Max had trouble correlating the Allie he’d met, the Allie who had trembled in his arms last night, with that type of emotional upheaval. Then again?
Max shifted his attention out the window, his gaze landing on Allie and Simone huddled together just outside the press’s view. “They didn’t set out to hurt her, did they?”
Eden shrugged. “No. But being ignored and pushed aside most of your life, being expected to take care of yourself well before kindergarten? That’s a special kind of neglect to my mind. To her credit, she hasn’t cut them off, which is why Simone and I tend to stick close when we can where they’re concerned. I’m not telling you all this so you’ll feel sorry for her. And if you tell her we had this conversation, I will string you up by your...thumbs.”
Max grinned behind his cup.
“Allie and Chloe were close,” Eden continued. “Inseparable from the second they met. The four of us, actually, but there was this bond between the two of them Simone and I could never quite break through. And that was okay. Allie felt protective of her, even though she didn’t need protection. At one point, she asked Simone if she knew someone who could dye her hair red so other kids would stop teasing Chloe about hers. Allie needed to be someone’s protector, like we’d been hers. She needed to be needed. When Chloe was killed...” Eden paused and took a long breath. “It broke something inside of each of us. We didn’t go back together in the same way. I got angry and some would say cruel. I’m still angry. I don’t see that changing even after we get this guy. I’m lucky Cole understands that and somehow still loves me.”
He must, Max thought. Why else would he have married her?
“Simone got smart,” Eden said. “I wanted to make people—criminals—pay for what they’d done in any way possible. Simone wanted them to be held accountable within the confines of the law.”
“And Allie?” Max was almost afraid to ask.
“Allie needed to know why. If she can figure that out, then maybe she can stop it from happening again. And yet here we are, dealing with not only another child abduction but one that strikes closer to her heart than she’d ever admit. Hope is hers, Max. She was from the second she stepped foot in Allie’s office. Even if her disappearance wasn’t connected to Chloe, Allie would be doing exactly the same thing. If you can’t see or understand that, that’s fine. But don’t judge her for it.” She took a slow drink and gave him a glance. “Don’t judge any of us for it. Lecture’s over. I’m going downstairs to find Cole and bug him.”
He watched Eden leave, her words clearing the confusion hovering around any thoughts of Allie. Eden was right. Allie was more than what he’d seen of her in the last day. She was a product of a path not so dissimilar to his own and Joe’s, and yet she hadn’t let it define her to the point of losing herself. She’d exploded beyond her potential, beyond her circumstances, just as Joe had, just as Max had tried to.
And here she was waiting to publicly reopen a wound that anger, reason and time hadn’t been able to suture. In fact, Allie was taking it one step further by putting herself in the kidnapper’s sights in the hopes of luring him to her. Daring him to come after her, to make a mistake.
All in order to bring his niece home.
A sacrifice Max would never, ever be able to repay.
* * *
“Stop that.” Simone grasped Allie’s hand and pulled it away from her lapel, where it had been smoothing the pin the surveillance team had tacked onto her egg-yolk-yellow jacket. “Since when do you fidget?”
Allie pinched her lips tight. “Nervous energy.” Energy that had nothing to do with the press conference and everything to do with finding Max in her sunlight-bright kitchen this morning making her breakfast. They couldn’t have been more polite to one another if they’d been having tea with the Queen of England. “Long night.”
“I’ll bet.” Simone leaned over to peer around the oversize planter to where the reporters were gathering. “Your Max looks as if he’d be very attentive to detail.”
“He’s not my Max.” Allie shuddered against the sweet memory of Max’s hands slipping up her back, sliding around to her—“Nothing happened.”
Simone stood up straight, looked slightly disbelieving as she arched a perfectly drawn brow. “If you say so.”
“Nothing much happened,” Allie corrected and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Did it occur to you that this topic is completely inappropriate given everything that’s going on?”
“Has it occurred to you sometimes life presents you with certain opportunities at the absolute worst time? Take advantage of it or don’t, but don’t wallow about it.”
Allie shook her head. What was it with her friends’ accusations of wallowing? “You don’t understand.”
“You want to try that again?” Simone moved to stand in front of her, blocking Allie’s view of the podium, and nailed her with that big-sister stare she’d perfected in the last twenty years. “You think I didn’t feel guilty when Vince and I got back together? That I didn’t realize the timing was—as you put it—completely inappropriate? One second we’re watching them drag Natalie Subrov’s body out of the Delta and then the next I’m wondering what future I might have with him.”
Allie didn’t like the disappointment she saw on her friend’s drawn face.
“I did feel guilty, but I also still had my life to live,” Simone said. “I still had possibilities ahead of me and she didn’t. It took some time to get used to.”
“Natalie wasn’t murdered because of you,” Allie said.
