The bloated, distorted features of the woman's face were almost unrecognizable. The sun shone off the waters of the bay, casting a cheery glow upon the otherwise dismal scene. Birds sang in the distance as a seagull sat on the hot sand staring at me, almost as if it knew that I felt as unqualified for this job as the man who had drove drunk and put this woman into the bay two nights ago.

Swallowing hard, I glanced at the picture in my hand, then back at the pale, swollen face that had already become a meal for some hungry fish. Though it was almost impossible to distinguish one feature from the next, I had no doubt as to who lay on the shore. “It’s definitely Mary Hendricks.”

Behind me, my male partner (who took the role of overbearing alpha male to a whole new level) shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet and scoffed. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” I said, tilting my head back to stare at the man who Captain had paired me with—more than likely, on purpose. Just to torture me. “Is there a problem, Rollins?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how you did it in North Carolina, but in California? We usually wait for DNA or dental records to state who our victims are.”

If I heard that phrase one more time, I was going to explode.

Ever since I’d come back to California, everyone had been throwing my abrupt departure for college in my face, as if it had been a bad thing to spread my wings and go elsewhere for a few years. Everyone might not know it, but I had a pretty good reason for doing so, and if anyone should know that reason…it was my partner. I’d had a damn good reason for fleeing, and he knew it. Just like I had a damn good reason for coming back, after all this time.

“We did the same in North Carolina, but in this case?” I gestured at the victim’s arm, pointing at the tattoo that said Girl Power. “I was with Mary when she got this tattoo, as well as the one below it.” This time, I pointed at the tattoo that had MLH in fancy scrawl. “Which literally has her initials on it, so, yeah, I’m going to go ahead and say that this is Mary Hendricks.”

Rollins flexed his jaw, staring down at me. “Still, no official word will be spread until we get the results back from forensics.”

“Obviously,” I said dryly, standing and swiping my free hand on my pencil skirt. I’d worn a light khaki colored one today, along with a checkered blouse. Every day when I dressed, I spent way too long agonizing over what outfit would represent the woman I was now—strong, empowered, independent, responsible—as opposed to the girl I’d been—irresponsible, reckless, wild. The girl who had gotten her heart broken, and run away instead of facing the pain.

I wasn’t that girl anymore.

Too bad no one else could see that.

Rollins gestured to CSI. “It’s all yours.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling at them.

None of them met my eyes. Typical.

Rollins started toward our waiting car without waiting for me. I followed him, studying his broad biceps and even broader arms. Once upon a time, I’d clung to those shoulders as he kissed me sweetly and told me he loved me, but that had been years ago, when I’d been another person. I wasn’t that naive girl anymore, no matter what anyone else thought.

Sliding into the passenger seat, I opened the file I’d placed on hold and set the photos inside it, scribbling my thoughts down on the legal pad. As I wrote, I could feel Rollins’ eyes on me.

“What?” I asked, not lifting my head.

“Why are you writing on paper? You’ll just have to do it again later.”

“Because I don’t want to forget anything.”

He started the car, shaking his head. “Okay.”

I bit my tongue, refusing to rise to the bait. He’d been trying to get under my skin from the moment we’d been assigned as partners, and I wasn’t about to let him succeed. “I remember things better when they’re fresh in my mind.”

“As I recall it, you never forget anything.”

The sarcasm in his tone was impossible to miss. “I don’t forget things that are important to me, no.”

“So, your job isn’t?” he immediately shot back.

“I didn’t say that.” I set the pen down and looked at him. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Rollins.”

He rolled his eyes at my use of his last name. In my opinion, just because we’d seen each other naked years ago didn’t mean we needed to be on a first name basis on the job. Not to mention that had been a lifetime ago, and I’d never make that mistake again. “As I recall, you hate it when I do that, too.”

“Then don’t do it.”

He shrugged. “What would be the fun in that?”

The sun gleamed through his driver’s window, shining off his blond hair and almost blinding me. His jaw was hard, chiseled from stone, and he pressed his mouth into a tight line, like he usually did around me. His green eyes currently hid behind shades, but more than likely he’d narrowed them on the road as he gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles showed white. He wore a black suit with a white button up shirt and a sensible tie, like usual.

It annoyed me how handsome he was, mostly because he annoyed me so much.

“Do you get off on picking on me?” I asked, unable to help myself.

So much for not taking the bait.

His lips quirked into a smirk. “You know what gets me off.”

“No, I don’t.”

The smirk widened. “Oh, right. That’s one of the reasons we broke up—you never gave a damn about what I wanted out of life.”

And just like that, I lost my cool. Damn him. “As I recall it, we broke up because you—” I cut myself off. Not doing this. Not fighting with my ex. Nope.

He slammed his breaks at the red light, swiveling to face me with flared nostrils. “Because I did what, Sarah?”

“Light’s green,” I said dryly, arching my brows, refusing to answer him.

He knew what he did. He just thought I didn’t know.

He muttered a few choice words and stepped on the gas, his knuckles even tighter on the wheel than before. It was a miracle it didn’t break under pressure. “This is a horrible idea.”

“What is?”

“Us, together again.” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You need to ask for reassignment.”

I rolled my eyes. “You can ask for reassignment.”

“Why me?” he demanded.

“Why me?”

He pulled into the parking spot and slammed the car into park. “Because you’re the one who waltzed back into town, thrusting yourself into my life uninvited, and—”

“I didn’t thrust into anything of yours.”

Yanking his keys out of the ignition, he pressed his lips together. “I know. I remember that, too.”

I closed my eyes and counted to three. It did nothing to calm me down. “I swear to God, Rollins—”

“What?” He blinked at me innocently. “Too much?”

I glared at him, saying nothing.

“There’s an easy fix to this.”

Gripping the door handle, I unbuckled and hugged my file to my chest. My heart beat hard against it, faster than usual. Probably because of him, which only made me angrier. He took his shades off, and the force of his eyes locking on mine almost made me hold my breath. Almost.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” I managed to ask.

“Do what you do best. Give up and walk away.” With that, he took his own advice, opened his car door, and walked away.

If only it was as easy for me to do.