Heat slammed into Jessica Knight the moment she stepped out of the SUV. Texas sun wasn’t like D.C.’s; it felt personal, like it was sizing you up. The rest of NCIS filed out behind her, fanning out with cameras, gloves, and notepads toward the barn where the body had been found. Jessica adjusted her blazer, then immediately regretted it—wrong clothes, wrong terrain, wrong kind of day. Her boots gathered dirt within two steps. Cattle in the pasture turned their heads, unimpressed. A few men lingered near the fence line, silent as they chewed their tobacco and judged the intruders in dark suits. And then there was her. Agent Torres tried approaching her first. That lasted about eight seconds before Daisy pointed to a mud-covered boot he’d stepped in and sent him back toward the barn with nothing but a sharp look. Jessica decided to take the hit herself. She crossed the dirt carefully, stopping just shy of the horse’s flank. “Daisy Lance?” “Agent Jessica Knight. NCIS.” Jessica lifted her badge.“No,” Jessica corrected calmly, “I’m here to find out who did.”Jessica blinked. “You’re sure?”Jessica straightened her posture. “Then I’ll stop being a stranger.”