“Do you have any idea exactly who? Names?” Holden’s interest buoyed her. Maybe she would get her answers more quickly with his help.
“Gio mentioned both Selina Barnes Colton, and Hannah Rosenstein. And I want to state, for the record, that I’m no relation to Selina, not by blood, anyway. And that branch of the Coltons hasn’t had anything to do with me or my brothers in decades.” Vulnerability flared but relief that someone else believed her suspicions, didn’t think she was stringing together random events, outweighed any sense of risk.
Holden watched her for a long moment, then walked to the sofa and pointed at the spot next to her. “May I?”
“Of course.” She shifted to the side a bit, but there wasn’t a lot of room on the two-cushion sofa. As she realized that she didn’t mind being so close to the man she’d been wary of all day, the man she’d attacked, the silliness of the situation hit her. Laughter bubbled up and she let it out.
Holden looked at her and a wide grin split his face, swollen, red-rimmed eyes and all. His pepper-spray injuries didn’t keep her from seeing the spark in his dark irises, though.
“I’m so sorry I pepper sprayed you. I’m not known for being the most gentle of persons around these parts, but I don’t usually attack complete strangers.”
“I’m not a stranger. I’m a federal law enforcement agent who needs answers. It sounds like you do, too. We can accomplish a lot more together than we can separately.”
Anxiety rumbled in her gut. She was a reporter first, not some kind of wannabe cop. “I’m working on an article, a report. Wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest for us to work side by side?”
“Only if you plan on breaking the law, or to keep anything from me that legally I need to pursue my case. I’m ignoring how you got back into the school tonight, of course.”
She considered it, considered him, blew her bangs out of her face. “Fine. But I don’t want you restricting my participation in the pageant at all. I need to be able to function as a regular contestant, to get into all the events.” She groaned as she thought of evening-gown competition.
“To be clear, you’re trying to pin your friend’s death on a particular person on the pageant board? And right now you’ve got Selina and Hannah as suspects?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She hated this part, the fact that she really didn’t even know what she was searching for. It stirred up her worst fears—that she’d never find out why Gio had to die. “What I’m trying to do is expose this pageant’s culture for what it is. Find out what triggered a beautiful young woman to turn to a life of self-mutilation and experience severe body dysmorphia at such a young, malleable age.”
“You aren’t going to find any one person to blame, Bella. You don’t really believe that you will, do you?”
Holden’s gaze cut through her and she shivered, then was awash in heat. Yeah, there was chemistry here. The kind that could and would not only derail her undercover investigation, but get her heart into deep waters. But something more played out between them. Holden was taking her seriously, not mocking her for entering the pageant.
He seemed to respect her, even though he gave off waves of disdain whenever she said the words reporter or story.
“I don’t know what I believe right now. I won’t until I read the pageant archives. Which I may never find now.” She cast a glance at the empty file cabinet.
“Fair eno
ugh. But I’d hate to see you risking your safety to find there’s no answer that will satisfy your need for closure. Trust me on this, Bella. Sometimes we don’t get all of the answers.” The loneliness in his tone wrapped around her. She wondered if he was talking about the service but didn’t want to go there, not with someone she’d just met.
“Where do you live, Holden? When you’re not out investigating beauty pageants?”
He blinked, caught off guard by her change of subject. She liked that she did that to him, made him think on his feet. Or on the sofa. Most men didn’t reveal that she’d made them do a mental double take.
“Right now I’m staying at the Dales Inn, much to the consternation of my boss.” He grinned and it was as if he really did consider her a trusted colleague, adding oxygen to the warm glow in her belly. “We don’t usually get put up at luxury hotels on our government budget. But there wasn’t any other place to stay, not close enough to do my job well. When I’m not on the road for a case, I live in Phoenix. I work out of the field office there, and fly back to DC as needed to give reports.”
“Are you an agent or a profiler?”
“Agent. Profilers don’t generally work in the field, not on an active case, unless it’s exceptional and has involved a larger number of victims. Why do you ask?”
“I already know why you’re here, Holden. There were two deaths in two previous Arizona pageants this year. They’re under the same promotions-company umbrella. You must think they’re related, and that Ms. Mustang Valley is next on the list. Am I right? Don’t worry, I’m not putting any of this in my exposé.”
He stared at her for a second before looking away, out the window at the setting sun. “Partially. But I’m not privy to talk about all of it.”
“What, you want me to work with you but you’re not going to fill me in on what you find? That’s not a good deal for me. Spencer told me more in a three-minute car ride than you have over the last half hour.” She stood up.
“Bella, wait.” He grasped her hand and she looked down at the sight of their hands together. It should feel wrong, or out of place, considering their stations in life and here, now, in the pageant. Yet it felt right.
Bella tugged her hand free. Falling for an FBI agent was not the path to getting what she needed for her exposé. No matter how much her brother trusted him.
Chapter 6
“I’m sorry.” Holden wasn’t fond of apologizing and the fact that he was doing so to someone who’d been no more than a stranger only hours earlier should concern him. But a serial killer was on the loose. He knew Bella’s brother, a man he would trust with his life during lethal missions. All of that, combined with having witnessed what Bella had suffered through so far today made polite social conventions superfluous. There wasn’t time to “get to know” her. Holden was committed to keeping her alive.