“Come on, it’s gorgeous. It makes me miss Arkansas. Hell, I never thought I’d miss Arkansas, but the mountains here are beautiful. And the air is amazing.”

Rafe frowned. “The air is air, Cam.”

“Nah, it’s different in the mountains. It’s cleaner.” Cam turned and stared after Laura. She almost walked out the door and then seemed to remember that she had left something behind. Her fiancé.

She awkwardly returned to Wolf Meyer’s side. “What is she doing with that asshole? I don’t buy the whole ‘we’re getting married’ thing.

She hasn’t got a ring on. She doesn’t look comfortable when he touches her. And did it seem to you like everyone was a little surprised when they talked to her?”

Rafe hadn’t missed the store owner’s slight double take. He was glad that Cam hadn’t missed it either. He might have been out of the BAU for a couple of years, but Cam still knew how to read body language. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I want to take a close look at that guy. He was the only one who didn’t flinch. That makes me interested in him.”

Cam held up his phone. “Already on it. I’ll run a search on the fucker the minute I get decent access. We should have a nice size file on him by the time night falls. I sincerely hope he’s got a record.”

“Well, we can hope.” Rafe started to walk toward the front of the store. He would check out this place Laura wanted to go to tonight, but he wasn’t going to let her shut him out for long. She was in danger. If they had found her, it was a good bet that the Marquis de Sade could find her, too. He wouldn’t underestimate the fucker again.

He’d gotten her once. He wasn’t getting a second shot.

Wolf casually looped an arm around Laura’s waist. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with her at all. If it hadn’t been for that small space she kept between them, Rafe might have bought that they were a happy couple. Rafe was willing to bet that they weren’t sleeping together.

Wolf leaned over to whisper in Laura’s ear, but something caught his eye. He moved fast. One moment he was cuddling up to Laura, and the next he was rushing out the door.

Laura turned to them, a stern look on her face. “Well, now you’ve done it.”

“What?” Rafe asked. He felt like he hadn’t done a damn thing right since the minute he’d stepped off the plane. It was unnerving.

He wasn’t the guy who fucked up. He was cool and smooth. He took care of things. Cam was the guy who unraveled from time to time. It was the way their partnership had worked for years. Cam screwed up, and Rafe smoothed it over.

But Cam had been taking the lead since they crossed over the Bliss County line.

Now he wondered exactly what he’d screwed up this time. Laura stomped out of the store.

“Come on,” Cam said. There was a bounce in his step as he jogged after Laura.

Rafe followed, but with trepidation. He really hoped no one was naked. There was no way he would be able to unsee that. He had really thought a nudist colony would be filled with hot women. Nope.

Middle-aged men. With their dorks hanging out.

Rafe pushed through the door and saw what had Wolf and Laura up in arms. A tall, thin man was walking around Rafe’s rented black SUV, an odd instrument in his hand. It was shaped like a small satellite connected by a wire to a box that beeped like mad.

“Now, you see here, Wolf, it only beeps like that in the presence of extraterrestrial materials.”

“Mel, it beeps like that all the time.” Wolf spoke in a long-suffering tone.

The older man was dressed in a mechanic’s jumpsuit. He had a trucker’s hat on, but there was a glint of thin silver peeking out from the cap. Was that tinfoil?

“Well, of course it does, son. You’re full of all kinds of alien stuff.

Half your DNA is alien,” the man named Mel said with a fond smile.

“It goes off around you and your brother, but you’re a good boy.” Rafe heard Cam snort beside him. It was pretty funny. Wolf Meyer was an enormous, badass-looking man being called a “good boy” by a man half his size.

Laura’s foot tapped against the sidewalk, her pretty face masked in an irritated frown. “Mel, they aren’t aliens. They are worse than aliens.”

“Ain’t nothing worse than aliens, Laura,” Mel argued, running his instrument over the hood of the SUV.

“They’re feds.” The word dropped like a lodestone.

Mel backed up. “Well, hell. That is worse.” Cam covered his mouth, but walked forward. “We’re very sorry to disturb you, sir. We just got in from DC to talk to a former special agent about a very important case.”

Mel’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve given the FBI at least fifty important cases, and they ain’t never called me back. You ain’t with The X-Files are you?”

