Farewell to Goodbye

by Penny Childs

  “Yes, Tim,” he heard her saying, “I’ll be working closely with Special Agent Giles and his partner Agent Marshall on this.” She sent a scowl Trevor’s way to let him know she did not like the idea one little bit.

  “Sheriff, this isn’t the first time you’ve worked with Agent Giles, is it?”another reporter asked.

  Her hesitation was brief. “No, it’s not. I don’t think we need to discuss that though. It has no bearing on this case.”

  Trevor wondered if that was a true statement or not. He had the feeling their pasts were invariably tied to this somehow.

  “Do you have any leads?” another one asked.

  “We have several avenues to investigate.”

  “Agent Giles specializes in serial killers,” a pretty blonde said, looking over at him and batting her eyelashes. “Maybe he’d like to make a statement?”

  Trevor, hands in his pockets, shook his head. “I won’t tell you anything different than what she’s telling you,” he hollered.

  Mel noted that the blonde reporter looked disappointed. She felt an unwanted spike of jealousy and pressed her lips together, angry with herself for it. She had no business worrying about some other woman coming on to Trevor.

  “I think you just broke her little heart,” Renee whispered to Trevor about the reporter, with a snicker from beside him. “Assuming, of course, the viper has one.”

  “Everyone,” Mel said, “that’s really about all I can tell you right now.”

  “Is it true that you were almost the victim of a serial killer several years ago?” one of them shouted.

  Now Trevor stood a little straighter and watched her closely. If she was going to fall apart, this would be where it would happen.

  Mel sighed deeply and smiled tightly. “Yes, that is true.”

  “Do you think that you could be a target for this serial killer?”

  “I suppose it’s a possibility,” she acknowledged grudgingly. She had hoped to avoid these questions. Her deputies were already tense enough.

  “That scar on your neck, is that from your run in with Julius Becker?”

  He saw the look of panic coming over her face. He made eye contact with Craig, who was standing behind her and made a cut gesture across his neck.

  Craig was only too happy to oblige. He leaned in and whispered something in Mel’s ear then took her by the elbow and started to turn her as he called over his shoulder, “That’s it for now, folks. We have some urgent business to attend to, as I’m sure you all understand.”

  They were still shouting out questions as the door closed behind Mel and Craig.

  Trevor and Renee were headed for the door when the little blonde reporter shouted to Trevor, “Agent Giles, isn’t it true you were there the day the sheriff was abducted by Julius Becker?”

  Stopping and turning around, he frowned at her. “I really can’t comment on that.”

  “Sure you can,” she pressed. “It was in all the papers. It made national headlines.”

  “Then why are you asking me, if you already know?” he asked stormily.

  She ignored this. “As a matter of fact, weren’t you the one that shot and killed Julius Becker as he cut her throat?”

  He felt a hand on his arm and turned his head to see Renee shaking her head at him. Then he let her pull him by the sleeve back into the city building.

  “C’mon, you knew this was going to come out and cause a feeding frenzy,” Renee told him as he stopped in the hallway.

  “Why do they feel the need to ask questions they already have the answers too?” He shook his head. “Never mind. That was a rhetorical question. I already know the answer. They want a reaction.” And he had nearly given them one. Having been around long enough to know better, he had the experience to keep his cool. Usually. But this was one area of his life that he found difficult to keep cool about.

  “When are you leaving?” Renee asked, trying to get him talking about something else.

  “Around one o’clock or so.” He gave her a look. “You understand why I’m taking her?”

  “Of course I do,” Renee said. She understood his professional reasons and she figured she understood his personal reasons too. “Look, you want me to stay here and keep up on the wall and anything else, I can do that. To be quite honest with you, I just feel honored to get to work with you.” He was a legend, whether he liked to admit it or not and many an agent fought for a spot on his cases.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll see how you feel at the end of this.” He glanced down the hall and saw Mel enter her office. “If I could get her to feel that way we’d be getting somewhere.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that one. I don’t know what the hell you did to her, but if she hasn’t managed to get over it in seven years, I’m not sure she ever will.”

  Trevor’s brows shot up. “What makes you think it was something I did? Maybe it was mutual and I just don’t hold a grudge like she does.”

  “Hmmm… sure, whatever, boss.” With that, Renee turned and walked away, leaving him standing in the hallway alone.

  “Why the hell does it always have to be the guy’s fault?” he asked the ceiling.

  “If you keep talking to yourself like that, people are going to start to wonder if you have a few screws loose,” Mel said, coming up behind him.

  Turning, he gave her a sour look. “I’ll have you know I passed my psyche evaluation with flying colors.”

  “Because you’re a damned good bullshitter,” she said seriously.

  “Yeah, well, it’s a talent that comes in handy.”

  “I’m sure. What time are we leaving?”

  “Around one o’clock. I thought maybe we could take off here in a little bit and get a bite to eat before we head for your place.”

  Blinking at him, she shook her head. “Just let me know what time you want to leave. I’ll get my own damn lunch.” She saw his hurt look and went on to say, “I’m going to be stuck with you for three or four days as it is, let me have one last meal in peace.”

