Stonegate Investigative Agency (SIA) is called in on a case
regarding 20-year-old bones and is requesting SIA's best
forensic Anthropologist, Patience McGee. Patience quickly
confirms that age of the bones and the fact that a homicide
has taken place, but SIA is short on detectives which sends
Patience out on her own on her first investigation in the
field. Patience takes on the task of notifying the next of
kin and is surprised at the lack of emotion from the
deceased's son, Cade Randall. Patience is shocked to find
Cade back in his home town taking a personal interest in his
father's case promising to follow her every step of the
investigation confusing her to no end. How can
she be logical and methodical when the air sizzles
whenever Cade is within ten feet of her let alone solve a
20-year-old cold case.
Cade Randall is completely thrown out of his element as the
prim and proper Patience McGee of the Stonegate
Investigative Agency explains that his father, who Cade has
always believed took off 20 years ago with another woman,
was murdered. As the detail of a multimillion dollar merger
floats through his mind, Cade is having a difficult time
grasping the truth of Patience's words which are threatening
everything he has always believed and the walls he has
erected around his heart regarding his father. After some
time passes for Cade to absorb the information that his
father didn't really leave him and his mother, he is
anxious to find out what really happened 20 years ago which
means being Miss Patience McGee's shadow. To Cade's
delight, the sparks igniting between him and Patience are
enough to light up the sky.
This is the third book in the SIA series and it is a hot
one! Havens has a knack for building the characters in her
stories to the point where the reader's emotions are in play
which is pretty rare and exciting. Great read!
Forensic anthropologist Patience McGee doesn't play games.
So when she offers to investigate the death of businessman
Cade Randall's father from twenty years ago, Cade's
ambivalence is nothing short of frustrating. Well, she'll
show this mouthwateringly hot man exactly who he's dealing
with….
Cade had made up his mind to walk away from the case—until
Patience dared him to help her investigate the murder. And
as they immerse themselves in the mystery, it isn't long
before the vibe between them goes from civil to sizzle. But
what will happen when Cade and Patience realize that the
most dangerous dare of all…is the truth?
Excerpt
"Your father is dead."
It took a few seconds for the Phosphor County sheriff's
cautious words to register. Cade Randall's chest tightened
with pain, but he pushed the emotion away.
Figures the old man would show up today, of all days.
Even dead he still caused trouble.
Cade didn't want to care about the man who abandoned his
family twenty years ago. He glanced around the offices of
Stonegate Investigative Agency wondering why the sheriff
brought him here to tell him the news when a simple phone
call would have sufficed.
The woman behind the desk watched him carefully. He
struggled to remember her name—Patience something. He
didn't know who she was, exactly. She was beautiful. A
professor type, with long blond hair that framed a perfect
face featuring high cheekbones and nearly translucent green
eyes. She wore a suit jacket over a miniskirt, he recalled
her legs were the kind men dreamed about. And she smelled
like honeysuckle, which for some reason was the most
distracting thing about her. His father was dead.
Judging from the looks on the sheriff's face and Patience's,
they were waiting for him to respond.
"Sheriff, I appreciate you letting me know."
He checked his phone. There were six messages from his
executive assistant. "I'm sorry, but I need to go."
The merger was happening today, and he couldn't be late for
his next meeting. Cade rose to leave.
"Wait." Patience held out a hand as she stood.
"Don't you want to know what happened to your
father?" Her eyes narrowed with recrimination. To her,
Cade probably looked like a heartless bastard.
"Ma'am, he left our family many years ago without so
much as a goodbye. He just didn't come home one night. So,
no, I don't care how he died, or where he was when you found
him." He paused reflecting for a moment. There was
someone who would care. "Though I'm certain my
grandmother would like to give her son a proper burial."
"Please, hear me out." Her voice was firm. "I
promise you I won't take more than two more minutes to
explain."
Stubborn woman.
Cade didn't have time for any of this. He had to get back to
the office. Though something in her eyes compelled him to
stand still. "Fine. You have my attention." He
crossed his arms over his chest.
She didn't bother sitting down. "As the sheriff said,
I'm Dr. Patience Clark, Stonegate's forensic anthropologist.
Your father's remains were brought to Austin by the sheriff
for identification."
Cade inclined his head slightly to let her know he understood.
"I'll cut to the chase, since you have no interest in
what happened to him. I felt you should know your father was
murdered about twenty years ago on some land just outside of
your hometown."
Murdered? In Phosphor?
The knot in Cade's chest tightened even more. That
meant…No, she had to be wrong. Why was this happening
now? His phone vibrated again and Cade took it out and
glanced at it as the sheriff and Patience watched him.
