He took out his notebook. “I’d like the patient names.”

  “Look, your warrant doesn’t force me to give out their names, so I can’t do that.” Helen bit her lip. “But it does give you access to the schedule, where you might notice a few canceled appointments.”

  She pushed an appointment book toward Gavin and he picked it up to flip through the pages. He ran a finger down each day until he hit on the first crossed-off names: Rex Sanderson and Billy Howard. He jotted the names in his notebook and continued down the list until he found the third name and had to work hard to stifle his enthusiasm.

  He tapped the calendar and peered at Helen. “Billy Howard, Rex Sanderson and Silas Ross. These are the patients you were referring to?”

  Helen nodded. “But remember, I didn’t say anything.”

  “Silas,” Lexie said. “Didn’t you mention—?”

  “I assume I’ll find the patient files in your records,” Gavin interrupted before Lexie mentioned they’d already put Silas on the suspect list at lunch. Gavin added a pointed look to tell her to keep it to herself.

  “Don’t worry,” Helen replied. “The files are right where I put them.”

  Perfect. Now all Gavin had to do was pack up the records, cross-reference the names and addresses with his list of suspicious Medicaid clients, and they could very well have a suspect angry enough to commit murder.

  NINE

  Thankfully, the doc only kept patient files for the current year at the office and the remaining files were already boxed and in a secure storage facility, limiting the number of files that Gavin had to pack up. He was able to load them into his SUV, put a seal on the office door and the storage unit, and then get Lexie back to the ranch within a few hours.

  He still had to go back into town and serve the warrant on the woman with the billing records. He wouldn’t expose Lexie to more danger for that, and he also wouldn’t leave her alone. Which meant he’d have to wait for his dad or Matt to stop by for dinner before taking care of business.

  He pulled up to the house and spotted Ruth’s ranch hand stepping down from his truck, the horse trailer hitched behind.

  Gavin shifted into Park. “What’s Jose doing here?”

  “Taking Misty home.” Lexie unbuckled her seat belt.

  “With you staying on the property, there’s no point in moving her, is there?”

  She firmed her jaw. “I can’t impose on your family to care for her or pay for her feed.”

  “As Dad said, you’re practically—”

  “I’m not family, and I never will be,” Lexie snapped.

  Her bitter tone cut him to the quick, but he wouldn’t ignore her barb again.

  “My family loves you, Lex,” he said, careful not to say he loved her, too, though he did and always would, he supposed. He just wasn’t sure if he was still in love with her. “They’re happy to help you out.”

  “And I appreciate it, I really do, but...” She drew in a long breath. “But being with them when we’re no longer a couple is awkward.”

  He swiveled to get a better read on her emotions. “You seemed right at home with them, so I never considered that.”

  “I am at home here, and I like being with them. All of them. But...” She shook her head.

  “But what, sug—” Her fiery gaze at his almost slip had him physically pulling back, but he wouldn’t let this drop. “But what?”

  “But spending time with them only to have you leave again will make it harder for me.”

  “Another thing I didn’t think of.” He resisted sighing, as this wasn’t about him. “I’m such a dolt.”

  She peered at him and her lips started turning up in a grin. “For an FBI agent, you do miss the obvious sometimes.”

  He should smile with her but he couldn’t. “I don’t miss a thing on the job, but I have to admit, I haven’t been as in tune with you as I should be.”

  “Why do you think that is?” she asked softly.

  “Honestly?” He paused for a second. “Because I don’t know how I feel about you and I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about it.”

  “Me, too,” she admitted. “And I think it’s a good idea that we keep on avoiding it.” She grabbed her door handle. “I’ll just help Jose get Misty loaded up.”

  “I wish you’d reconsider.”

  “I’m already imposing. I won’t be a financial burden, too.” She opened her door. “Once Misty is on the road, I’ll help you carry in boxes.”

  She jumped down and crossed the driveway. For a moment, Gavin watched her go. Her thick head of hair, gathered into a high ponytail, swished as she walked. She wore her little red boots and dressier jeans, along with the same parka from last night. The big hood seemed to dwarf her, adding to her look of vulnerability.

  Tessa stepped outside and waved when she spotted them. She’d gotten in late last night and was out of the house by the time he’d come down for breakfast, so he hadn’t seen his sister yet. Eager to talk to her, he headed for the stables.

  She opened the gate and stood back. A fiery redhead, she took after their nana and was the only sibling without dark hair. They’d often teased her growing up that she was adopted among other things and still did. She’d balked as a kid, but took it all in stride now and gave as good as she got.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Lexie,” she said, her eyes, more russet than the McKade deep brown, filled with sadness.

  “Thank you.” Lexie smiled a soft, sweet number that Gavin wished she’d offer him. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You, too. We should have kept in touch better.”

  Tessa closed the gate behind them, then launched herself at Gavin and gave him a fierce hug. Regret tugged at him. He hated what he was doing to his family by staying away. Man, if only he could change it.

  “Wish you’d get it in your stubborn head to leave those Feds and come home where you belong,” she whispered.

