turned all the men’s heads down here. Even as a kid I could see that.”
“Do you think any of this might have a bearing on what happened to your sister?”
Pine took a sip of beer. “Meaning did my parents’ secretive past play some role in my being attacked and Mercy’s disappearing?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve started to think about that possibility. But we’re here now and we have to keep plugging. What we learn here may have a bearing on where my mom might have gone.”
“Hey, y’all.”
They looked up to see Cy Tanner and Agnes Ridley heading to their table.
Tanner had on the same pair of jeans but a freshly laundered denim shirt. His old Stetson was in his hands. His huge belt buckle was engraved with the image of a Budweiser beer can.
Ridley’s cotton dress was yellow and long-sleeved, and she had canvas tennis shoes on, showing red, swollen ankles. Her gray hair hung limply around her shoulders.
“Hey back,” replied Blum.
“Mind if we join you?” asked Tanner.
“Come on,” replied Pine, eyeing Ridley.
The pair sat down at their table. Tanner hooked his hat on a chair back, raised his hand, and ordered a beer.
“Another body,” said Ridley. “My Lord.”
“Do they know who it is?” asked Tanner.
“Not yet.”
“I heard he was dressed up fancy,” said Ridley.
“Who told you that?” said Pine sharply.
“You can’t keep nothing secret in this place,” commented Tanner.
“So are you investigating that too, Lee?” asked Ridley.
“I’m helping out the detective on the case. But with the second murder, they’re going to call in reinforcements.”
“Like who?” asked Tanner. The waitress delivered his beer, and he took a long drink before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
They all looked over as the door to the restaurant opened.
“Like him,” said Blum.
Standing there was a six-foot-tall, broad-shouldered man in his late thirties dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and a striped tie. Over his suit jacket was a dark blue FBI windbreaker.
When Pine’s gaze fell on him her jaw went slack and she muttered, “Son of a bitch.”
“Do you know him?” asked Blum, who had heard what Pine had said.
“FBI Special Agent Eddie Laredo,” said Pine.
“Is he a friend, or what?”
“Or what,” replied Pine.
Chapter 30
EDDIE LAREDO’S PAIR of sharp light green eyes alighted on Pine and held there like a magnet on metal. The man had a square jaw and a long, slender nose cleaving his face precisely in two. His thick eyebrows were as dark as his hair. His neck was long and descended into a pair of broad shoulders that nicely filled out his jacket. His torso tapered to a narrow waist, and his muscled thighs rode tight against his dress slacks.
But it was the eyes that held one’s attention. Calm, but perhaps a bit threatening in their intensity.
He walked across the room and came to stand next to Pine.
“Hello, Eddie,” she said, not looking up at him.
“Heard you were in town, Atlee,” he said quietly.
Now she did glance at him. “And who did you hear that from?”
“Just around.”
“Phoenix?”
“Just around.”
He drew an empty chair from another table and slid it next to her and sat down.
He glanced at the others and nodded. “Agent Laredo, FBI.”
Blum ran her gaze over him and flicked a glance at Pine, who still sat stonily in her chair, then said, “I’m Agent Pine’s assistant at the Bureau, Carol Blum. Did you get called in to work the two murders? I assume so.”
Laredo nodded. “Flew into Atlanta, just drove in from there.”
“You alone?” asked Pine.
“For now. That could change depending.”
“Right.”
Ridley said, “So, do you know each other?”
Laredo glanced at Pine before answering. “Long time ago. We worked at the same place. BAU Four. Behavioral Analysis Unit,” he added when Ridley gave him a puzzled look.
“It was for a short time,” said Pine.
“Short but intense,” retorted Laredo.
“Have you spoken with Max Wallis?” asked Pine, ignoring his comment.
“He’s supposed to meet me here, in fact.” He looked at his watch. “Any minute now.”
Pine rose. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.”
Laredo glanced up in surprise. “I thought you were working the case. Was my info wrong?”
“No. I was working the case. But with you here, my help’s probably not needed anymore.”
She walked across the room and out the door.
Blum watched her go before looking over at Laredo, who was studying his hands.
“I guess you two have a history,” she said.
“I take it you work with Pine out in Shattered Rock?”
“So you know that, do you?”
“The Bureau’s not that big.”
“It’s pretty big. We can give you a debrief of what