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The new Finley Creek: TSP Forensics Lab was state of the art, with the most current technology possible. Her team of twenty-four processed physical evidence from all parts of the state. She worked with the best and she was proud of them. Proud of the work they had done to get the lab where it was now. It hadn’t been what it was now three years ago. It had functioned well enough, but the ones in charge of the lab then hadn’t exactly kept up with technology either.
She had helped build it. Her ideas had been implemented. And her hard work was paying off. She felt like herself there. No denying that.
“That hot dude is so watching you. Like…again,” a voice said behind her. Haldyn turned. “He really seems to like doing that. Watching and drooling over Haldyns and stuff.”
Hope was there, limping along with her crutch, with the bright purple cast on her wrist. Haldyn had already readjusted the schedule for the next month to keep Hope lab bound. She knew the other woman liked to be in the field more than anything—Hope needed to constantly be doing something—but the contamination risk from the cast made that problematic.
“He likes to stare at me. He knows I don’t like it. That’s why he is doing it. He’s contrary that way.” Haldyn looked up. Through the glass doors. Jarrod stood there, talking with Daniel and Jake. Right there by the hall that led to the Major Crimes conference rooms on this floor. “Most of the Major Crimes barbarians are contrary creatures.”
“So I have learned. But the ones I’ve seen are so beautiful to look at. The boys in Finley Creek are a lot better looking than those in Wichita Falls, I can say that. Is there something in the water here?”
“There may be. We should test it some day?” Haldyn’s eyes met Jarrod’s through the window. He crossed his arms over his chest—the chest that the dark gray suit he wore just made look even broader, harder—and smirked at her. “Maybe. Maybe there is.”
“Oh, that one really likes to challenge a lady, doesn’t he?”
“He does.” Haldyn deliberately turned away. That man…was driving her crazy. And he definitely enjoyed that. “How are you feeling?”
Hope had gotten a bit too involved at Scott’s. She’d been hurting and incredibly winded after about three hours. Haldyn had finally stepped in and stopped her. Sent her home, via Murdoch and Zoey, who’d dropped her off on Heather’s doorstep. No one would even think about letting her walk home that late.
Murdoch had taken on the job of lecturing his little auntie Hope about being safe and everything. He’d told her rogue Barratts could be out there wandering the streets of Hughes Heights or something, ready to flirt with unsuspecting Coleson goddesses everywhere.
“A little sore. No denying that. But it’s not the first time I’ve broken my arm. This was the worst break, though. The ache after is a bit distinctive, but manageable. Wears me out a little, actually. I’ve been pretty tired lately. No surprise, no one in the fam has slept all that well since Eastman.”
Haldyn lifted her hand, rubbed against her watch. She knew exactly what Hope meant. She would never forget Daniel taking her to the emergency room the day he’d saved her from her father.
She looked down. The scars were still there. They’d faded in fifteen years, but she would always see them. Always.
“Hal? You in there? Or has Jalapeno Hot Jarrod fried your brains?” Hope was peering at her like she was a specimen under a microscope. “You good?”
“I’m just ready for the answers, so I can go back home.” She had a beautiful five-bedroom home on the outskirts of town—Powell had recommended it when it was a foreclosure three years ago—and she loved it there. It was her sanctuary. She’d had to fix it up over the last few years, but it was hers.
Haldyn wanted to go home. Retreat. And if she was honest with herself—hide from how much that man right there had confused her. It had felt right kissing him that morning. Exciting. And now she needed time to process that. “I can’t stay with the Barratts forever.”
“They have anything yet?” Hope asked. She was intense when she was on the trail of something. “Or from what we found at Scott’s?”
Haldyn shook her head. “I haven’t had a lot of time to go through it yet. Powell and I have racked our brains. Other than that Victor Scott thing last year, we have nothing that it could possibly be.”
“Well, if the Finley Creek Major Crimes boys—and super girls like my sister and Lila—are on the trail, it’s just a matter of time, you know. There isn’t anything Heather can’t do. Even if she thinks she’s actually normal compared to the rest of us Colesons or something strange like that.” Hope shot her a grin, looking a great deal like Heather—and Zoey—in that moment. They all had that same smile. “I know. I think she’s a bit delusional in that regard, too. There isn’t a Coleson on the planet who is normal, you know.”
Well, the same could be said for Zoey’s branch of the Coleson family, too. Nothing normal about them either.
“Probably. But we’ll keep you anyway.” Haldyn stepped aside. Hope needed a bit more room with the crutch. “I have something I want to run by you when we get a chance. It’s about a cold case. I want a fresh set of eyes. It was worked on before by a tech who died recently. He…was difficult.”
“No prob. I’m going to be stuck here in the kennel for a while, right?”
“Exactly. I have plenty to keep you busy. Also…there is something else…the new Cold Case division. I want you to go over everything we’re transferring out of the warehouse to the storage room here. Photograph and document…and upload to the private server here. It’s authorized by the governor, but we are keeping it very quiet. Most of the ones who even know about the server itself are connected to him in some way.”
“Gee, I’m probably perfect for the job, then. Considering.” Considering the governor was married to Hope’s niece Ariella, and everything. “Really keeping that one all in the fam and all. How handy for the good old governor. I do have to admit, he’s very nice to look at, too. My niece caught a pretty one.”
“More than that, he’s one of the kindest men I have ever met. He utterly adores her, too.”
“Then I shall vote for him again. If he runs. I voted for him the last time, too. It was the pretty face. Okay, it was more that he seemed…honest. So rare in a politician these days and all. Heather didn’t though—something about funding cuts for her old unit or something.”
Haldyn outlined exactly what she needed Hope to do. She shot a look over her shoulder at the Major Crimes boys. What she was doing was a bit off the books, but…the men who had taken Shelby were still out there. Combined with the missing evidence…well, the Major Crimes major pains weren’t the only ones still looking for those answers. She, Zoey, Charlotte, and Madison were, too. “If you have any questions, you can ask Madison. That’s it. This server…has everything we’ve found about what’s been going on in the TSP.”
“I’ll get started right away. In the meantime, blow that dude a kiss or flash him or something. He’s looking a little drooly there, Hal. A little drooly. Trust me…I know the look. Guys look at Heather like that all the time, you know. All the time. Me, not so much, but Heather…all the time. I swear.”
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