  She smelled of her familiar scent of lab chemicals mixed with horse. A huge tomboy, growing up, she competed in rodeo barrel racing and could rarely be found with her boots on the ground instead of in stirrups. Somewhere around high school, she discovered boys and found her feminine side. Still, she wasn’t afraid to get dirty on a crime scene and was more at home in boots and jeans than heels and a skirt.

  He pulled back. “Anything new on any of the crime scenes?”

  “Still waiting on the ATF to give us something of value, and the other scenes are a bust.” She sighed. “So you’re going to be working with Dad on this, huh?”

  He nodded.

  “Does that mean maybe you can see your way to work with him again on a full-time basis?”

  “It’s way too early in my visit to go there, squirt.” He ruffled her hair. “I’ll just see if Jose needs help getting Misty ready to leave.”

  “Watch where you step,” she said. “Wouldn’t want you to mess up those fancy shoes.”

  “Careful, squirt.” Gavin planted his arm around her shoulders and rubbed his knuckles over her hair. “You’re still the smallest one in the family, and I can easily still wrestle you to the ground. You wouldn’t want to get your pretty red hair dirty.”

  “You two never change.” Lexie chuckled before a wistful look settled on her face.

  “Let’s get Misty on the trailer,” he said to move them forward and away from dwelling on all that she’d lost out on.

  In the stable, he breathed deep of the hay, feeling like he’d come home again. Tessa squirmed out from under his arm. She was a handful to hold on to, all muscle and little padding. Lexie, on the other hand, was soft and sweet and oh, so wonderful to hold.

  He dragged his gaze away from her and from the corner of his eye caught Tessa watching him. She pushed boundaries in much the same way he did, but she didn’t have the added burden of being the oldest sibling. Before this trip was over, he suspected he’d get an earful from her on why he shouldn’t have left Lexie behind.

  Manners had him wanting to take over Lexie’s work, but he knew she loved caring for Misty, so he stood back and said nothing until Jose was heading down the drive with the trailer.

  Gavin tipped his head at his vehicle. “After I unload the boxes, I have some paperwork to catch up on. You can either stay at the main house with me, or I’ll grab my things and come to the cabin.”

  “Main house is fine,” she quickly said when she looked like she really wanted to say neither.

  At his vehicle, Gavin grabbed the first few boxes, stacking them in his father’s office. He made another trip and Lexie helped carry in the boxes. Once upon a time, they would be laughing and cutting up, but now tension lingered between them, making the job seem like it took longer to complete.

  Finally, she dropped the last box in place. “I’ll go see if your mom or nana need help making lunch.”

  “Thank you, Lex,” he said. “I know they both like having you here.”

  He caught her frown before she left the room. No matter what he said, it was the wrong thing, and he needed to get used to that. He shook it off and removed the disgruntled patients’ files. To spread out on the desk, he moved the glass appreciation plaque given to his dad after twenty-five years of service to the county. Gavin remembered the award ceremony and how he’d thought at the time that he would receive such a plaque someday, too. Wishful thinking and no point indulging in it.

  He laid out his files then opened his laptop, where he called up a database of patients for nearby clinics suspected of Medicaid fraud. He entered Silas Ross’s name and clicked Search.

  The Lowell Clinic in Cumberland had recently added Ross’s name, just as Helen had mentioned. His search of Billy Howard and Rex Sanderson produced the same results. For kicks, he entered Earl Clark and both of the Nash men’s names, but they didn’t return any records. He didn’t know what to make of his findings at this point other than those three patients had moved on to the nearest clinic.

  He plugged each name into law-enforcement databases and learned that Sanderson had prior arrests for drug possession and confirmed Ross’s record, too. Howard was clean.

  Given a choice, Gavin would go with the men with priors, and of the two of them, Gavin knew Ross possessed the skills to detonate the plane. He flipped to Ross’s patient file and tried to read Dr. Grant’s notes, but he couldn’t decipher the handwriting. Same was true of Sanderson and Howard.

  Maybe Lexie could read the chicken scratching. He grabbed the files and found Lexie with his mom and nana in the kitchen. Lexie wore his nana’s apron, her hands covered in flour as she cut out biscuits. She was humming until he stepped into the room and her frown returned.

  Was she ever going to forgive him? Probably not until he got her to see things from his point of view, which she’d never done. But then, had he really taken the time to try to understand what she was feeling or had he needed to escape so badly that he’d focused only on himself?

  “Did you need something?” She wiped the flour-covered back of her hand across her forehead, leaving behind a white trail that he wanted to brush away.

  Instead, he held out the top folder. “I’m hoping you can decipher your dad’s handwriting and help me figure out why these patients were seeing him.”

  She went to the sink to wash her hands then sat at the small table and scanned the folders. “Looks like they were all pain management clients, and Dad prescribed narcotics.” She stabbed a finger at a few of the notes. “See? Here and here?”

  He peered at the files. “And does their reason for moving on to a new doctor match with Helen’s statement?”

  She nodded. “He refused to prescribe additional meds and they left. She didn’t mention narcotics, though. Do you think my dad was writing too many narcotic prescriptions and his death is somehow related to that?”

