-round, and Charlee couldn’t help a longing gaze. She loved the merry-go-round almost as much as the Ferris wheel.
Hunter leaned close. “Later. Let’s get the questioning done first.”
With him in faded jeans and a crisp polo shirt that hugged his lean chest, it was easy to pretend they were just another couple out on a date. She inhaled the crisp scent of his aftershave and gave in to the urge to run her hand along the shadow of beard stubble covering his hard jaw. The envious glances women aimed her way added to the fantasy.
When he reached over and casually took her hand again, she smiled and decided not to overthink it. Not tonight. They were best friends pretending to be a couple as part of an investigation. She would just enjoy the carnival and the tender way he treated her…and keep her feelings and all thoughts of the future locked firmly away.
She spotted Sammy as soon as they entered the midway. He was tall and speaking loudly to be heard above the noise. When he spotted Charlee, his grin grew wider, and he waved. Then he spotted Hunter, and his smile faded.
“Hey, Sammy,” Charlee said. She leaned over the booth to hug him.
He hugged her back, then scowled at Hunter. “What’s he doing here?”
Hunter kept his smile casual, friendly. “I have to work, Sammy. You do, too, but it looks like you’re having lots more fun than I am.”
He frowned. “You don’t have your uniform on.”
“Not tonight. Have you given away lots of prizes?”
Sammy’s smile came back. “One little girl won a bear like that one.” He pointed above his head. “It was so big, she couldn’t carry it. Her daddy helped her.”
“You made her day, Sammy. That’s great.” Hunter eased closer, out of the path of a group of giggling teenage girls. He pulled up the photos on his phone of Paul and Wyatt Harris, Troy, Luke, Oliver Dunn, and Tommy Jennings. “Sammy, do you know these men? Have you ever seen them before?”
“Are they in trouble?” Sammy looked from Hunter to Charlee and back again.
“We just want to ask them some questions. We thought maybe they’d spent some time here. Maybe you’d seen them.”
Sammy carefully studied all the photos before he shook his head. “Nope. I don’t remember any of them.” He looked at Charlee. “But there are lots and lots of people here. I might not have seen them.”
Hunter smiled. “That is definitely possible. We’ll just ask around at some of the other booths. We wanted to meet the Tool Man, too. Is he here?”
Sammy immediately became wary. “He keeps all the rides working, so he never stays in one place.”
“Is he working tonight?” Hunter asked.
“Things break down all the time. People get really mad if the rides stop. One time, the one with the swings got stuck and kept going round and round, and people were throwing up, and it went all over.” He giggled. “It was really funny.” Then he sobered. “But people got mad at Tool Man. That wasn’t funny.” He turned to Charlee with a hopeful expression. “Do you want to play?”
Charlee glanced at Hunter, a question in her eyes. They were on a mission tonight.
He smiled, nodded. “Let’s see what you’ve got, cher.” He pulled out several bills and handed them to Sammy.
Air rifle in her hands, Charlee sent Hunter a saucy grin, then took aim and hit every single little yellow duck without stopping.
Sammy clapped, and Hunter whistled. “Not bad…for a girl.”
“Now there’s a challenge if I ever heard one. Your turn, Boudreau.”
Hunter took the rifle and hit every duck…except the last one. Chagrined, he set the rifle down while Sammy and Charlee exchanged high fives.
“You beat him, Charlee!” Sammy crowed.
Charlee just raised an eyebrow and smirked.
Hunter looked from one to the other and grinned. “I think I’ve been set up.”
Charlee shrugged, and her grin grew wider as Sammy held up a stuffed elephant and a bear. “Which one do you want, Charlee? Or do you want to play again and try for the big bears?” He pointed overhead.
Charlee reached for the elephant and tucked it under her arm. “I think this is just perfect.” She leaned over and kissed Sammy’s cheek, making him blush. “Thanks, Sammy.”
Hunter stuck out his hand to Sammy. “Thank you. That was fun.” Then he led Charlee to the next booth.
Charlee stopped in the middle of the crowd, gaped at him. “Wait. You don’t want to play again, try to beat me?”
He shook his head, nudged her to keep moving. “We have more important things to do.” He shot her one of those killer grins. “Like ride the Ferris wheel and eat grease. As soon as we finish up here.”
Charlee searched his expression. “I don’t understand you.”
He swiped a finger down her cheek. “Stop confusing me with your brothers. That’ll help.” Then he kept walking.
