"You won't regret it. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that."

He snorted, which broke some of the tension. "I'm sure you will. Now, let's see if anyone at the diner knows anything."

As they drove into town, Kyle gave her what he called the penny tour. He pointed out the local hardware store, the library, and some of the little shops they passed.

"Have you lived here all your life?"

Kyle nodded. "I own the house where Ava and I grew up. It's about a mile outside of town."

"You never wanted to leave? See what the outside world had to offer?" Janey asked.

"I spent four years in the Army. That was enough for me."

He turned down a side street and pulled into a parking lot. There were a few other vehicles, but if not for them she wouldn't have pegged it for a parking lot at all. There were no signs-no lines dividing the places for cars. It was just an empty piece of pavement.

She climbed out of the SUV and followed Kyle down a walkway that ran between two buildings. It led to the main street they'd been on moments before. He made a right and pulled open a door, motioning that she should go inside.

"This is it?" she asked, looking for a sign.

"This is it." He motioned toward a little sign in the window that she'd missed. The sign looked like it had seen better days. It was faded, but the words Liberty Diner were still there.

Janey figured it must be one of those hole-in-the-wall places that only the locals knew about. Hopefully, the food was decent, and she wouldn't get sick from it.

Kyle waited for Janey to enter the diner and then followed her inside. At the sound of the bell over the doorway, Claire Lawrence, the owner, looked up to see who the new arrivals were. She grinned when she saw them. "Find a seat wherever. I'll be with you in a minute."

He and Janey made their way to an open booth and sat down across from each other. Kyle did a quick scan of the area and noticed Janey doing the same. It was almost noon, and the lunch rush would be flooding in soon. The other waitress, Kennedy, was behind the counter, stocking the pies.

Claire came over to their table and handed them both a menu even though he didn't need one. "I didn't expect to see you in today, Kyle."

"Plans changed," he said.

"I heard you were the one to find that man yesterday morning. It's terrible to think of something like that happening so close to home." Then Claire turned her attention to Janey. "You must be the detective from Indy."

"Word travels fast."

Claire shrugged. "It's a small town, and this is big news."

"Not much happens around here, huh?" Janey asked.

"Not like this." Claire visibly shuddered. "They can keep the crime in the big cities. I like it here in our quiet little town."

Kyle figured this was as good a time as any to question Claire and see if she'd heard anything that might help them. "The major crimes, anyway. We still have our fair share of teenage pranks."

Claire nodded. "That's true. Just last week some kids spray-painted the high school parking lot."

"At least it was spray paint and not something worse," Janey said.

"That's true. I hadn't thought of it that way."

Kyle laid his menu on the table. "You haven't heard of any kids partying in some of the cornfields, have you? I'm looking into some complaints we've received."

"Sorry, no. But if I do, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Claire. I'd appreciate it," he said.

"Do you two need a few minutes, or do you know what you want?"

Kyle glanced at Janey, but she was still looking over the menu. "I think we might need a few minutes."

"I'll go grab you some waters and be back." Claire scurried away to greet another table. Things were going to start getting hectic, but that was what he wanted. Sometimes observing people was the best way to the next lead.

"How busy does this place get during lunch?" Janey asked, her focus still on her menu.

"There are only a few places to eat in town, so most of the locals come here at least a couple days a week."

Janey nodded. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Probably more than I should, but I'm not a great cook, and I try not to take advantage of my sister any more than necessary."

"So that's a yes, then." Janey met his gaze and there was a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

He grinned back at her.

"Here you go," Claire said, placing a glass of water in front of each of them. "Do you still need some more time?"

Kyle let Janey answer since he'd known what he wanted the moment he sat down. "I'll have the roast chicken, please."

Claire jotted it down on her pad. "Anything to drink besides the water?"

"No. I'm good. Thanks."

"And you?" Claire asked, looking to Kyle.

"I'll take my usual."

Janey quirked her eyebrow up at his answer.

Claire made another note. "Burger and fries it is."

Once they were alone again, or as alone as they were going to be in a public place like the diner, Kyle relaxed back in his seat and focused on Janey. "I told you a little about me, so I think it's only fair you share, too. Have you always lived in Indianapolis?"

"No," she said after taking a long drink of her water. "I moved there after I graduated high school."

"And where were you before that?" he asked, curious.

She hesitated, which he found interesting. Why wouldn't she want him to know where she grew up? "Outside of Fort Wayne."

"Fort Wayne is a decent-sized town."

"It is."