His father didn't leave the family, after all. Cade rubbed
his forehead and tried to process the information, but he
couldn't. He couldn't deal with this today.
Cade shoved what Patience told him on a mental shelf. He'd
deal with it after the merger. His employees were depending
on him making this deal work.
"I apologize for my behavior and I appreciate you
bringing this to my attention. Unfortunately, I have to
go." He started to back out the door.
Patience gave him a wary glance. "One more minute,
please." She pulled out a two-page document. "If
you'll sign this, it'll give me permission to pursue your
father's murder on your behalf, then I'll get out of your
hair. You may not care who killed him, but my company,
Stonegate Investigative Agency, has a one hundred percent
close rate when consulting on cases. I need to find your
father's murderer. The sheriff will be supervising the
investigation."
Cade's gut burned with anxiety and he ran his fingers
through his hair. He had to get out of there. "I'll sign
anything you want, but I'm not sure what you think you're
going to find after twenty years. Seems like a waste of time
to me."
She pushed the documents toward him on the desk and pointed
where she needed his signature. "My guess is you've
never been on an archeological dig. You'd be surprised what
can be found even after thousands of years. The sheriff told
me the bones were discovered by hikers in a shallow grave
that had been wasted away by erosion in a remote area, so if
it's been untouched there's a good chance I'll find
something."
"It's your time." He shoved the papers toward her.
"Thank you." She pulled the signed papers to her chest.
The lifted eyebrow told him she didn't approve of his
attitude, but he couldn't worry about that. The merger about
to take place meant big things for his company. The value of
his employees' stocks would rise through the roof, and he
could start the new research division for their microchip
and have an entirely new brand of supercomputers out next year.
He shook the sheriff's hand and took Patience's hand in his.
It was soft, and he had a feeling her scent would linger on
his skin. "Thank you, again."
His phone buzzed, and he answered it.
"Sir, Greg is here and he says he has to talk to you
now." His assistant was excited, which meant something
had happened.
"Give me thirty seconds and then put him on."
Cade tried to smile at the sheriff and at Patience but was
sure that it came off more as a grimace.
"Again, I appreciate your efforts." He turned to leave.
"Here," she said. "This is my information, in
case you have any questions."
He stuffed the folded piece of paper into his pocket and
hurried for the door, the phone at his ear.
As Greg spoke, he tried to listen, but his mind was on his
father and the woman who had given him the news. While Cade
usually didn't care what people believed of him, it bothered
him that she might consider him a coldhearted jerk. Well, he
could be when it came to business, but that was different.
"Cade, did you hear me? The meeting has been moved up to
ten. You have to get here now," Greg yelled through the
phone. Normally, Cade wouldn't take such insubordination
from an employee, but Greg was also one of his best friends.
Cade slipped into the limo waiting for him and the driver
shut the door.
"Greg, calm down. I'm on my way. I'll be there in five.
We have plenty of time to go over any last-minute issues."
The other man went on to tell Cade some of the details, but
he only half listened. He pulled the folded sheet from his
jacket pocket. Her business card slipped out, the scent of
honeysuckle filled his senses. He opened the piece of paper
to find a brief note.
"I dare you to help me find your father's killer."
She'd met him less than ten minutes ago and she knew exactly
how to get to him.
Cade wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Patience sat in the basement of Phosphor's County
Courthouse, staring at six giant boxes of records. Her job
usually involved identifying bones, some of which were
centuries old. This was her first time to do any real
detective work, something she normally left to others at the
agency.
The seasoned professionals at Stonegate knew exactly how to
tackle cold murder cases. With so many colleagues busy with
other projects and a burning desire to get out of the lab,
Patience couldn't let this case rest. She couldn't stand the
idea of this poor man being murdered and no one caring
enough to do something about it.
Her mind flashed to the sexy Cade Randall. The instant their
eyes met, her body reacted with a heated blush. That sort of
thing never happened to her and she'd been worried she might
be coming down with a cold. But when those steely gray eyes
of his had narrowed in on her, she could tell he was just as
attracted to her as she was to him. Anthropologically
speaking the reaction was an interesting phenomenon, one she
wouldn't mind pursuing.
Too bad he's a jerk.
Shoving her hair up into a ponytail, she moved toward the
boxes, grateful experienced agency detectives Shannon and
Katie had given her advice on where to start. No one seemed
to know who owned the land where the bones were discovered.
Finding the answer was her first assignment on the
well-ordered plan she'd devised.
"More than likely, no one wants to lay claim because
they are worried about the consequences," Katie had
informed her. "Some of the records may be really old,
and property lines shift all the time. When land is
inherited or sold and the surveyors don't know what they're
doing, anything can happen. There have been cases where
fifty years later a farmer discovers part of the land he's
been working on most of his life, isn't his. Disputes over
land, especially in Texas, are a big deal. It's a good place
to start."
