“Yeah.” Vance ate his last fry and leaned forward over the table, keeping his green eyes on hers in such a fashion that she couldn’t quite look away. With his perfectly styled hair and perceptive gaze, he was nothing short of intoxicating.

  Maybe she should’ve gotten involved with Vance last July, instead of Chris, when her Richmond team had gone north to assist the D.C. unit. They’d met and hit it off right away. If she’d allowed their sparks to turn into a flame back then, maybe things would’ve been different.

  She shut down the idea as soon as it came. No use in thinking of what-ifs.

  Vance rested his elbows on the table, pushing his meal closer to the appetizer basket to make room. “Mia, I know I’ve been babbling, but the thing is…I just want you to know I’m here. I want to try…to just try…to understand what you’ve been through so I can be here for you. All you have to do is talk to me.”

  “Vance…”

  She took a deep breath. What could she possibly tell him? What words could she use to describe the sight of the man she thought she’d loved lifting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger?

  “I just want to forget it. Please.”

  “I get it. But avoiding talking about it…keeping it all inside…can’t be good for you. You need someone to be here for you. I just want you to know I can be that person. I can sense how different you’ve been since the transfer, and I just want to help however I can.”

  Oh, man, if I look up at him now, his eyes will be that puppy-dog sweet that’ll either make me cry or run away. I can’t do either. He’s on my team. He’s maybe more on my team than anyone.

  The rainbow-trout cuckoo clock over their heads made a gigantic splashing sound.

  Mia kept her eyes on the hush puppy in her hands, tapping one French-tipped nail against the fried breading while she avoided the man in front of her.

  Vance gulped a swig of water before leaning in closer. “Hey, when was the last time you were truly happy? Can you tell me that?” His voice grew quieter. “When were you the agent I met last July, the one with a real smile, no matter what was happening around her?”

  She allowed herself to get angry so she could avoid crying. “I’m still the agent I was last July. Only now I have more painful experiences to work through. You’ll just have to get to know the new, sadder me. It’s not my job to be happy all the time.”

  “That’s not what I meant—”

  “Now’s not the time or the place. We’re working a case and surrounded by people. Besides that, I have hours of therapy behind me and more, I’m sure, to look forward to at some point. I don’t think speaking to a colleague on a lunch break is going to solve anything, and it’ll probably make me depressed and grouchy for the rest of the day. Let’s talk about football.”

  She shoved a whole hush puppy into her mouth.

  Vance nodded but didn’t say one word about football or anything else.

  A loud laugh caught Mia’s attention, bringing a welcome distraction.

  Two of the officers who’d been there during the protester chaos sat at a nearby table.

  She sensed Vance homing in on them as well, and she decided to let herself eavesdrop for a few minutes. Disguising her interest, she picked up her fork again and pushed around the remains of her salad.

  “Killer has to be one of those crazy-ass protesters.” A brown-haired cop paused to shove a bit of fish into his mouth and continued before he finished chewing. “Always one nutjob taking things too far among any group of well-meaning idiots. Just gotta find that one bad actor.”

  The other cop, smaller and with buggy eyes, audibly gulped down some of his drink. Then he barked out a too-loud laugh. “Hell, circuses are a breeding ground for nutjobs in general. You wanna know the truth? The more performers we meet down there, the less I give a shit about finding the killer. Let the Feds spin their wheels, I say. We can hope the so-called talent all kill each other off. Freaks.”

  “Bet the next murder is the fat lady crushing the bearded lady in a fight over the sword-swallower.”

  Both officers laughed at that. All law enforcement officers developed gallows humor as a way of coping, but this didn’t feel like that.

  Across from Mia, Vance grunted disgust that mirrored hers. “Assholes. You want anything else, Mia? I’m gonna refill my drink.”

  She smiled and shook her head, leaving Vance to wander back to the drink machine with his cup in hand.

  Three murders. Three. Protester or big-top performer or little green man from outer space, talented or old or young or whoever they may be, the murderer needs to be caught. Now.

  Mia had to curb the urge to hang the police officers from the bright tackle hooks protruding from the wall.

