Page 26 of Final Inning

That woman, in her late twenties, with two children, had made it clear Julian wasn’t the type to lie—or fool around with his best friend’s girlfriend. Unless there was something they didn’t know yet, Julian’s alibi was strong. But his statement was entirely unhelpful for telling them why Harper was at the ball field in the first place.

“We’re just making sure nothing was missed,” Miranda said, smiling slightly at the man. He was a few years younger than she was, and it was obvious he felt a bit intimidated. Probably by the big glowering man-creature behind her. Sometimes, Knight just didn’t know how powerful he actually was.

She was entirely glad the man had never decided to go the super-villain route. He’d be unstoppable if he did.

“I wish I had more to give you. I wish I had told her I’d drive her to OKC. I wish—I just wish I could have done something different that day. But it was almost four, and she wanted to get going.”

“Was there anything that stood out about that day to you?” Knight asked. “Anything that was unusual?”

This was a question every investigator had asked a million times. But sometimes, the simple questions were the most effective. Miranda was more interested in figuring out Julian and how he’d really felt about Harper. She didn’t see any sign in the man that he was physically attracted to her at all.

He’d shown more passion when he’d said Hagan Lindhour’s name than Harper Wycoff’s. If she had to make a guess—he and Harper really had been friends, but he had a far more physical attraction to their favorite Helery County deputy.

Miranda wondered if Hagan was aware of that attraction?

“Just…she was really quiet. More down than she usually was. I just…she had said she was arguing with someone earlier. Someone we both know, knew, I mean. From around town and school, I think. She never told me who, though.”

“Did she say what about?”

He shook his head. “Not really. She just said it really made her sad sometimes. What had happened.”

“When?”

“To my father. It was the first time Harper ever said anything about my father. And it was weird. Harper never talked about him. Or that time. Like she had a block or something. She never talked about her sister Hila, either. But she was hurting. I wish I had done something to make it better. Now…I’ll never get a chance, will I? With either of them.”

“What happened to her wasn’t your fault, Julian,” Miranda said, gently. “It was the fault of whoever killed her, and no one else.”

But…how much consolation were those words to someone who had lost a loved one?

Not much consolation at all.

Chapter 17

Dani loved General Tso’s. Someone had ordered extra General Tso’s when they’d called in the lunch order for the Cold Case crew that was now back in the building. She strongly suspected Ian had done it on purpose. He had ordered extra vegetable lo mein, too. For Lyndon. It was Lyndon’s favorite. And she suspected Ian was feeling a bit sorry for Lyndon, considering she actually did have a burn from the hood of the car going up the side of her arm. And a big black eye from a murderer who hadn’t wanted to get caught.

Lyndon also had a very beautiful man tagging along behind her, a concerned—and somewhat contrite—look on his face. Apparently, the blow had been meant for Tag and not Lyndon. The murderer had apologized, too. He’d considered himself a southern gentleman. He never would have attacked a refined lady like Lyndon on purpose.

Dani was still trying to figure that one out. He’d killed four men, but hurting Lyndon by accident had genuinely upset him. Go figure.

This job exposed her to some seriously crazy people at times. No denying that.

Dani was just finishing up with her lunch—she’d have to make sure to give that man a cookie or brownie or something to say thanks for the ‘extras’ that had found their way into her order—when her computer alerted.

Her results were back.

Everything the state of Oklahoma had on Kevin Jermaine Adams and his death—murder, no other word for it—was back.

And it was time for her to get back to work, anyway.

Dani opened the message, clicked the first link.

Initial incident report.

She read it quickly. There was definitely not much there. Just that Kevin, age forty-six at the time of his death—had been found with what looked to be blunt force trauma. Almost eleven years ago.

Dani checked the remaining files to see if she could confirm the blunt force trauma as cause of death. It was listed on his death certificate in the notes section, after HOMICIDE had been checked off on the form. BFT. In handwritten letters.

That was it.