VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) (11 page)

Once again her mind pulled a snapshot out of a drawer.

“He was angry and followed her into the room. Tall, big-bodied with shaggy black hair. He had a scar on his face and a tattoo on his arm. I remember that the most, because I’d never seen one before. I described it as a black star with a circle of blue around it. Later I learned it was a pentagram for a gang that ran that part of town.”

“Did you see anything else after that?” Luke sounded in more pain than she was feeling.

“No. He was mean looking and I didn’t want him to find me in Mama’s closet, so I curled into the corner with my teddy bear and blanket. That’s where the police found me.”

“How long were you in there?”

“They said just overnight. Our neighbor usually watched me for Mama when she was working at the café down the street. When we weren’t at her door the next morning, she came looking and found Mama. She’s the one who insisted the police search the apartment for me. I didn’t really see much until the policeman carried me past Mama’s body.”

“And that triggered your photographic memory.”

She nodded. “The man’s image that I described to the police helped them find my mother’s murderer. The courts set up counseling sessions for a while with a very nice lady. She helped me understand that channeling the events into snapshots helped me distance myself from the trauma of not only that night, but how I lived the early years of my life.”

“And now? Do you still use it to distance yourself from events?”

Before she could answer that question, his laptop pinged beside them. Realizing she was still seated on Luke’s lap, she quickly slid to the side as he reached for the computer.

“Is that Brianna’s cell phone?”

“The program’s picked up her signal.” He typed some codes into the computer.

“That’s a good thing, right?”

He stopped what he was doing to focus that intense gaze on her once more. “It means her battery is still connected to the phone. It doesn’t tell us if the phone is with her or if she’s okay.”

“I understand that. It’s just…” Unable to finish, she swallowed hard to tamp down her fears.

“She’s family. Believe me, I get that. We’ll just take this in baby steps, okay?” he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Good.” Releasing her hand, he went back to typing away on the laptop.

Watching him so focused on the computer screen, she realized he wasn’t just an arrogant flirt like she’d always believed. Except for the waitress today and the news reporter last night, he’d wielded very little of his usual annoying frat-boy charm.

Seeing the purpose-driven agent who’d shown her both understanding and tenderness just now disturbed her far more. This man was dangerous.

This Luke, she could like.

Suddenly, she needed to put some distance between them. Trying not to look like a deer bolting from a mountain lion poised to strike, she eased off the bed. She retrieved her sneakers from the closet and sat on the other bed as she slipped them on.

“Where are you going?” he asked without a pause in this fingers flying over the keys.

“Just down the hall for some ice to go with the pop we got at the store. I feel the need to walk around.”

“Okay. Leave the safety latch in the door, and take your gun.”

“You’re not serious. No one knows we’re here. It’s perfectly safe in the hallway.”

That got him to stop what he was working on and focus on her once more. “Sweetheart, until we find out who took your friend and why, I’m very serious about keeping you safe. Take the gun or stay put.”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a mock salute and a suppressed urge to roll her eyes. Following his instructions, she took her weapon out of the bedside drawer and slipped it into the back of her jeans then grabbed the ice bucket from the little wet bar in the room.

Leaving the latch in the door to keep it open for her return, she headed for the ice machine, pretty sure the most dangerous thing for her in this hotel was seated squarely back there in her bed.

* * * * *

Once the door hit the latch blocking it from closing behind Abby, Luke paused his fingers on the keyboard and slowly exhaled, trying to rein in the need to follow after her. Over the pounding of his pulse in his ears he strained to hear anything unusual in the hallway.

Nothing but the sound of her shoes on the carpet.

This was ridiculous. Why the hell was he so worried? They were five doors from the ice machine.

Because this was Abby.

Any other agent would’ve known not to leave the room without their weapon, but this wasn’t any usual agent but Abby, who’d never been in the field. For all her training, she was still a novice and it was his job to keep her safe.

Didn’t have a thing to do with how her lips or skin had tasted today when he’d been playing the part of her lover in front of Jeffers and his stalker. Damn right. He was the senior agent on a dangerous op. It was his job to think of his junior agent’s safety at all time.

And all senior agents cradled their subordinates in their laps, pressed in tight to their bodies.

Fuck. And if that didn’t have him all hard and straining against his pants? The last thing he needed to do was act on the desire to bury himself deep inside Abby, no matter how happy that would make him. She wasn’t his usual love ’em and leave ’em kind of girl. She was the kind of woman who gave her heart only once and he damn well didn’t intend to be the one to break it. Wasn’t that why he’d rejected her all those years ago?

Ca-chunk, ca-chunk
.

Well, she’d made it to the ice machine safe and sound.

He had about two minutes to get his hormones under control before she sashayed back into the room, still looking like the damn supermodel. With a sideways glance his gaze landed on where she’d laid her black-framed glasses.

And wasn’t that a fun surprise?

Abby’s brain had always challenged him and he found it very sexy. Add that to her long sensual body and most men would be done in. But who knew seeing her with those glasses on her nose, her brows crunched as she concentrated on her work, would invoke a fantasy he hadn’t even known he had—Abby dressed in heels and only those glasses.

He groaned at the renewed thickness in his cock.

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked as she hurried in the door, remembering to pull the latch so it locked behind her. “Did you discover something?”

Yes, that I have a thing for long, thin brunettes who are smart as hell and look sexy in glasses.

“That this program is taking a while,” he said, all the while thankful that his laptop sat squarely on his lap to hide what really had him groaning. “Two satellites are in line and have picked up her phone’s signal.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

She set the ice bucket back on the wet bar and made herself a pop. He watched as she took a drink, the muscles of her neck working as she swallowed, then her tongue slipped out to swipe across her lips. Closing his eyes he fought the urge to moan.

“Luke?”