“Geez. Eden’s right. We need to send you to a support group. Listen to me, Allie.” Simone ducked her chin, took a deep breath. “You’re not to blame for what happened to Chloe. Did it ever occur to you that you and Max need each other? If it grows into something more, all the better. I’ve always thought you were brave, Allie. Don’t bail on me now claiming you’re afraid to take a chance on something potentially wonderful because you’re afraid of...what? How it will look?”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” Allie snapped. “I need to focus on Hope. I can’t afford to be distracted—”
“That’s my point, Al. He doesn’t have to be a distraction. He can just be. Unless you’re just scared and using Hope’s kidnapping as an excuse to avoid any confusing entanglements. You’ve never let yourself get serious about anyone. Until now. And whether you realize it or not, whether you want to admit it or not, you are serious about Max.”
How Allie wanted to argue, but she couldn’t.
“You don’t need anyone’s permission other than your own to be happy, Allie. But if it’ll help, you have mine and Eden’s.”
The double glass doors to the courthouse opened and what looked like a suited army of judicial power emerged. Lieutenant Santos headed their way as DA Ward Lawson, dressed in tailored blue perfection, took his place at the podium. “You ready, Allie?” the district attorney asked.
“She’s ready,” Simone said. “I’ll be right behind you.” She squeezed her hand around Allie’s. “Whatever you do.”
* * *
Allie welcomed the anonymity of a crowd; it was her safe place, where she always felt most comfortable. Probably a result of feeling ignored and invisible most of her early years and then later because of the strength she’d found in friendship.
Yet here she was, hours after the press conference had ended, hours after the reporters and bloggers had stopped shouting questions at her and her fellow speakers, holed up and dwelling on all the things she’d said, what she wished she’d said. And waiting. For what? What exactly was she waiting for?
Being alone allowed the doubts to creep in and settle, eating away at her professional and personal confidence until she was that shy, five-year-old girl on the school yard having her ball stolen. Only this time Eden couldn’t beat up the playground bully for her; Simone couldn’t hold out
her hand and welcome her into a new reality.
This was her reality; in the next day or so they’d know if Hope had a future. Or if Allie had made such a huge tactical error that she cost a young girl her life.
She could hear the replay of the press conference echoing through the station room in the offices of the Major Crimes unit. Her own voice scraped against her ears as she answered question after question flung at her by voracious reporters eager to sink their fangs into a potentially career-making story.
Had she given them anything they could use? Anything that would help find Hope? Had her cool examination, explanation and accusations made any difference?
She didn’t have the answers. So here she sat, in one of the small interview rooms, staring at the life-altering cell phone and its countdown clock.
Allie swallowed hard, tried to stop the tears from forming in her eyes. If she’d failed this child, if somehow she’d done something to endanger her even more...
A knock sounded on the door. Before Allie could respond, it opened. Max poked his head inside. “There you are.”
Allie forced a smile. “Here I am.” She sat up, suddenly alert. “Has there been word—”
“No.” He stepped in and closed the door. “No, nothing yet. I went to Joe’s for a bit, checked up on him, but all we could do was stare at each other in silence. So I came back. If I’m going to stare at anyone, I’d rather it be you.”
Allie wished she could force herself to smile at his attempt at humor. Somehow, in the last few days, he’d become more of a coping mechanism than her self-imposed shutdown. She liked having him around, teasing her, throwing out completely inappropriate statements or comments that both mortified and amused her.
Simone was right. Maybe the universe had put them in each other’s path for just that reason.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever this is.”
“Oh, this?” Allie waved her hand over the phone. “No, Simone and Eden would call this wallowing, but it’s actually me second-guessing every decision I’ve made since this whole thing started.”
“How exactly is that different from wallowing?”
This time her lips twitched.
“Well, then, I’ve found the right place.” He took a seat across from her as if they were about to engage in interrogation. “How about I offset that with an apology.”
“For what?”
“For blaming you. For accusing you of being responsible for what’s happened and not thinking about Hope. She’s being used against you and has been from the beginning. That isn’t your fault and I should have seen that sooner. You were amazing at that conference. I don’t know how you do it, remain so calm and seemingly detached.”
“Remove me from the equation and none of this would have happened, so there’s no apology necessary. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
“Removing you from the equation means we never would have met.” He placed his hands on the table, palms up. “As much as I hate what’s happening with Hope, as much as I’d do anything to change that, I’m grateful for you and everyone who’s trying to help.”
Because she wanted to, because she needed to, she put her hands in his. “I thought by now he’d have responded,” she whispered. “I thought I read the situation well enough—”
“There’s no reading this situation, Allie. There’s only doing what we can do.”
Another knock sounded on the door. Bowie pushed it open. “Hey, Allie. There’s a Nicole and Patrick Goodale here to see you? If you have time. They’re down in reception.”
“Oh.” Allie pushed to her feet, a bit unsettled at the idea of her two worlds colliding. “Thanks, Bowie. I’ll be there in a second.”
“Your foster sister and brother?”
Allie nodded. “I would have thought they had their hands full with the restaurant and all.”
“They’re probably worried about you.”
Allie shrugged. “I should probably go.”
“Are you planning on teleporting?” Max asked when she didn’t move.