Lifting the lid on the first box, dust assaulted Patience.
She sneezed, and reached for a tissue in her bag. Evidently,
people didn't hang out in the Phosphor records room very
often. The whole place could use a vacuum and about a
hundred dust rags. Patience had a slight case of OCD and
preferred her spaces neat and tidy. She kept her labs
pristine, and she wasn't a fan of moldy smelling dustbins
like the basement.
Pulling out an armful of files she sat down at the long
table and began to peruse them. For three hours she sat
searching for one mention of the property in question. She
didn't find a thing.
Her first day in town, and she was doing not so great.
Frustrated, Patience returned everything to its proper place
and put the lids back on the boxes.
Way to go, detective.
Her friends made it look so easy.
Glancing at her watch she realized it had been several hours
since she'd eaten.
Guess it's time to check out the Bluebonnet Cafe.
She'd seen the establishment across the street when she
parked in front of the courthouse. It was almost one and
when she entered the cafe she could tell it had been a busy
afternoon. Dishes were stacked high in a big tub behind the
counter, and the waitresses were wiping down all the tables
and refilling salt and pepper shakers.
"Hey, darlin', why don't you take that booth in the
corner, we've got that one cleaned up for you," said the
waitress with a long brunette ponytail, jeans and a pink
T-shirt that read "Shut up and eat."
Patience nodded her thanks and walked toward the back. A
group of older gentlemen sat at a center table. They looked
like regulars, and she wondered if maybe she should try to
talk to them to see if they knew who owned the property. But
food was her first priority.
The menu was on the table, and from the delicious smells in
the kitchen she had a feeling the selections were comfort
food greatness. She ordered a cheeseburger, fries and
lemonade. She thought seriously about a piece of coconut
cake, before deciding the burger and fries would do enough
damage.
She didn't mind her curves, unless they made her jeans too
tight, which was why she usually stuck to meat, vegetables
and fruit.
The waitress delivered her lunch, and Patience gasped. The
hamburger was almost as big as the plate. Even with her
appetite she would barely make a dent in the food.
A shadow crossed in front of her table. Patience glanced up
to see three of the men from the other table standing over her.
"Hello." Patience was curious as to why they were there.
"Heard ya was over at the courthouse digging into
property records," the oldest man said. He wore a dark
gray hat, jeans and his skin was so leathery it didn't look
real. His nearly black eyes were downright hostile, as was
his tone.
"I might have been," Patience ventured. She didn't
know what they were up to, but she refused to be
intimidated. "I'm not sure how it concerns you, one way
or the other." Her right eyebrow rose. She'd dealt with
bullies all of her life, she could handle a couple of
rednecks in a Podunk town.
"Quite a mouth you got there," said the youngest of
the three, who was probably somewhere around fifty, though
it was hard to tell with his black hat pulled down over his
face so low she couldn't see his eyes. He leaned forward.
Patience refused to move, holding her chin even higher.
"Reckon you should keep to your own business and leave
our town alone," the man threatened.
"I reckon you should leave my friend Patience there
alone," said a voice from the doorway of the cafe. There
was a silhouette of a man who wore a cowboy hat, white
shirt, boots and jeans, but she couldn't see his face.
"Her business is my business," he continued,
"and I don't appreciate you making threats to my
friends."
The older man held his hands up in surrender.
"Just looking after the town, Cade. We don't like nosey
folk in our business."
Cade walked to the table and Patience had to forcibly shut
her mouth with her hand. The man had been sexy in his suit,
but in these jeans, he was nothing less than smokin' hot, as
her boss, Mariska, the owner of Stonegate, would say.
He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Hey, there.
Everything okay?"
His lips scorched her skin, and she couldn't breathe.
She nodded.
Cade slid into the other side of the booth. "I see you
ordered enough for the both of us." He gave her a
dazzling smile.
She willed her mouth to work, but it didn't. Though her
heartbeat did double-time.
Cade glanced at the men. "Moses, Jim, Ralph, I'm sure
you have better things to do than watch us eat." He
smiled but his tone implied they should leave quickly.
Up until six weeks ago when he came to town to check on his
land at his grandmother's request, it had been two years
since Cade had been in Phosphor to visit his family. Not
much had changed. For the most part the townspeople were
friendly, but these old characters were the exception.
The men stared at him, but eventually backed away, mumbling
as they left the cafe.
Cade jumped up to grab an empty plate from the waitress, and
ordered a sweet tea.
Patience remembered the last time she'd seen him. He was
like some kind of Jekyll and Hyde—a mind-bendingly sexy
Jekyll and Hyde.
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