  Gavin shook his head. “We checked that out already. He’s not on the DEA’s radar for writing excessive scripts. So, no, I don’t think it has to do with prescriptions he generated.”

  “But you mentioned drugs as a good motive earlier.”

  “I did, and I’m not ruling out his death being related to drugs. Just not the prescriptions he wrote.”

  She furrowed her brow. “But what else could there be?”

  “I don’t know at this point,” he admitted. “But locating these men so I can talk to them could very well help us figure that out. I have a last known address for all three of them and that’s a good place to start.”

  She stood and turned to his grandmother. “Mind if I bail on the biscuits so I can help Gavin?”

  His nana waved her hand. “Go on now. I like seeing you two together and not at odds with each other.”

  “Mom.” His mother’s tone warned his nana not to go there, but Gavin could see his mother shared the sentiment.

  Honestly, he liked not being at odds with Lexie, as well. Liked it too much for his own good, so as he headed for the office where they’d be alone together, he warned himself to keep things professional.

  He took a seat behind his father’s big desk and Lexie came to stand behind him. Her sweet scent caught his attention and it was all he could do to remember his thoughts of a moment ago to remain professional. He forced his attention to the computer and entered the patients’ names into the DMV database. The search returned the same addresses.

  “They all live in apartments in various cities in the county. Silas resides here in Lost Creek, but Matt mentioned he may have moved. I’ll give the apartment managers a call to see if they’re all still at the same addresses.”

  As he picked up his phone, Lexie went to stare out the window. He had to admit to being thankful that she’d chosen to put some distance between them, making it easier to concentrate on his calls. It was all he could do not to stare at her framed in the sunlight and make his calls.

  When he’d finished talking to the managers, he swiveled to look at her. “They’ve all moved on. No forwarding address.”

  She turned. “Don’t you find that odd?”

  “I do for Silas, as he’s older and he was holding down a steady job. But people who live in apartments are more mobile, and if they have any issues with the law, they often take off without forwarding addresses.”

  “So now what?” she asked.

  “Now we move on to Facebook.”

  She snorted. “What? Like they’ll brag about being involved in drugs on Facebook?”

  “You’d be surprised. Criminals aren’t often the brightest, so it may sound far-fetched, but many cases are solved when they brag on social media. But even if they don’t, you can often locate people just by reading through their posts.”

  Since Silas was the only one of the three on both lists, he entered Silas’s name and his profile came up. In his picture, he had a crooked smirk and his hair hung in eyes that were glassy, leading Gavin to think Silas used drugs.

  Gavin clicked on his picture to enlarge it. “Is he of the right build to be the biker?”

  She leaned closer. “Could be.”

  Gavin pointed out for Lexie that Silas’s About page had listed him living in Cumberland.

  “Let’s look at his feed to see if there are any pictures of the complex where he lives.” Gavin read down the posts, mostly about beer brewing, but one item caught his attention.

  “Look at this.” He pointed to the screen update and read, “‘Lowell Clinic rocks. ’Bout time I found a decent doctor. If he shows up on time tomorrow afternoon.’”

  “He has an appointment tomorrow.” Lexie’s voice rose with excitement and her eyes gleamed.

  “See? Social media helps in many ways.” Gavin smiled up at her and got caught up in her beauty.

  “You can catch him when he goes to the appointment. And thanks to Facebook, you’ll have no trouble recognizing him.” She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

  Her touch caught him off guard but it felt so right that he came to his feet and pulled her closer. Surprisingly, she didn’t push him away but settled her head on his chest. Holding her was just like he remembered, and he wanted more. So much more. Starting with a kiss.

  He pulled back, and as he lowered his head, she shoved him away.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, looking shocked by her actions. “I should never have done that. I don’t know what got into me. It doesn’t mean anything, though. I was just so happy to have a lead, and you were...well...convenient, so I... Anyway, it’s good news about the lead.”

  Right, the lead. He had an investigation to solve. A career to advance, a killer to find, and he should be equally happy. Then why was his heart aching and his stomach tied up in knots?

  TEN

  Walt had just finished the lemon chicken and red potatoes Winnie had kept warm for him after a big accident caused by an unexpected snowfall had kept him from getting home on time for dinner.

  Due to their higher elevation, they often got a light snowfall each winter and Adam was outside playing in the fluffy powder. Lexie wanted to join him, but she didn’t want to miss the update from today’s investigation, which Walt declared he’d reveal from his recliner in the family room.

  Matt, Jed and Gavin were already seated in the cozy room when she stepped under the large archway. A fresh scent wafted from the cinnamon-infused pinecones on the fireplace mantel above a roaring fire, and her gaze landed on the Christmas stockings quilted by Betty. Lexie couldn’t resist running her fingers over Gavin’s embroidered name. She looked up to find him watching her as he’d been doing a lot today. She dropped her hand and focused on Walt before he came over to join her.

  “I talked to Norbert and Freddie Nash today.” Walt lifted the recliner handle on his chair. “They both have alibis. Course, I’m not taking their word for it, and I’ve got Kendall running down the alibis right now.”