“Do you like different flavors or just plain coffee?”
“Plain and black if you have it.” His gaze scanned the single cup maker and the tree like stand beside it, which held the small pods that went in the maker.
“I do.” She started the coffee maker and put a clean mug underneath before pulling a bottle of water from the fridge. “We can work at the coffee table,” she motioned toward the short oval table in front of the sofa, “or the dining table, it's up to you.”
“Let's go for the big one,” he said after looking back and forth for a moment. “I don't have all that much, but it will give us space to arrange and rear-range things and see what we can come up with.”
“Works for me.” She went to the table. “This is what I have so far,” she set her hand on the stack of papers she'd left there before going up to get him. “I don't have a lot either, but it looks like it might be more than you have. Together, maybe they'll give us somewhere to start.” She watched as he sat down and started paging through the papers, sorting them in some method she didn't even try to figure out. Instead, she went back into the kitchen and grabbed his coffee, then went back to the table. Sit-ting beside him, she opened the folder he'd laid down and paged through it, wondering if he had anything different from what she had.
It took them about thirty minutes to go through what the other had. Rachel didn't know if he read faster or if she was more meticulous about it, but he made it through her stack, which was about twice as many sheets as his, in the same amount of time.
“Well,” Rachel asked as she flipped the last page over, “did you learn anything?” She leaned back in her chair and watched him. He leaned back and turned toward her.
“I learned we have a long way to go.” Chris sighed. “Neither one of us has much about what could have happened to them, though you know a lot more about his daily life than I do about Emily's.” Chris motioned to the stack of papers Rachel had just finished. “As you've seen, I have an address, an employer, and that's about it. Her co-workers say she showed up, did her job, and left. Not one of them even knew if she had a boyfriend. Her emergency contact on her employment application is her mother. I've talked to her several times, but I've not been able to get anything more out of her. She's not here in town anymore, she left after my father was killed and only talked to Emily about once a week or so. What about Ricky? Did he take anything with him?”
“No. It's like he just walked away one day with only what he was wearing. He packed nothing. His wallet is gone, but that's it.”
“Does he have a credit card?” Chris narrowed his eyes as something occurred to him.
“Yeah, I think so. Why?”
“Because if we can figure out how to access his account, whether by logging in or hacking in, we can see if he's made any charges. It might not tell us where he is, but it will tell us where he's been. It could help us find him.”
“Oh.” Her eyes had gone wide, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of checking his bank records.
“Also, there's nothing in here to say,” he motioned to the pages scattered across the table. “Does your brother have a vehicle?” Rachel scowled.
“Yes. He has an Accord; it's a few years old.”
“Have you checked where he parks it?”
“I did. It's missing. I also had security check the videos. He got his car and left three weeks ago yesterday, and he hasn't been back. They're watching and have promised to let me know as soon as they spot him.”
“Do you have someone in the clan who's really good with computers? I mean... hacker good?” She thought for a moment then shook her head.
“Not that I know of, and if we did I would proba-bly know, but let me check with Teya to be sure.” Rachel took her phone from her pocket and sent a message to her boss asking if there were any hack-ers in the clan, or someone they trusted to help with something that might not be one hundred percent legal.
“Also, when was the last time you checked in with security? You asked them to watch for him and con-tact you, but you need to follow up every few days to keep them from forgetting. They have other du-ties too and new things coming in all the time. Revis-it them to keep it fresh in their minds.” Rachel stood and retrieved her notebook from her desk, which sat in the corner of the room.
“We need to make notes of all this as it occurs to us. Actually, several lists.” Sitting back down at the table, she wrote TO DO at the top of the first page, then scribbled check in with security underneath. On a second page, she listed ideas like check bank account and track cell phone. Rachel sighed, leaned back and stared at the two lists while trying to think of anything else to add. Leaning forward, she went back to work.
6
After two hours of going over and over the in-formation they had each gathered and thinking of places and things to check, Chris was wrung out, and he could tell Rachel wasn't doing any better. This part of their search wasn't physically exhausting, but it was emotionally draining. From what Chris could tell from the photos scattered through her apartment and comments she had made, Ricky was the only blood family she had left.
Rachel seemed close to her brother, and she seemed to care truly about what had happened to him and about his well-being. Chris didn't know what that was like. His father had cared more about teaching Chris to be strong and to survive than being loving or kind. While Chris hadn't been beaten or abandoned as a child, it certainly hadn't been easy for him growing up
Chris’s father had raised him to be strong and in-dependent, and he knew it had been his father’s way of showing that he cared for Chris. He had never known the loving environment he'd seen in other families, even after Tiffany and Emily had come along. Chris had learned what it meant to be a werewolf, and what the difference between what he was and what the wolf shifters were. His father had taught him how to deal with the complexities and challenges of what he was, as well as to accept his other half, which wasn’t always the easiest thing when you were a were.
