“No, but thanks.” She shook her head, and the ends of her long black hair fluttered in the wind. The rest was under a pale gray knitted cap. She wore a denim jacket over a navy wool sweater, and jeans on those endless legs. Her feet were in lace-up black suede boots.

A serious looker, Dylan thought, and he had a feeling she knew exactly how to use those looks to her advantage. She’d been pissed off with him when he hadn’t responded in the diner, then stormed out. He’d been surprised at her attack, but then women like this didn’t appreciate it when men weren’t falling all over themselves to compliment them.

“Suit yourself, but I’m heading there. I can take you, as long as you don’t talk too much.”

Her green eyes narrowed but whatever she’d been about to say, she kept inside.

“Spit it out, I can take it.”

“My cousin Joe told me if it sounds bad inside your head, it’ll likely sound worse out of it.”

“Smart guy.”

“He thinks so,” she muttered, going to her car.

“So are you coming or not?”

He didn’t want to leave her here, and likely wouldn’t if she chose to stay and wait for a lift. He didn’t want it on his conscience that he’d left a woman on this road when there weren’t any houses or people nearby.

“Thank you for your gracious offer, but I don’t know you.”

Dylan dug his wallet out of his pocket and opened it. Extracting a white card, he handed that to her.

“You’re FBI?”

He nodded.

“And your name is Dylan Howard?”

He nodded again.

“Are you coming to Ryker on vacation?”

He nodded. “I hear the hiking is good.” Why he didn’t tell her the truth he had no idea, but something kept the words inside his head.

She looked down at the white rectangle again before handing it back to him. She then pulled out her cellphone and made a call.

“I’m getting a lift back to Ryker with a guy named Dylan Howard, because my car broke down. If I don’t make contact in two hours, you come looking for me, Maggs. And don’t tell my cousins.” She then pocked her cellphone.

“I had a 4.0 grade point average in high school, and my favorite food is steak with any kind of accompaniment.”

“Haha,” she muttered. “The thing is anyone could get one of those,” she pointed to the wallet he held in his hand, where he’d replaced his business card.”

Dylan wasn’t sure why he was bothering with this woman, but for some reason he was. Making a call he put it on speaker.

The operator answered stating that it was the Federal Bureau of Investigation.