  This case needed to be taken seriously. People were dead.

  After wiping her hands one final time, Mia gathered their trash. Even if the other agents weren’t done with their meals, she’d prefer to wait outside. The jeering boys in blue had soured the atmosphere. She glanced over at her colleagues to gauge how close they were to finishing their meals.

  On catching Emma’s expression, Mia stopped short.

  The other agent was staring across the diner, eyes wide and fixed.

  Mia followed Emma’s gaze to the front entrance, expecting something big, like a mobster with a tommy gun.

  There was nobody there.

  13

  Leo wanted to pull off all his clothes and stand under a hot shower stream for about four hours. He’d managed to get most of the ketchup off in the sink at Freddy’s Fried Fish Delish Diner, but he still felt sticky.

  He’d have to forgo the shower, though. Duty called.

  The circus parking lot was still free of protesters when Jacinda pulled her sedan up next to Leo’s truck. Emma climbed out of her Prius where she’d parked behind him. He zipped up the spare jacket Vance had loaned him before opening his own door. The thin jacket did little against the January cold, but it was better than nothing.

  Leo met Emma, Denae, and Jacinda in front of the sedan. The small group huddled together.

  Still no sign of Mia and Vance, who hadn’t been quite so lucky with the stoplights.

  Denae offered him a fast smile as he shivered. “Attack by condiment’ll teach you to carry a spare jacket.”

  Jacinda nodded agreement, shivering a bit in her own light jacket. “That it will. For both of us. We’re not in Miami anymore, Leo.”

  Got that right. It would be at least seventy degrees in Miami.

  Jacinda nodded toward the press gathered across the large parking lot. She straightened her collar beneath her jacket. “I hear Denae’s got a way with the reporters, so she’s going to help me tame the masses. You two track down Reggie O’Rourke first thing.”

  “Reggie O’Rourke?” If Emma’s eyebrows shot up any higher, they would’ve been at the top of her scalp. “I thought you wanted the ranking officer to speak to the circus owner.”

  Jacinda snorted. “Apparently, I make his bowels nervous. Looks like you get to look him in the eye after all, Emma.” Jacinda looked down the street, probably hunting for Mia and Vance. She ignored the smile taking over Emma’s face. “Vance and Mia can take up the next set of interviews when they catch up.”

  “Sounds good.” Leo cut a glance at Emma as he responded. She didn’t appear disappointed to be working with him. “No time to waste, after all.”

  “Like he said, Jacinda. Sounds good to me. And I know where Reggie O’Rourke’s trailer is.”

  “I know you do. Be sure to knock very loudly this time.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Emma’s expression hid something Leo didn’t quite understand, like an inside joke. But he was excited to work with the agent. Leo was eager to prove himself after the impression he must’ve made when she’d seen him covered in ketchup.

  They started off through the circus’s main entrance. Emma took the lead and walked fast. High-Octane Emma indeed.

  Leo lengthened his stride to keep up with her. “Mia and I interviewed a Ty Belloise and Jamie Hearn earlier. Performers. Young guys, and both seemed to view O’Rourke as a father figure. Anxious to see if the feeling’s mutual?”

  “I’m interested in speaking to Reggie O’Rourke because he’s the hub of the circus.” Emma slowed her step just a touch, one hand swinging up to tuck some flyaways behind her ear. “He’s the only one who spoke to the protesters. He wants help from law enforcement but doesn’t really want to talk to us. He knows all the victims. He has access to all the sabotaged equipment. Even if he’s not the unsub, he probably knows who is.” Emma pointed forward between a row of tents and stands. “It’s this way.”

  Leo followed her into the maze of attractions, passing by even fewer circus performers than he’d glimpsed earlier. Either the protesters or the cutting wind had forced people inside. He glanced at the sky, which was already getting grimmer. Sunset might be a few hours off, but the wind and the clouds seemed determined to speed up the process.

  A tween girl leading a horse crossed the thruway ahead of them. She paused to wave at Emma. “Hi, Agent Last. Are you looking to talk to Mom and Dad again?”