The concern in her voice cleared his thoughts. She wanted to know about her friend, not his perverted thoughts.

“Yes, two pings says the battery is still in the unit. What we need now is just one more to get in alignment so we can triangulate her exact location. It’s just taking time to get them in place. Would be easier if I had her password. You wouldn’t have any clue what it might be, would you?”

Shaking her head, she sat on the other bed. “Sorry. Brianna was just as smart about codes as she was numbers. Whatever she chose would be random words, numbers and capitalization. Drove me crazy reminding me to mix it up and change them periodically. You could say she was almost paranoid about it.” She paused, nibbling on her lower lip again. “I guess with good reason, huh?”

“She definitely stumbled into something dangerous. Would she have access to any information that a competitor to Hollister-Klein might want to get a hold of?”

“I don’t think so. She worked simply in the financial area of the company. Nothing with manufacturing. She mostly handled shipping or receiving data. Why?”

“Unless someone was trying a hostile takeover, I doubt they’d go to the extremes these people have just to get Brenda’s codes.”

“Brianna. And I can see your point. Then what could they want from her?”

“I’d say it was whatever prompted her call to you, just like we’ve thought all along.”

With a sigh, she shook her head, stared out the window, blinking hard. “You’re right. I should’ve gotten her tell me more, pinned her down for more information, instead of just hopping on a plane.”

“Hey, don’t go there” he said, trying to stop her from wallowing in guilt before it started. “This is
not
your fault in any way, Abby. She asked you to come help and like a good friend you did just that.”

“I know, but—” Before she could answer his laptop pinged. She set her drink on the bedside table and leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen. “Is that her? Did it find her?”

“It’s her cell phone, Abby. Remember that. It may or may not be with her.” Ignoring the warmth of her body pressed against his back and shoulder he focused on what the computer was telling him. Fingers flying over the keyboard, he typed in a request for the exact coordinates of the signal.

“Just about got it,” he said, zeroing in.

Then the signal disappeared.

“Dammit!” Luke gripped the laptop, wanting to shake it.

“What happened? Where did it go?”

“I don’t know. The signal just stopped.” He entered codes to try and pull up the signal once more. Nothing.

“Could it be the satellites moved?”

He pulled air slowly into his lungs, calming the frustration itching at his nerves, then typed in more code to check the locations of the military satellites once more. “They’re all in alignment. None of them moved. Something happened to the signal from her end.”

“No. Do something. Get it back.”

“I can’t make something appear that is no longer there. More than likely whoever has her found the cell phone and is smart enough to remove the battery.”

“You don’t know that.” She strode the space between the beds, turning and pointing a finger at him like he was a child. “
You
don’t know that. Call DC. Get someone who’s a tech on it. Someone who knows computers and satellites better than you.”

There is no one better than me
.

“There’s no one better than you? Oh so now you’re a computer expert, as well as super spy?” she snapped.

Dammit, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Her sharp criticism stung. He vaulted from the bed, to stand mere inches from her, pushing her finger out of the way.

“No, Abby. I’m a super spy,
because
of my computer skills.” She narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could strike again with her sarcasm probably about his IQ level, he held up his hand to stop her. “Even Einstein can’t make something appear that no longer exists.”

“We have to go there. Now. We have to help her.” She turned on her heel in a rush.

He resisted the urge to grab her arm and force her to listen to him as he watched her grab her phone, her purse and then the gun from the bedside drawer almost in desperation. The reality of his words hadn’t set in, but she really wasn’t going to like what he said next.

“We can’t.”

Something in the way he stated the fact paused her frantic movements about two feet away, focusing her gaze on him. “What do you mean we can’t? You have the coordinates. We may not know where the phone is now, but we know where it was.”

“I mean
we
can’t go now in the daylight. I need to get you somewhere safe, then I’ll go check it out.”

“She could be dead by then.”

Reining in his own temper, he held her gaze, willing her to understand. Slowly her anger eased, her eyes softened and tears filled them as she realized he was right and there was no miracle answer. She lowered her eyes, breaking the bond between them and ripping something inside his chest.

The connection broken, she walked past him to where his computer lay.

“She was right there,” Abby stroked her hand over the laptop as if she could will the signal to return, a tremble in her voice. And with it all his anger vanished.

God, he hated seeing her pain. Only Abby could have such loyalty to someone who thought nothing of putting her in danger. Abby deserved so much better than this.

Without hesitation, he pulled her up against his chest and once more wrapped his arms around her. Holding her tight he couldn’t miss the fine tremors that shook her body, pulling at the open place inside him. “Shh, sweetheart. We’ll find her.”

“How?” Almost eye-to-eye with him, she only had to pull back to look at him and the despair he saw in her eyes sliced him deeper.

“Somehow, I promise,” he murmured a moment before lowering his lips to hers.

He’d meant to just comfort her, to reassure her, to give her some of his strength to get through this. What he hadn’t counted on was the fire that ripped through his blood when she parted her lips to let him invade. The heat of her breath, the sweet taste of her on his tongue, drove him on, making him want more. More of sweet Abby.

She slid her tongue over his, matching him thrust for thrust, making him growl with desire. He clenched his hands in her shirt, wanting to pull her into him, to give in to the need to claim her.

Then she pulled away, her hands pushing at his chest.

“Please don’t,” she whispered, her breath caressing his lips, which were suddenly starving for her.

“Don’t what?” He held her, not yet ready to lose the feel of her in his arms, pressed against him. “Don’t kiss you? Or don’t hold you?”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Don’t kiss me because you feel sorry for me,” she said, pushing against him again. Her words startled him into letting her go. “I’m a trained professional. I can handle this.”

Watching her retreat to the other side of the room to wrap her arms around her torso and stare at the floor as she sank into herself, twisted that open spot inside his chest.