The Kill by Allison Brennan

Rodgers said, disgusted. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to have a spy somewhere inside.”
    The sheriff was probably right, Zack thought. The reporter had too much inside information printed in his rag to just be lucky. He had people on the inside, probably more than one. Bastard.
    Kirby smiled at them, looking a little too long at Olivia, who was shivering in her heels and standing dangerously close to the searchlights. To keep warm, no doubt. Zack wanted to give her his jacket again, but he sensed she’d balk at the offer.
    “This is a crime scene, Kirby,” Zack said.
    Kirby stopped just on the other side of the bright yellow police tape and smiled like the Cheshire Cat, his features oddly shadowed and blue under the fringe of the lamps. “That’s pretty obvious.”
    “What are you doing here?” Zack jammed his fists into his pockets, primarily to keep from decking Kirby. Every time the condescending prick approached, Zack itched to wipe the smirk off his long, narrow face with one well-placed blow.
    But every time he wanted to hit Kirby, he wondered if it was because he blamed him for Amy’s death, or because he blamed himself.
    “I’d think that would be obvious, too.” Kirby looked beyond them to where the crime-scene techs were finishing up their job. “Same guy?”
    “No comment,” Sheriff Rodgers said. “I’ll be issuing a statement in the morning. Feel free to come by headquarters about eleven.”
    “Hmm.” Kirby pulled out his notepad and pencil. “Let’s see—Detective Zack Travis out of his jurisdiction. Young girl’s body found. Blonde, or so my sources tell me.” He looked at Olivia and grinned. “Well, Travis, bringing your dates with you to murder sites. Didn’t know that was in the manual. But you’ve obviously moved up a notch. This one looks like she can read beyond ‘See Dick Run.’ ”
    Zack pulled his hands from his pockets and took a step forward. “Get out of here, Kirby.”
    “I need a statement.”
    “I’ll give you—” Zack took a deep breath when he felt a firm hand on his forearm. Almost as quickly as Olivia had touched him, she pulled back, but the quiet power of her pressure halted his momentum enough to realize Kirby was baiting him.
    He couldn’t let Kirby get to him. The past was the past; he couldn’t see Amy’s face every time he looked at her boyfriend. Sometimes, though, it was damn hard to forget and leave the past alone, especially when it made him bleed.
    The sheriff stepped between him and Kirby. “I’ll give you a statement away from the crime scene,” Sheriff Rodgers said.
    “But I think—”
    “I don’t care what you think, Kirby. I will not tolerate contamination of my evidence by having you here. Take it or leave it.”
    Kirby glanced at Zack, then Olivia. He winked. “When you’re done with Detective ‘Make-My-Day’ Travis, come by the paper and I’ll show you how a real man treats a lady.”
    Zack shifted uneasily and glanced at Olivia. The last thing he wanted splashed across the front page of the paper was that the Feds were involved in the investigation. And Kirby wouldn’t let it stop there. He’d lambaste the police department, the sheriff’s department, and everyone else in between.
    Olivia didn’t say a word. She arched a single eyebrow at Kirby, her expression cool, detached, and disapproving. It was Kirby who squirmed under her visual reprimand, and Zack couldn’t help but be impressed at the power Olivia wielded with a simple look.
    Kirby cleared his throat. “I’ll come by the station tomorrow, Travis. Still on swing shift, right?”
    “Talk to the chief, Kirby. I have nothing to say to you.”
    “Right.” He winked at Olivia. “I was just teasing you, you know. Travis’s bark is worse than his bite. You could do a lot worse than him.”
    What the hell was that supposed to mean? Zack wondered. Kirby being
nice
?
    “Let’s go.” Sheriff Rodgers led Kirby over the rocky ground to where they’d parked