  “That’s not necessary, Bunny.” Emma pointed to a trailer just a few lots down. “We’re actually going to speak to Mr. O’Rourke now.”

  The girl pushed her bangs out of her eyes and frowned, absently stroking her horse’s nose as they approached. “Reggie went for a walk a while ago. I haven’t seen him since. We could ask Calliope if he’s around. She might know.”

  Leo held out his hand to shake the girl’s. “Bunny, I work with Agent Last. My name’s Leo. It’s nice to meet you. What makes you think this Calliope might know where Mr. O’Rourke is?”

  “Nice to meet you, Leo. This is Gray, my partner in the ring.” The girl patted her horse again, smiling up at Leo as she answered. She had such bright eyes. He’d bet they glowed when she performed. “Calliope’s the circus’s makeup artist, and she hangs out with Reggie a lot. Mom says they’re special friends, which means they’re doing it.”

  Leo let that information sink in, pondering a delicate way to proceed. He looked over to Emma for guidance, but she was staring at the kid, mouth slightly open.

  But Bunny didn’t seem to think anything was strange. “If anyone’d know where to find him, it’d be her.”

  He recovered himself. “And where does Calliope live?”

  Bunny started to point, then dropped her arm and shrugged. “I can show you. It’s not far, and that’s a lot easier.”

  Emma shared a glance with him before gesturing to suggest Bunny take the lead in their little procession. With a quick clicking of her tongue to get her horse started again, the girl did just that.

  Leo caught Emma’s elbow, drawing her a few strides sideways from the girl and her horse. He spoke in a low whisper. “Calliope Langley was on my list, but Mia and I didn’t get a chance to question her this morning. She’s only twenty-two years old.”

  Emma’s mouth tightened. She took a second before speaking. “What’s a fifty-five-year-old man doing hanging out with a twenty-two-year-old female employee under his supervision?”

  Leo didn’t bother answering, knowing they were on the same page, as they sped up to keep step with the tween, who’d apparently been babbling away on the assumption that they were right behind her.

  “…know you’ll like Reggie. This circus is his whole life and then some, as Mom would say. And the way he wears his ringmaster costume, you’d think he was born in it. As Mom would say.” Bunny shot a grin over her shoulder.

  Leo nodded for her to go on. “Sounds like your mom’s pretty smart.”

  “Oh, yeah, Reggie too. He’s über-nice to everyone. I bet he’ll even give you free tickets to the show if you ask nice.” She slowed her step, her smile fading a little. “I mean, when we get started again.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be back to performing soon.” He told the lie carefully. The truth was, there was no telling when this girl and her horse would be back to entertaining guests in a ring, but that wasn’t the concern. Nobody else dying before that happened was the priority. “So you know Mr. O’Rourke pretty well?”

  “Oh, yeah. He’s so much fun. We have the best times when it’s just me and Reggie.”

  Leo’s step hitched. Emma reached out, steadying him. Just the ringmaster and her? He slicked back his hair, taking a breath. “Are you and Mr. O’Rourke alone often?”

  “Yep, lots of times. If Mom and Dad are busy, and I’m not with Gray, you can usually find me at Reggie’s. Especially with…” The girl faltered.

  “With?” Emma walked side by side with Bunny now.

  “With Penelope gone, I mean.”

  What the hell are the adult circus owner and this little girl doing spending alone time together?

  “Uh…Bunny, what do you and Mr. O’Rourke do together?” The tone of Leo’s voice caught the girl up short.

  Bunny glided to a halt, bringing her horse to a slow stop beside her. “What’re you getting at?”

  Emma bent down with her hands on her knees, coming more to eye level with the girl. “Honey, what my friend here means is that it’s normal for us to have friends who are close to our own ages. Like Leo and me.”

  Bunny squinched her nose, pausing for thought. Then she laughed, as if Emma had made a joke. “Oh, well, yeah, but we’re in the circus. Normal is for normies, as my mom would say.”

  As her mom would say, again. Lovely.

  Leo forced a laugh to go along with the girl’s. “Okay, makes sense…but you and Mr. O’Rourke can’t have much in common, right? Seriously, what do you talk about? What do you and Reggie do together?” He made his voice more casual, curious, less cynical and detective-like, even calling the man “Reggie.”