  “Jesus, Mel, I was just trying to be nice.”

  “Well don’t, it just annoys me.”

  He looked up and down the hallway before saying, “Look, you wanna be a bitch, that’s fine and dandy. I just thought maybe we could throw all our baggage out. I guess I was wrong. I want to leave for your place around noon. I figured we’d take your car so that Renee has the rental here.”

  If he had been trying to get a reaction from her, she intended to disappoint him. His anger was what she wanted. She could deal with that. It was safer for both of them. “That’s better,” she said with a sweet smile. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot at noon.”

  As she walked away from him, he buried his face in his hands and swore profusely. “Impossible woman,” he muttered.

  “What the hell is the story with those two?” Craig asked Renee. They were both sitting at his desk having a cup of coffee when they heard Mel’s office door slam shut. A moment later Trevor stalked by and out the front doors, muttering what they were both sure were some pretty heavy curses.

  Renee shrugged. “All I know are rumors. Trevor doesn’t talk about it.”

  “Well if things don’t get any better between them, I’m afraid only one of them is going to come back from their little trip.”

  “My money is on Mel,” Renee said with a grin.

  “I’m not much of a gossip, but what are the rumors that you heard?”

  “You know about her getting taken by Julius Becker and almost killed?”

  “Yeah, though to be honest, I didn’t know till I saw it on the news last night and Googled it.” He clenched his jaw. “She went through that and never said a word to any of us.”

  “I would guess she doesn’t want to think about it and if no one knows, no one will want to talk about it with her.”

  Craig nodded. He could see Mel going that way. When it came to her life outside the department, she kept to herself more often than not.

  “From what I unders
tand, Bill, our director, handpicked her and Trevor for the team he put together to hunt Julius Becker. They were both still junior agents at the time. Like me,” she added with a grin. Now she bit her lower lip. “Here’s where the rumor part comes in. Supposedly, your boss and mine wound up getting involved with each other while working the case. Anyway, she was leaving his room in the morning and got tricked into the hotel room Julius was waiting in.”

  “The woman accomplice that they never found.”

  “Yup. More rumor has it your boss was actually trying to make herself bait for this nut job, thinking she could stop him and she did it against direct orders from her boss.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure whether that part is true or not.” But knowing what she knew of the sheriff now, she thought it might likely be true. “Anyway, Trevor shot the guy before he could kill her. Things fell apart for them afterwards. I don’t know why. She left the FBI, drifted for a year and wound up here.”

  “I just wish they’d figure it out so the rest of us can stop walking on egg shells.” He looked down the hall toward Mel’s still closed door before saying, “She’s been in a shitty mood all morning. I got my ass reamed for leaving a fax on the machine. Brody got his reamed for leaving a half cup of coffee on the break room table.”

  Renee watched as Trevor came back into the building, looking none the happier. He glanced at her as he walked by, heading down the hall toward Mel’s office. A man on a mission.

  “Oh, man, he just doesn’t know when to quit, does he?” Craig asked.

  Renee grinned again. “Nope. That’s what makes him so good at what he does.”

  “He ain’t gonna be any good to anyone if he gets himself killed,” Craig pointed out. When the boss slammed her door, it meant stay the hell out.

  Trevor didn’t stop to think, he just shoved the door to her office open, stepped in, then slammed it shut behind himself. “Look, I’ve taken just about enough of your shit, Mel,” he said to her back. She was standing at her window, looking out.

  “Go away, Trevor,” she said without turning.

  He thought he heard a slight tremor in her voice. “No. Not this time.”

  “Trevor, please, just leave me alone, will you?”

  Now he knew he heard it. Unable to stop himself, he moved toward her and when he was close, reached out to touch her shoulder, meaning to offer comfort.

  Sensing what he was about to do, she stepped out of his reach and turned around to face him. “Don’t you touch me,” she growled.

  Drawing his hand back, he said, “I won’t try to read you--”

  “You’re damn right you won’t,” she said, stopping him before he could finish. “You don’t just get to decide that since I’m not a basket case anymore you might be interested.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.” God, he hadn’t realized just how badly he had hurt her or how deeply her anger ran.

  “Then what are you doing?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. He just knew he didn’t want to see her hurting. “I just thought--”

  “Well, don’t.” She began rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have that option, Mel. We have to work together. It can either be pleasant or not. I, for one, don’t want to fight with you the whole time. It’s a waste of time and energy that’s better spent trying to find this killer.”

  “I’ll work with you, Trevor. Because I have to. Don’t expect anything else. We are not friends. And we certainly won’t be lovers.”

  “All right,” he agreed, watching her rubbing the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed. “Head hurt?” he asked.

  Opening her eyes halfway, she glared at him. “What gave it away?” she asked dryly.

  “You’re suppressing your natural abilities, building up energy and not releasing it. That’s why you get the headaches.” He bet she released that energy and used her abilities when she was asleep sometimes. She had to, or her head would explode.

  “Thank you doctor, for your diagnosis.”

  “Do you have nosebleeds?” he asked.

  “Do I look like I want to discuss this with you?”

