Page 35 of Final Inning

She just wanted the people she cared about to be happy.

That wasn’t too much to ask, right?

“Ian Kesley Ward…just what are you doing?” Miranda snuck up beside him and almost whispered the words in his ear. He jerked, just a little. Miranda loved to tease him at times—and no one was watching. He and Tag—teasing them was a lot of fun. They teased back, too. Ian turned toward her, smirking. “I feel so betrayed…”

“Hello, gorgeous. You know you have my heart. Well, you…have mine and countless others…” He stepped away from the waitress, who almost had an actual pout on her face once she realized she was losing his attention. To Miranda.

So predictable. The man was just too pretty for the women in this world to handle. “I do try.”

“So…where is your other half?” Ian was constantly making jokes about her and Knight being perfect for each other. Well, Miranda wasn’t going to ever go there. She just wasn’t.

Miranda and Knight—never going to happen.

It just wasn’t.

“My partner, the great and grumpy Allan Knight…is in the rental, deep in…discuss-ument, aka arguing…with Seth Lorcan right now.”

“Ouch.”

“Yes. It could be worse. It could be Sin.” Seth’s identical triplet brother—talk about seriously hot triple threats. Sin was…coldly terrifying. He was even worse than Knight at being sinister. Except with his wife and two kids. Sin and Cody were so cute together, too. That big scary Lorcan man followed that woman around like a puppy.

“Very true.”

“How is everyone back at the fort?” He would have checked in with Dani before heading out. In fact, he had several thick envelopes in his hands that she recognized as coming from Dani’s lab. She always used green-label envelopes.

“Jac is finishing up. She’s a bit pissy at what this testimony entailed. I’m not sure of the full details.” Ian was a bit of an enigma. Sometimes, she didn’t really know what he was thinking. He played the cards close, that was for sure. He’d become even more closed off since he’d been injured. He’d been shot in the stomach during a previous case when someone had targeted one of their colleagues—before Cold Case had been formed. It had taken him a while to recover—most of the damage had been to his spleen and his liver. He was fully recovered now—but it had changed him.

Just like it had changed Knight, what had happened to him.

Of course it had. Trauma changed brain patterns. For everyone.

But Ian had people who cared about him. PAVAD cared about its people.

Including the snarly big old Knight who had been in a very dark mood when she’d left him. “Tag and Lyn?”

He hesitated. “I am not sure. She said something about body slamming someone and she has a black eye…”

“Oh, so it’s going great for them—this time. I thought pairing them up would have…interesting results.” Oil and water, those two. But…they worked phenomenally well together. But a black eye? Seriously? Lyndon really wasn’t the type for throwdowns. She was even more of a nerd than Ian—with thick glasses and Miranda had almost bought her a pocket protector for her last birthday. Tag was their rogue cowboy, though.

“If you think that is the word for it…”

“I saw you in here and figured I’d save the female population of Helery County from you. I have an order at the deli across the road—for me and the old Great Cranky One. I’ll fill you in on what we know once we are out of here. I suspect the walls have ears here.”

“There is a photo of Paige Brockman on that wall right there. A much younger one.” Ian shifted the conversation quickly, the way he did. “Did you know that?”

Miranda had seen the photos. And it had taken her a moment to put it together.

“Hmmm. Cousin, I think. Some of her sisters and cousins grew up with an aunt around here, I believe.” It was a small, small world sometimes. Connections were everywhere.

Connections. She’d spent all morning trying to track down connections.

Harper Wycoff had connections, too. As did Kevin Adams…and… “You feel up to digging into connections from over a decade ago?”

Her gorgeous buddy here…had dual degrees in sociology and history. His mind was almost phenomenal at connecting the two. Doctor Ian Ward—PhD as of six months ago—was brilliant. The pretty side of him was just extra. Dani really should just scoop him up. They’d probably have the prettiest little nerd children together, those two. “Of course I am. So what brings me to Oklahoma? I haven’t ever been to Oklahoma. I’ll add it to my list of states.”

“I need you to pair up virtually with Dani. Find me everything you can about Kevin.” Ward could handle interviews for them. And the man was like a walking recorder. He remembered things, saw connections, and was just beyond amazing at what he did.

“Noted. Let’s grab Knight and get started.”