Page 25 of Hard Rain
He had his partner back.
FAMILIAR GROUND
Rainwater hissed beneath the tires as they headed east.
The storm wasn’t big enough to flood the highway yet, but the cold rain was steady.
Whip rested one hand against the wheel while headlights slid across slick pavement ahead of them.
Beside him, Axel continued flipping through the case file.
The ease between them had settled once he’d gotten them talking again.
Thank fuck.
If he had to drive another mile with that strained silence between them, he was going to shoot somebody. So, he’d started talking shit, and Axel hadn’t missed a beat.
Some habits didn’t break that easily.
Good.
He’d gotten tired of the silence.
Axel flipped another page in the file.
“Guy really thought everybody forgot about him.”
Whip kept his eyes on the highway. “Marshals don’t forget.”
Not when it came to kids.
“We don’t,” Axel agreed. “Fucker’s gonna pay for what he did to those girls.”
Silence settled heavily between them for the rest of the drive.
Some things didn’t need discussing twice.
Paisley finally appeared through the rain nearly an hour later.
The town wasn’t big enough for strangers to go unnoticed, but the task force SUV didn’t draw much attention turning off the highway this time.
Most people around here already knew exactly who they were.
The sheriff station sat half a block down beside the aging brick post office.
Grady looked up from behind the counter the second they walked in.
Whip hadn’t seen him in months, but Detective Grady Collins still looked almost exactly like he had through the years, green eyes sharp beneath dark hair threaded with early gray, broad through the shoulders, looking tired.
Grady looked one bad week away from needing a vacation he’d probably never take.
“Finally,” Grady muttered, pushing back from his chair. “Whip. Axel.”
“That bad?” Whip asked.
Grady huffed a laugh and came around the counter to shake hands.
“Sheriff’s out checking a property south of town,” he said. “Figured Boone would send you two eventually.”