It took another hour for them to stop at every booth along the midway and show the pictures, but they got nothing. When they reached the end, they stepped away from the crowds to a relatively quiet corner.
Charlee heaved out a frustrated breath. “That was a total waste of time.”
“Not at all. It helps us narrow things down. Either none of them came here, or they blended in well enough that none of the carneys remember them. Let’s cruise by the rides, see if anyone has seen this Tool Man.”
They made the rounds, but as before, all they got were blank stares and suspicious looks. Asking about strangers was one thing. Asking about one of their own? Nope. Nobody had anything to say.
“That went pretty much how I expected it to,” Hunter said. “Let’s go get you some—” He stopped, looked beyond the fence to where the workers’ camp was set up. He took her hand. “One more stop.”
They hurried along, and Hunter kept her hand clasped in his. When he smiled at her as they walked along, she felt it all the way to her heart and had the craziest urge to pull him close and kiss him, right there in the middle of the midway. To let the world know he was hers. She must have had a goofy look on her face, for he sent her a quizzical look. She shrugged. “I love carnivals. What can I say?” And I love you, you sexy man.
She was still trying not to think about all that as they got their hands stamped for reentry and then hiked around to where the campers were. “What are we looking for? We didn’t find anything earlier.”
Hunter kept walking until he came to an aging blue pickup truck. He glanced around, then pulled out his phone and took several pictures, including the license plate. Then he crouched down and took a picture of the tire treads and another of the imprint they’d left in the dirt.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Charlee looked up to see a short, wiry man wearing a big Stetson bearing down on them. He had a cigar clamped between his teeth, and the scent of alcohol reached them several paces before he did.
“Lieutenant Boudreau, FWC. Is this your truck?” Hunter asked. He stood in typical cop pose as he displayed his badge, looking very official.
“Yeah. So?”
“Were you driving it along SR-40 last Monday, late morning?”
He spat near Hunter’s feet. “Maybe. Coulda been.” He seemed to consider. “Nah, I think I was here Monday. But it coulda been anybody.” He shrugged. “I leave the keys in it, so anyone who needs it takes it. The only rule is that you bring it back with the same amount of gas as when you borrowed it.”
Hunter pulled out his notebook. “What did you say your name was?”
The man crossed his arms. “I didn’t.”
Hunter merely raised a brow and waited, pen poised.
Finally, the man huffed out a breath. “Frank Graham. They call me Shorty.”
Hunter wrote that down. “And what do you do for the carnival, Mr. Graham?”
“Anything and everything. I’m the carnival boss, make sure things run smoothly while we’re here.”
Hunter pulled up the photos. “Do you recognize any of these men?”
Shorty scrolled through them and handed the phone back. “Never seen any of them before. But that don’t mean a thing with the kinds of crowds we get here, especially on weekends.”
“How long are you in town?”
“Two weeks. Every year.”
“Do you know where I can find the Tool Man?”
Shorty’s eyes narrowed. “He moves around a lot, fixes whatever needs fixing. Why?”
“We know Sammy is staying with him. We just wanted to talk to him.”
Shorty hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Check the rides.”
“We will, thanks. Would he drive your truck?”
“Tool Man? Sure. Sammy’s not supposed to. He doesn’t have a license.”
“But has he taken the truck?” Hunter pressed.
Shorty looked away. “I can’t say for sure, but I’ve heard he has, a time or two. I’ve told him not to. He’s a good kid.”
Hunter stuck out his hand. “Thanks for your time.”
As they walked away, Charlee glanced over her shoulder and saw Shorty whip out his cell phone and make a call.
* * *
After they showed their stamped hands at the ticket booth and headed back into the throng, Hunter smiled as he turned to her and asked, “You ready for that grease now?”
Charlee grinned back and watched as he tucked his earlier seriousness away and prepared to enjoy himself for a little while. He seemed lighter, even though the cop was still there, just below the surface, ever watchful. She knew that part never really turned off. Even though she’d resigned, it hadn’t fully left her, either. It was simply part of who they were.
He pointed to a food vendor. “Hot dogs first, or straight to elephant ears? Or maybe you want to go all out and get deep-fried Oreos, or deep-fried butter?”
Charlee shook her head. “Eww. Why would I want to eat fried butter? Let’s go with dogs and then the good stuff.”
They got in line. “Mustard or ketchup on the dog?” Hunter asked. “But think carefully, because if you say ketchup, we can’t be friends anymore.”
Charlee laughed. “Deal with it, Boudreau. I put both on mine.”
