The sun had not even begun to show its face when Evan Pierce pulled into his driveway. He would not have known she was there if he hadn't been sitting in his kitchen awaiting her arrival. The oversized vehicle she drove was just that quiet.
The brief flash of light that occurred when Evan opened her door gave Sheriff Cody Lebeaux a glimpse of a pair of ears standing alert and a gaze intently watching. "Good morning to you, girl." The sheriff nodded at Evan. "You, too."
Cody loaded a single bag into the rear of Evan Pierce's Suburban. "I'm glad you were able to come with me to New Mexico. I wanted you to be there when they brought Roderick Clinton in for questioning in his wife's murder."
"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Cody noted sarcastically. Both he and Evan agreed that after what they noted of Roderick's demeanor in the morgue two days prior, the linebacker was the most likely suspect in Tanya Clinton's death. The newest piece of evidence the New Mexico police uncovered seem to point to that conclusion.
To their good fortune, Google Maps had managed to snap a picture of the linebacker's house that included a view of the Knights' kicker Milorad Zagreb entering Roderick Clinton's home at a time when the linebacker would have been in Chicago with his team playing the Bears. With this implication of Tanya's infidelity came motive for murder, something Rodrick Clinton claimed he did not have.
"I am a little surprised that you want to drive to New Mexico. It's not exactly a stone's throw from here."
Evan shrugged. "I avoid flying with Shiva whenever I can help it. She doesn't like it and I don't exactly trust the airlines with her safety."
"Hey, it's no hardship for me to be in a car with you for 14 hours," Cody grinned. He glanced at the big German Shepherd sprawled comfortably across the Suburban's second row seat. She gnawed at some kind of large bone that was already ragged at the edges. "Are you sure she's going to be okay with me in the car?"
"As long as you don't try anything stupid." Cody could not determine if Evan was serious or not. "Relax. Shiva is a highly trained animal," Evan explained. "You don't have to worry about your safety."
"Okay. Hey, I don't suppose you would agree to let me drive," Cody hedged. He made the request even though he was certain of her refusal.
Without hesitation, Evan tossed the sheriff her keys. "Help yourself," she said. "It will give me a chance to grab a couple hours of sleep."
Thrown by Evan's easy consent, Cody started up the Suburban and put it in gear. The big vehicle leapt forward, causing Cody to whistle reverently beneath his breath. "Whoa," he breathed. "You've got something extra beneath this hood."
"Yep," Evan nodded. "There's a supercharged motor under there. My brother Paul tweaked the original." She smiled. "He's something of a car junkie. And an overprotective big brother."
Cody gave Evan an appreciative glance. "I can understand why."
True to her word, Evan settled into the passenger seat and got comfortable. She wadded up her jacket and thrust it beneath her head, creating a makeshift pillow. She did not stir again until Cody pulled into a fast food restaurant some hours later for breakfast.
"I thought we could grab something and take a few minutes away from the road," the Sheriff explained when Evan awoke and glanced around sleepy-eyed. "You've been asleep four hours or so."
"Sounds good."
Cody try not to stare when Evan climbed from the Suburban and stretched thoroughly. Her lithe body was without an ounce of fat, her curves womanly but not lush, like so many of her race, he noted.
"What about Shiva?" Cody turned away to glance inside the Suburban. In truth, he needed a moment for his body to subside from the arousal he'd felt while imagining Evan's undoubted prowess in the bedroom.
"I'll get Shiva something before we leave."
They shared a booth in the well-known fast food place. Cody turned on his considerable charm, trying in every way he knew possible to slip past the obvious barrier Evan Pierce maintained between them. She answered his questions politely but succinctly. Evan's replies were cryptic about anything that bordered on the personal issues of her life. When it was all said and done, Cody realized he would have gotten more information if he'd simply Googled the enigmatic forensics specialist.
"Is it me?"
Evan turned away from the task of feeding Shiva the breakfast food she had gotten. They were back on the highway. "What?"
"I asked if it was me." Cody kept his eyes on the road ahead. "I haven't exactly been subtle in trying to let you know that I'm attracted to you."
Evan took her time replying. In silence she fed Shiva the remainder of the scrambled eggs and bacon. "Yes, I have noticed your attraction," Evan slowly replied. "I don't think it would be a good idea to act on it."
"Because I am not your type? Or because I am not your color?"
"It doesn't bother me," Evan sighed, "that you are a white man. It bothers me that you are a white man from the South."
Cody blinked at the unexpectedness of the reply. "What exactly does that mean?"
"Let me ask you a question." Evan tilted her head to one side. "What do you think of your cousins? Have you met any of them? Spent time with them?"
"My cousins? What do my cousins have to do with anything?"
"I am talking about your uncle Aristide's children. Have you ever reached out to any of them?"
Cody returned his gaze to the highway before them. Evan's stare was unflinching and penetrating, and Cody did not want to discuss with her the subject of his uncle's supposed illegitimate half-black children. That topic was deliberately not addressed by members of the Lebeaux clan. There was no way to answer Evan's question in a way that would prove favorable to Cody. Or his family.
"That's not my business," Cody bit out.
Evan made a moue of distaste. "And that," she said, "is why I won't date a man from the South. You all seem stuck in a time warp. You try to get me to fall into bed with you but at the same time the thought of being related to someone like me repulses you."
A low rumbling from the seat behind her alerted Evan that her irritation was becoming detectable to her German Shepherd, Shiva. She took a deep, steadying breath and issued a Dutch command that instantly put the animal at ease.
"Maybe we should table this discussion for awhile," Cody suggested coolly. "You probably feel like I came on a little strong. We can slow this down. You can make me understand your point."
Evan shook her head. "No, I can't. I deploy back to Afghanistan in a couple of days. I got my orders last week."
Cody's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "How long before you come back?"
"To Louisiana? I don't think I will."