  Sighing, he said, “I just know how some of it works, that’s all.”

  “So do I, so I don’t need your unsolicited advice.”

  He shook his head. “You aren’t going to make this easy, are you?”

  “Finally. You get it.”

  “Actually, I don’t. You claim to have left the past in the past, but you sure could have fooled me.”

  She wanted to tell him he had broken her heart and she could never leave that in the past, not with him standing in front of her. Instead, she said, “You know, we might as well leave now. I’m not hungry anyway.”

  He didn’t like the fact that she didn’t want to eat but thought maybe if he got her in the car he could talk her into stopping somewhere. “I’m fine with that.” He had his suitcase with him.

  “Meet me in the parking lot. I have to talk to Craig before I go.” She wanted to make sure he would be all right while she was gone, though she knew he would be. He always did a good job of covering for her when she took vacation, though she’d never left in the middle of something like this before. Of course, there never had been a something like this to leave in the middle of.

  Trevor nodded. “I’ll send him back. He was hanging with Renee and I need to talk to her a minute too.”

  She watched him walk out of her office and let out a long sigh. She was not entirely sure she could manage being alone with him for days on end without either strangling him or…she shook her head and did not allow herself to finish the thought. There was no way in hell she was going to fall into bed with him again. No. Way.

  Craig stepped into her office somewhat cautiously. “You wanted to see me, boss?” He wasn’t sure if Trevor was just sending him in to take some abuse or if she really wanted to see him.

  “I do.” She went behind her desk and took a seat, absently rubbing the back of her neck. “I just want to make sure you’re okay with this. Me leaving, I mean.”

  He sat down across from her. “Oh, sure. I’ll be all right, you know that. Anything comes up, I can always call you.” He saw her little frown and smiled at her. “What? Were you hoping I’d tell you hell no, I can’t handle it so that you wouldn’t have to go?”

  “Something like that,” she admitted. “Trevor and I…don’t exactly get along.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” Craig said sarcastically, before he could edit himself. He was glad that he and Mel had such an easy relationship because she laughed and shook her head at him.

  “Just behave yourself around Agent Marshall,” she said with equal sarcasm.

  Craig nodded his head. “Oh, of course.”

  Mel knew he would. Craig was a complete gentleman. If anything, he would frustrate the beautiful redhead to no end by being too nice.

  “Mel, I know it’s none of my business, but is what he did to you so bad that you can’t forgive him for it?”

  Surprised by his question, she blinked at him for a moment before saying, “I don’t know.”

  Six

  “You’re sure I can’t talk you into a burger? A sub? Anything?”

  Mel let out a breath between clenched teeth. “If you want to get something to eat, Trevor, we can stop and get something. I told you, I’m not hungry.” In fact, her headache was so bad now that she was nauseous.

  “I can wait,” he said from the passenger seat, looking around. They were out in the middle of nowhere now. Farms lined the road as far as he could see. One plowed field after another. One dairy farm after another. Turkey farms. Farms and more farms. “Just where the hell do you live, anyway?”

  “I bought a farm last year.”

  “A farm? As in cows, chickens pecking and corn growing?” he asked, surprised.

  “No animals yet. Soon though. I’m thinking some cats, dogs and a couple horses. No cows. I can’t look someth
ing in the eye and then eat it. It has to come to me already dead. I have to put up some fence this spring before I can do much though.” Surprised she had rattled on about anything personal with him, she clamped her teeth together and quit talking.

  He saw her stiffen and frowned. She’d almost loosened up. “I’d forgotten you grew up on farms.”

  Slowing the car, she turned off onto a gravel road lined with trees and the occasional house. After a half mile or so, she slowed again, then pulled into a driveway that looked like it was cut into the woods. She followed that another quarter mile until suddenly they were out of the trees and in a huge clearing.

  The house was a two story farm home painted white with black shutters and had a large, deep front porch that spanned the entire front of the house and disappeared around the sides. As she pulled up in front of the house, he saw she had a swing and a rocking chair out on either side of the front door.

  “This is a little secluded, don’t you think?” he asked her.

  Shutting the engine off, she looked over at him. God but he was an opinionated bastard. Annoyed, she said, “I like my privacy.”

  “Privacy might not be a good thing right now. You should consider staying at the hotel until we catch this guy.”

  Opening her door, she gave him a scowl. No way in hell was she going to stay at the same hotel as him. “And you should consider minding your own business. I think I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

  Getting out, he looked around her small front yard. “I’m sure you can, but you have to sleep sometime.” He saw that she was still scowling at him and not moving toward the house. “You want me to wait out here?”

  She did want him to wait in the car, but shook her head. She also didn’t want him to know how uncomfortable it made her that he was in her personal domain. “No, you don’t have to do that.” She then started for the house.

  He followed her up the steps to the porch and in the front door. The small breezeway broke off to a small room where a washer and dryer sat, along with a coat rack. Going straight, they entered a kitchen with a wood floor and a large dining table that looked even older than the house. The kitchen was large, suited for a farmer’s family. She had an old harness hung on one wall over the back door. Horse bridles and photos adorned some of the others.