Geri Krotow - Secret Agent Under Fire

“Thank you, Abi. I knew you’d figure it out.”

Abi left, marveling at how getting in and out of the Trail Hiker “corporate” office was more complicated than any FBI facility she’d worked in.

As she sat in her car, contemplating how to contact Keith, she wondered if she had time to run home and freshen up before facing the sexy fire chief. And then she immediately started the car and headed for the fire department. She wasn’t in the business of appearing attractive to a man she was about to spend countless work hours with. The sooner she drew the line on her personal boundaries for herself, the better.

Abi didn’t date work colleagues. She’d learned the hardest way that it never worked out well.

* * *

The next morning Abi parked her car in the small but incredibly functional Silver Valley parking garage. Two stories high, it sat behind the original façade of a general mercantile. According to the historical plaque, the town general store had burned down in the nineteenth century but the façade had remained as a testament to the origins of the town. The parking garage had been erected ten years ago, to keep up with the again bustling nature of the historic downtown.

Walking down the sidewalk it wasn’t hard to imagine the concrete under her feet as wooden planks, the sound of horses’s hooves and the smell of fresh manure all around. As much as Abi loved nature and the outdoors, she was very happy that she’d been born to enjoy the modern conveniences of the twenty-first century.

Reimer’s Real Estate’s display of dozens of photos caught her eye and she paused under their green-and-white-striped awning. Several properties were for sale or rent, most in the town itself. An apartment or small house in Silver Valley proper would be nice, and much quieter compared to DC. But if she wanted to live in more of a city atmosphere she’d live in Harrisburg, only fifteen minutes and one quick ride over the Susquehanna River away.

Abi wanted something more rural.

She squared her shoulders and opened the front door of the realtor’s office, relishing the jingle of the overhead bell.

An hour later Abi wanted coffee and to share her good news with someone. She grabbed a to-go cappuccino from the coffee trolley in the middle of the square and made the short walk to the town’s best florist in less than five minutes.

Kayla Paruso looked up from her screen and smiled when she saw Abi.

“There’s our new gal. How are you today, Abi?”

“Great.” It felt so damned good to have someone greet her with such warmth, as if she were already a part of this town. “I’m checking things out and well...” She looked at the huge bouquet of pink and white tulips on the counter behind Kayla. “Wow. Those are absolutely stunning.”

“They are, aren’t they? It’s that time of year. We get the cuttings three times a week from Baltimore. Interested in some?”

“Not yet—I’m still in the hotel. That’s why I came in here, though. I had to tell someone that I think I’ve found a great house to rent.”

Kayla’s eyes crinkled with her wide grin. “Fantastic! I wanted to ask Rio if you’d found anything yet.” Kayla was smooth but Abi picked up on the real meaning.

“You mean, am I thinking about settling down here?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe. I mean yes, I want to set down roots, start my own business, even. It’s just so difficult to know if I’m acting too quickly or too slowly—will I miss the boat on a great deal or am I throwing my money away trying to start a small business? I love police work but it’s time to move on and think about something different.” Something that would allow her to finally let go of her past and the drive to solve every arson case in her path. Maybe even to be present for a future family, not that she had any delusions that was happening in the near future.

Kayla watched her, her bemusement clear. “You know, Abi, Rio doesn’t bring work home very much. But he has said that you’re an incredible addition to the department. It’s not your work skills he was talking about—it’s how you’ve fit in with the other officers, how you seem to enjoy all of the local folks you meet.”

Abi grunted. “Rio’s my boss on this case we’re working, so of course he’s going to be nice.” Kayla should see what a certain Chief Paruso had to say.

Kayla waved her doubt away with a flick of her callused hand. Floral work had to be incredibly tough on the skin. Abi got it. Handling a weapon, digging through arson scenes—they weren’t easy on the hands, either. She took a swig of her drink.

“Have you met anyone else in the area, Abi? Any cute, single guys?”

Abi choked on her coffee. “Jeez, you don’t waste any time, do you?” She’d met Kayla at the Silver Valley PD annual fund-raiser when she’d first arrived in town almost three months ago. They’d immediately hit it off, but Abi hadn’t taken Kayla up on her offer of friendship. Until this morning.

“Hey, we all need love.” Kayla’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. I hope I haven’t offended you, Abi. I’ll stop now.”

Abi laughed. “I am single, for sure, and I’d love to meet a guy to hang with after this case is done.”

“I have a single brother. Wait, you should have met him already. Keith Paruso?”

Blood left Abi’s head as she looked at the business card holder near the register. Kayla Paruso, Florist. Oh, no.

“No way.” She gulped. “I didn’t put it together.”

“No reason you should have. And, from your face, I can tell you did meet my brother and let me guess—he was his usual complete butt-headed self?”

Abi’s face went hot. “That’s not the word I’d use. He’s obviously dedicated to his job.”

Kayla threw a pair of shears she’d been using to cut florist’s tape onto the counter. “He’s a damned bastard to women. Did he make a pass at you already?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. At all. God, no.”

“He will, trust me. My brother’s a bit of a player, I’ll admit. I could blame it on recent political events in town, which could have cost him his job, but I’d be lying. He’s always been able to make women eat out of the palm of his hand.”

“He and Rio get along. Rio doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d be more than polite to another man he didn’t respect.”

Kayla’s face got all...mushy. “Rio loves me, so he’s going to love anyone related to me. It’s how he is. Trust me, though, if Rio thought Keith was a real jerk he’d be protective of me around him. And he’s never done that. They’ve worked together longer than I’ve known Rio.”

“Especially the last few months, I imagine.”

“Make it the last year and a half. It’s been nuts in this town. You know we lived all over as kids—Belgium, other places. Our parents worked for the government. We were exposed to so much, so young. It doesn’t take a lot to faze me. Or my brother. But having the entire town shook up by this crazy quasi-religious group, and Keith being accused of not doing his job right, along with the mayor being fired and a corrupt mayor getting elected before he got arrested, it’s been insane. Don’t think this is how Silver Valley normally is. We’re quiet here.”

“I think a lot of towns across Pennsylvania and the US are going through the same thing. Not with a nutso cult, but with drugs, violence. Heroin trafficking, the crimes related to addicts needing money for drugs—it’s all mushrooming.”

Kayla leveled her gaze on Abi—the same look Keith was fond of shooting at her and she’d only known him for three days so far. Was it usual to see a familial connection so quickly? To feel a sense of knowing these people she’d only just met?

“I know the facts, Abi. I read the paper online, along with other stuff. I really love reading the New Yorker. I get it. What’s hard is making the transition to the reality that these influences have landed in Silver Valley. Just five years ago it was so much quieter.”