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logic theorem with those chocolate and gold eyes of his intent on the problem. On her.
    She swallowed hard. That was then. Now he worked at the freak farm, so…no. She closed the browser window.
    The image of Cinda’s dead, contorted face popped into her mind. Guilt twisted her soul. She’d put her own agenda over Cinda’s before, and look what happened. Now she was doing it again, only this time it was old business and personal, even less of an excuse.
    She owed Cinda the best, and he appeared to be it. Besides, the sheriff had a point. The Bureau staff was juggling numerous cases. Stefan would work only this one. Damn it.
    Sheriff Burton strolled over, coffee cup in hand. “How’d it go?”
    Mel hesitated, but she couldn’t let her prejudice against woo-woo outweigh the objective recommendations. “I’m okay with it.”
    Burton nodded. “If you have concerns at any point, though, you speak up.”
    “That’s never a problem.” Mel grinned.
    He smiled at her and wandered back to his office.
    Mel paged through the reports in her file, bringing herself up to speed on the investigation. There was only one witness. Except for the woman in the car, no one in Cinda’s area had seen or heard anything. Blast it.
    A shadow fell over her desk. She looked up, into Stefan’s cool, brown eyes. For just a moment, the wary look in them stung, which was ridiculous. She slid her professional mask in place, hoping he hadn’t noticed her reaction, though it shouldn’t matter. He’d been the one who lied and cheated, not her. She’d been crazy for him. Wanted no one else.
    Still didn’t.
    She stomped that thought as she would an oversize cockroach. With both feet.
    “I’m heading to the hospital,” he said. “I’ll fax you a report when I’m done.”
    “I’ll come with you.” What the—? Why the hell had she said that? Was she freaking nuts? The sooner he was out of her sight, the better.
    “Afraid I’ll overcharge the sheriff, Special Agent?” Under the calm words lay an edge of steel.
    Facing the challenge in his eyes, she couldn’t back down. “I hear you’re amazingly intuitive. If you uncover something unusual that bears on the case, I may have questions.”
    And yes, she should monitor the way he spent the county’s money if he was doing anything out of the ordinary, but saying that would only piss him off.
    “Fine.” His eyes narrowed as though he sensed her skepticism and distrust. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 3
    S tefan opened the passenger door of his blue BMW sedan for Mel. Her decision to come with him made no sense unless she simply didn’t trust him…again.
    “Nice car,” she commented, settling into the seat.
    “Thanks. FYI, I didn’t buy it with consulting fees.”
    He shut the door before she could reply. Petty, Harper. Come on.
    He was off his game with her, and he hated that. Hated what she thought of him. And wasn’t that stupid, considering she hadn’t trusted him, hadn’t loved him, enough to give him the benefit of the doubt when they were together.
    When he climbed in and started the engine, she said nothing. She was probably too busy worrying about how much government money he intended to rake in, but she’d soon have to admit misjudging him there.
    Of more concern was the way his blood heated when he touched her arm earlier. A residual attraction to her would not only be stupid beyond belief but would complicate their professional dealings.
    More important was finding out what was going on and whether this killer’s purple eyes, assuming the description was accurate, signaled demon ties. Better to focus on the case. That included following up on the reports of swamp demons that journalist had mentioned. There might be a kernel of truth in those, and that possibility was scary as hell.
    Mel cocked an eyebrow at him above her sunglasses. “Why the Georgia Institute for Paranormal Research? You wanted to be a trauma surgeon. Or run an ER. This seems…pretty tame in