He sat forward, placing his forearms on the table. "Why does my asking about where you grew up make you uncomfortable?"

"It doesn't." At his skeptical look, she clarified. "I just don't like to talk about it, that's all."

For a moment he thought about pushing the issue. It was in his nature to get to the truth, but Janey wasn't a case. He was going to have to be patient. "All right."

"Thank you." She averted her gaze and took another look around the room. "There's a restaurant not far from Paul and Megan's house that's a little like this."

"Paul, your partner?" If she didn't want to talk about the past, he'd take information about her present.

Janey nodded, but offered nothing more on the subject. "So what's your plan? Are we going to talk to all these people before we leave?"

"Nope."

"No?"

He shook his head. "I told Claire I was looking for information. She knows who the farmers in the area are. She'll make sure to mention something about it to each of them and see if she gets any hits. If she does, she'll let me know."

"So you're counting on her gossip?"

"Not exactly," he said. "Claire overhears a lot of things she doesn't share, but she's in a unique position to help us out from time to time. That's why Noah comes here every morning. If she's gotten wind of anything, she can let him know discreetly. She's been a great source of information since she moved to town."

"She didn't grow up here?"

"No. She moved to Liberty about five years ago after her divorce. I'm not sure what all happened, but she got a large settlement out of it and she used it to buy the diner."

Janey tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Sounds like there's a story there."

"I'm sure there is, but I don't like to pry."

She released one hard laugh. "You could have fooled me."

Kyle smiled and leaned forward again. "I'm not interested in Claire. You, on the other hand . . ."

Janey sobered. "Why me?"

"Why not you?"

Claire arrived with their food, silencing any response Janey might have made. They spent the next several minutes eating and listening to what was going on around them. Most of the chatter was about the weather. It hadn't rained in over a week, and the farmers were beginning to worry about their crops.

No one mentioned the dead body that was found less than two days ago, which Kyle found a bit odd. The only reason he could come up with was that they were unsure of Janey. Everyone else in the diner was local. She was an outsider.

They were finishing up when Claire came by with a slice of pie for each of them and the check. "Gerald said Fred Mitchel mentioned that he ran off some kids from one of his fields a week or so ago. You just never know about kids these days."

He nodded and thanked her for the information. "No, you don't."

To her credit, Janey waited until they were back in his SUV before commenting on what Claire had said. "I'm impressed. That's quite a system you all have worked out."

Kyle grinned as he put the key in the ignition and started the engine. "Let's go pay a visit to Mr. Mitchel and see if he got a look at any of the kids he ran off."

Mitchel's farm was a good twenty minutes from town in the opposite direction from where he'd found John Doe's body. That didn't mean anything, though. Most sixteen-year-olds in the county had a driver's license, since not having one severely limited one's mobility. There was no public transportation in Warren County.

Janey stared out the window as he drove. She appeared to be deep in thought about something.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked.

She turned her head to look at him then went back to watching the fields. "I was thinking about our cold case. He was found behind a dumpster in an alley. It's a heavily trafficked area, and yet no one saw anything."

"Were you able to identify the victim?"

"Yes. Travis Merrick. He was a construction worker. Clean record. Nothing out of the ordinary that would explain how he would wind up dead in an alley behind a dumpster. His wife said he'd called to say he was running late after work, but then he never came home."

Kyle realized then why she kept looking at the fields. "Why would whoever it is change the dump site so drastically if it was the same person that killed both guys?"

Janey nodded.

"Do you think it's a copycat, then?"

"Too early to say, but I'm not ruling it out."

Kyle slowed as Mitchel's farm came into view. He was hoping the aging farmer had some information for them. Not only could it provide them with a lead that would catch the killer, but it also meant Janey would have an excuse to stay a little longer.

He turned onto the dirt driveway and followed it to the old farmhouse. Two golden retrievers ran out to greet them, barking and wagging their tails. A few seconds later, the screen door at the side of the house opened and out stepped Fred Mitchel.

"He doesn't look pleased to see us," Janey said, noting the scowl on the old farmer's face.

"Don't take it personally. He's not a fan of visitors in general, which is probably why he complained about the kids being in his field."

"Do you want me to wait here, then?" Janey asked. "If he's not fond of visitors, I doubt my presence will help loosen his tongue."

"Nah. It will be fine. Fred's more bark than he is bite." Kyle turned off the engine and placed his hat on his head. "Let's go see if we can get Mr. Mitchel to vent to us about those crazy kids."