“The X-Files is a TV show.” Rafe was at a loss.

Mel nodded. “Yes, sir, that’s what they want you to think.”

“My momma loves that show,” Cam said, his southern accent suddenly thick. “Now, I’m not an agent any more, but I still have contacts. I can call and ask about where your cases have gone.” Mel’s eyes narrowed. “You would say that if you were an alien.” He held out his beeper. It went off, but weakly.

“I spent all morning in that car,” Cam explained. “We rented it out in Alamosa.”

“You got the rental agreement?”

“It’s in the glove box. I assure you, I am one hundred percent southern boy. And self-employed. I left the FBI years ago. You just can’t trust big government.”

Now Mel was all smiles. “Well, hell, I came from the south myself. I was from Georgia until the mothership picked me up and dropped me just outside of Denver. Now they don’t usually do that.

They’re usually real good about dropping you back off right where they took you. But they were sneaky with me. You see, I managed to stay awake through my probing. Now, that wasn’t all unpleasant. I mean, first you’re real scared and all, but there are times when it feels nice. I just wish they wouldn’t play so much Britney Spears. Those aliens really like that Britney Spears. Come on, son, let’s go get some lunch at Stella’s, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Cam turned his head and gave Rafe a helpless smile as he allowed himself to be walked off. Mel started in on what alien lubrication was like, and Rafe just stood there feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.

Laura had a grin on her face that would have made the Cheshire Cat proud. “Guess your brand of charm doesn’t work here in Bliss.” She placed her arm through Wolf’s and walked off after Cam and Mel.

The cell in Rafe’s pocket buzzed. He was grateful for the distraction. He looked down at the number. His chief. Joe’s voice cracked over the line.

“You ma…okay?”

Yeah, well it was far too much to ask for good cell reception.

“Joe, I can’t hear you.”

“Wha…can’t…where?”

“You’re cutting out.” He raised his voice, somehow hoping that louder would be better.

“On his…Bliss. New information.”

“What information?” He was screaming now, frustration taking over. Was it on the case? Was it about Laura? His hand tightened on the worse-than-useless phone.

There was a click and a buzzing sound as the call disconnected.

Someone slapped him on the back. Rafe turned and saw a man with a cowboy hat on his head. He was dressed in khakis, and there was a gold badge on his chest.

“You know yelling at it doesn’t fix things. If you want to yell at someone, yell at the Farley twins. They had the brilliant idea to turn our nearest cell tower into a SETI receiver. I have no idea how those boys managed to screw it up so badly, but it doesn’t work anymore.

The phone company says they’re working on it, but we’re so small, I don’t think we’re a priority. We’re all scrambling,” the man said. The badge on his chest proclaimed him to be the sheriff of the town.

“We’ve had to make do. Now, if you want really good reception, there’s this hill right outside the Harper Stables. You tend to have to stand on one leg, and it’s best if you take a friend with you because the really good spot is about four feet off the ledge, but as long as someone holds on, you should be all right.” The sheriff tipped his hat and started to walk off. He didn’t look back as he said his final words of wisdom. “And watch out for bears!

And Max Harper. He can be worse than a bear. If you see him coming, I would shoot first and ask questions never.” Yeah, Rafe fucking hated this place.

* * *

“Are you planning to tell me why we’re lying to federal agents, or have you had an abrupt change of heart? Because if the latter is true, then we have to talk about the way you proposed. A guy needs some romance with his marriage proposal. And you didn’t get down on one knee.”

Normally, Laura would have laughed at Wolf’s teasing. Now she found herself frowning his way. She shouldn’t be pissed at him, but he was the only one around. “If you could just go along with it, it will only be a couple of hours. I assure you, once they tell me what they need to say, they’ll be right back on a plane to DC. Those two are very career oriented. They don’t belong in Bliss.” Wolf helped her step up the curb as they walked toward the parking lot beside Stella’s. Holly had driven Laura into town, but she’d decided it would be best if Wolf drove her home. It was all the better to keep up her little deception. She couldn’t feel too bad about it. After all, they had deceived her. At least she hadn’t slept with them before she lied to them.

Wolf walked her toward his dually. The massive black truck was a lot like Wolf, enormous, powerful, and very comfortable on the inside. He opened the door and handed her up.