“No.” Allie forced a laugh. “No, actually, I was just... Would you mind coming with me? I know it sounds silly—”
Max stood and held out his hand. “You want to take that with you?” He inclined his chin toward the phone as she rounded the table.
“Unfortunately.” Allie slipped it into her jacket pocket. “Thank you. For—”
He kissed her. Not like he had before on the side of the road. Certainly not the way he had on her sofa. No, this kiss, while it conveyed affection and the slightest note of passion, felt more like his version of a warm hug but with added benefits. “Sometimes you think too much, Doc,” he murmured against her lips. “How about you ease up on the throttle and go with the flow?”
Unaccustomed to feeling speechless, she nodded and together they walked to the elevators.
She spotted Nicole out of the corner of her eye when the doors slid open on the first floor. Tall and thin, with jet-black hair and pale porcelain skin, Nicole Goodale had always reminded Allie of Snow White. Nicole wore a forest-green suit today, elegant and refined, and the furrowed brow told Allie her foster sister had been watching the news.
“What is going on?” Nicole asked in an odd, whispered tone. “Patrick and I were having brunch at the restaurant when we saw the broadcast. I’m sure you’re busy, but we wanted to come by and—”
“Are you all right, Allie?” Patrick, graced with the same features and coloring as his slightly younger sister, cut her off. The tension in Patrick’s eyes seemed pronounced; there was a heaviness in his face that couldn’t be blinked away.
“I’m fine.” Allie glanced between the two of them. “It’s my patient who’s missing. I’m just doing everything I can to help find her. You didn’t need to come down here.”
“I told you we’d be bothering her,” Patrick admonished Nicole, who moved in and wrapped her arms tight around Allie. “I’m sorry, Allie. Nicole was worried all this would bring up memories of Chloe.”
“I always have memories of Chloe.” Max squeezed her hand as if warning her about her irritation-tinged tone as she struggled to breathe in Nicole’s hold. “Oh, sorry. Max, this is Nicole and Patrick Goodale.” She used the introduction as an excuse to pull free. “They lived with my family for a while when we were kids. This is Max Kellan.”
“Kellan?” Patrick’s eyebrows vanished under the sweep of dark hair edging his eyes. “As in Hope Kellan, the missing girl?”
“She’s my niece,” Max said.
“This entire thing is terrible, just terrible.” Nicole tapped restless fingers against the base of her throat. She moved to stand beside her brother. “Please tell me if there’s anything we can do to help. Do you need to hold a fund-raiser or have a meeting place for community outreach? We’d be happy to offer our restaurant.”
“Not at this time, no,” Max said. “But I’ll be sure to tell my brother about the offer. Allie was saying you’ve only recently come back to town. Must be nice to reconnect after all this time.”
While Max’s effort at small talk seemed appropriate, something in his tone didn’t ring true.
“It’s been wonderful.” Nicole reached into her purse and pulled out a business card to give him. “So many lost years and family is so important. I’m sure Allie’s told you all about her dinner the other night. Allie, we didn’t realize you were seeing someone. You should have brought him with you.”
“We only just—”
“Got serious,” Max cut Allie off. “But I’ll keep the invitation in mind for the future.”
Patrick’s cell phone chimed. He gave his sister and Allie an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. My crew is putting the finishing touches on the restaurant. It’s a lot of hand-holding.” He moved outside to take the call.
“What i
s it that Patrick does at the restaurant exactly?” Max asked.
“A little bit of everything.” Nicole said with a glimmer of pride. “He’s my partner, my right hand. Keeps me steady and focused. Also doesn’t hurt that he can make or fix anything. It’s saved us a fortune on reconstruction and upgrades. It’s a nice change for him after all the years he spent in construction as a contractor.”
Allie just smiled.
“We’re bothering you, aren’t we?” Nicole blinked obsidian eyes at her. “I’m so sorry, Allie. I just wanted you to know we’re here for whatever you need. Has there been any word on Hope? Any idea who’s taken her or why?”
“Nothing we can talk about yet,” Max answered before Allie could.
“I think you need to take that as your cue, Nic,” Patrick said as he returned to the lobby. “I need to do some damage control myself back at Lembranza. Allie, hopefully this will be resolved and Max’s niece will be home soon.”
“Well, let’s hope we can put all this behind us and enjoy your parents’ party, Allie,” Nicole said with a restrained smile. “Max, I assume you’ll be joining us?”
“Afraid we’ll be playing things by ear.” Max backed away, giving Allie an excuse to follow. “It was good to meet you.”
“You as well.” Nicole waved at them as she and her brother headed out the door.
“Well, that was odd,” Allie said.
“Glad to hear you say that,” Max muttered. “You didn’t tell me your foster siblings were vampires.”
“They’ve always been on the eccentric side,” Allie admitted. “It’s not uncommon when kids have the erratic and unstable upbringing they did. From what I remember, it was pretty rough. They mean well. Well, Nicole, at least. I’ve never really been able to get a good read on Patrick. He’s always been quiet.”
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