They managed to secure one corner of a picnic table. Hunter kept his back to the tent, eyes casually scanning the crowd as he ate. Unlike Rick, who would ignore her completely, Charlee didn’t mind Hunter’s vigilance. She bit into her dog with gusto and let out a little moan as the flavors exploded on her tongue.
He reached over suddenly and swiped at the side of her mouth. She leaned back, and one side of his mouth crooked up as he slowly licked his finger. “Had a blob of ketchup there.”
Hunter’s eyes blazed green fire as he glanced down at her lips, then back up. The smoldering look in his eyes sent electricity sizzling between them, and Charlee felt the hairs on her arms stand on end.
“I may have to rethink my stance on ketchup,” he drawled. He took her chin and slowly ran his thumb over her bottom lip, eyes never leaving hers. He pulled his hand back and slowly licked his thumb, eyes hot on hers. “You taste good, cher.”
Charlee felt his words all the way to her core, where a warmth spread out through every nerve ending. Two could play this game. She crooked her finger and leaned closer, then closer still. His eyes flashed fire as he did the same. Closer, closer. Charlee’s heart rate sped up, and she was desperate to feel her lips against his.
A child’s sudden cry made them both turn in that direction and broke the spell. The mother calmed the child, and everything settled back to normal.
Except none of it was normal. There was a killer on the loose.
And Charlee knew she’d lost her heart to the complicated lieutenant, who was completely oblivious to her feelings.
* * *
Hunter had to keep reminding himself that this wasn’t a date, and Charlee wasn’t his. He was on duty, for crying out loud. He couldn’t flirt with Charlee or hold her hand except as part of their cover, or lean over the table and kiss those luscious lips as he’d almost done a few minutes ago. He shoved a hand through his hair. He had to get his head back in the game and fast.
“Let’s ride the Ferris wheel,” he growled, leading her in that direction.
Her quick, anticipatory smile vanished at his tone, and he felt like a jerk.
“Do you not like heights?” she asked.
“Heights are fine. We should be able to get a good look at the whole place from up there.”
Charlee nodded. “Right. Got it.” It was as though she was having as much trouble as he was keeping her mind on this mission.
They busied themselves watching the crowd as they waited. When it was finally their turn, Charlee slid to the outside, but he stepped around her and sat so she was on the inside. “Just in case.”
A grim understanding dawned. “You think someone might shoot at us up here?”
The attendant slammed the bar over their laps, and seconds later, the wheel started moving, sending their car up, up, up.
Hunter reached over and gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. “We should be fine. Enjoy the view.”
Charlee hunched lower in the seat. “That was easier before you reminded me we’re sitting ducks up here.”
They inched their way higher and higher, the car swinging to a stop every time the attendants unloaded another car below them. Hunter scanned the crowds milling around, looking for anyone who was paying too much attention to them. This wheel wasn’t as high as some, so he could still make out faces pretty well. Children pointed and laughed, older couples smiled fondly.
He skipped over those, focusing instead on the loners, the odd single man, anyone lurking near dark corners. He didn’t see anyone who looked out of place, but he knew they were being watched.
Beside him, Charlee shivered. “Are you cold, cher?” He moved closer, put his arm around her shoulders.
“I think someone is watching us, but I can’t figure out who.”
He leaned closer. “I can’t spot them either.”
They stopped again, and Charlee looked around, annoyed. “This is not how I like to do the Ferris wheel. Takes all the fun out of it.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We’ll have to come back after all this is over.” The sudden notion that he wanted to come back, as a real date next time so he could kiss her all he wanted and proclaim to the whole world that she was his, shocked him to his core. This was Charlee. They were friends. Okay, more than friends, way more. But when had he started thinking of them as a couple?
Before he could say another stupid thing, the wheel started moving again. Something bounced off Charlee’s arm, and she yelped in surprise, rubbing her arm. He tried to grab the projectile, but it slid out of the bottom of the car.
Another thwack and something hit his arm. On instinct, Hunter grabbed it and ended up staring at a bean bag. With a note tied to it.
Leave Charlee alone.
* * *
Oh, no. This was not how this was going to go. That stupid cop just didn’t get that Charlee was off-limits. Yet that didn’t seem to keep him from making eyes at her, putting his hands all over her.
No. He would pay for that. Charlee was his. They had a date with destiny.
He slipped farther into the shadows. If Boudreau wanted to be with her, then fine. He would be. He could die with her.
But first, Charlee would watch the others die.
And then the fish cop would watch her die.
Perfect.
It was time.