  The tween shrugged, turning to lead them and the horse toward Calliope’s.

  Emma hung back, walking with Leo again.

  “I mean, we do whatever. Board games sometimes. And sometimes he helps me groom Gray, or if it’s raining, we might draw pictures. He taught me to juggle and how to throw knives like Ty.”

  “Ah, got it.” Though, really, he didn’t get it at all. “My favorite board game was Sorry! when I was your age. How about you? And do you like to draw pictures of Gray? Or what sorts of pictures are we talking about?”

  Bunny threw another smile over her shoulder.

  Leo’s gut clenched for the second time in as many minutes but not from the cold. The girl was so happy-go-lucky. Thinking of her being taken advantage of, let alone abused, landed like a stone in his stomach.

  “My favorite game used to be Chutes and Ladders. Now I’m older, I prefer Yahtzee. Mom says it’s good for my math skills too. Math’s my least favorite subject. If I went to a normal school, I bet my favorite subject would be art. Reggie’s helping me get better at drawing, so we do a lot more of that. Mostly trees and birds so I can help with the nature backdrops someday. I’m always going to be a trick rider, but it’s fun to help paint props.”

  Leo grunted something he hoped sounded like approval.

  Emma sped up to walk alongside the tween and her horse again, making some casual remark he didn’t quite hear.

  That was fine. He kind of wanted a minute to himself. Nothing in Bunny’s words or voice seemed off, but the idea of a middle-aged man spending alone time with a young girl…

  Where Leo lived, in the normie world, that didn’t necessarily pass the smell test. Especially when talking about one solitary eleven-year-old.

  No, he needed to meet this guy sooner rather than later. He needed to make sure Reggie O’Rourke wasn’t hurting this girl. To his way of thinking, there was no longer any question that the ringmaster was evading them.

  Bunny stopped at a cotton-candy-pink camper that had seen better days. A couple of folding chairs sat just beside the entrance alongside a card table that rattled whenever the wind picked up.

  Emma stepped up to knock as Leo thanked Bunny and waved her on her way. That was all the prompting the girl needed to head out. She even began to whistle as she skipped off.

  Leo stepped closer to the stoop as Emma raised her fist to knock.

  That was when a string of pops, rat-a-tat, followed by the deep boom, boom, boom of an explosion cut through the whistling wind.

  He ducked, reaching for his Glock.

  Emma crouched down beside him as he crouched at the camper’s side. “What the hell is that? Where’d it come from?”

  Both drew their weapons. Another all-encompassing explosion sliced through the air. Where was that coming from?

  Across the way, a gray-haired man peeked from his camper door, but Leo gestured him back inside. The door slammed again, leaving a brief, glaring silence.

  He was just about to speak when the explosions began booming all over again. Above their heads, a glowing trail of sparks tinted the gray clouds above a smoky blue.

  Catching his breath, Leo steadied Emma’s elbow as she rose from the dirt. “Fireworks.”

  The explosions continued nonstop on the other side of the circus, tearing apart the afternoon calm with shrieking flags of color and smoke. Somewhere in the distance, people started yelling.

  Emma faced him, her face serious. “Last time there were fireworks on the circus grounds, a man died.”

  “Let’s go.” Leo jumped off the camper’s stoop and took off at a sprint with Emma right on his heels.

  14

  Wrapping the last of the crime-scene tape around the gatepost of the fairgrounds, Emma scanned the area to determine whether she needed another roll. Her flimsy gloves were doing nothing to keep the January air away from her fingers, and she could no longer feel the thin roll in her hand.

  Denae approached the gatepost opposite hers with a good amount of ribbon remaining.

  Refusing to be silenced after the great ketchup war—as Denae now jokingly referred to it—the protesters had returned en masse to set up a fireworks display, including cardboard cutouts of clowns covered in more ketchup. Several of the protesters went so far as to start chanting, out of sync and off-key, “They kill animals and kill their own,” which just hurt Emma’s ears.