“I think we’ve done as much as we can tonight.” Chris leaned back in his chair and watched Rachel a moment, waiting to see what she would say. Rachel let her head fall forward until her chin hit her chest. She let it hang a moment then sighed.
“I hate to give up, even for the night, but you're right. I don't know if I can handle any more to-night.” She looked wilted and exhausted. With a sigh, she stood, scrubbed her hands over her face, and rolled her neck from one side to the other. “Come away from there for a bit. Let's think about something else for a little while. Maybe it will give us a fresh perspective.”
“We can try that.” Chris pushed away from the table, stood and watched her a moment. “What do you have in mind?”
“I don't really know.” Rachel arched her back then bent sideways, stretching muscles that had been still for too long. “Excuse me a moment. I don't know about you, but I need to use the restroom. There's another down this hallway, first door on the left,” she said over her shoulder as she headed down the hallway. “Like I said before, make yourself at home. I'll be right back.” Rachel disappeared down the hall, then he heard a door click shut.
Chris used the time she was gone to look around. The apartment reflected what he'd seen of her so far. Simple and comfortable, but extremely capable. The sofa was a dark rusty brown, but it looked comfortable, there was a recliner to one side in a dark brown suede, which didn't match but somehow, it fit. A few photographs hung on the walls, several of which were of Rachel and a younger man who looked like Ricky, there was also several of a slightly older couple that resembled Rachel and her brother enough that Chris suspected they were their parents.
Mixed in with the other photos were Rachel with several other people, a Hispanic looking woman, a few with the man they'd met that morning, Neo, and a few other people he didn't recognize. Rachel looked happy in the photos and for some reason that warmed his heart. Chris was glad she'd gotten to grow up with the family life he'd never known. The door down the hall opened again an
d soft, al-most silent, footsteps whispered across the carpet toward him.
“You've got some great pictures here.” He didn't look towards her or away from the wall of photo-graphs.
“Thanks, collecting them is a bit of a hobby of mine. Any time we do something fun, or go some-where new, I try to get a bunch of pictures. I get the best of them printed and rotate them out on the wall so I always have a reminder of the wonderful moments.”
“Wonderful moments. That's a good way of put-ting it.” Unable to resist the urge, Chris lifted one hand and ran it along her cheek in one of the photos. “You look so happy.” He couldn't help the soft, wishful tone his voice took.
“That was a good day.” Rachel spoke from right behind him. “We went out to the lake, rented some jet skis, and made a whole day of it. It was a blast.”
Chris turned to find her smiling at the memory. “Does your clan do a lot of stuff like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like going out to the lake to have fun?”
“We try to. At least once a year we plan a big event for the whole Fraction. There’s always some kind of food, entertainment for the kids and adults alike, though we don't have a lot of kids right now. Just one baby, and she is barely a few weeks old. There are less than a dozen elementary age kids, a few more teenagers, but our numbers have never been huge and they're not growing.” Rachel looked sad while admitting there aren't a lot of dragon children. “Teya, like her dad before her, says these events keep the clan together, keep us close, despite our tendencies to be loners and want to spend time by ourselves.”
“I bet they do.” Chris glanced back toward the photos on the wall. “You all look like you enjoy spending time with each other. Like you're all having fun. That's a good thing.” He glanced away, looking for something to make the ache in his chest fade, and found a painting on the wall across the room. “I wish we had something like that in our Fraction, but we've never been close.” He thought about it for a moment or two. There was no reason he couldn't start something like this for the were-wolves. Maybe he could bring them together. Could he?
“Come sit over here for a while. Tell me more about you.” Rachel moved into the living room and sat on one end of the sofa, watching him as he went to the other end and sat. “You said you grew up here, but that's about all you've told me about yourself, the rest was about your Fraction.”
“I don't know what would be worth telling.” Chris shrugged. “I've been working on taking over the Fraction and putting things back together after Tyrone's dictatorial rule. I'm not saying my dad was a saint, but he looks damn close when compared to Tyrone.”
“And that's why you're looking for Emily? To help put things back together?” Rachel waved one hand. “Forget I said that. We're not talking about the search for a little bit. So how is it you have so much time to pursue your search?” She glanced away a moment then looked back. “I don't have nearly as much responsibility as you do, and I'm finding it difficult to focus during the day when I'm working.” Chris was quiet a moment. Glancing down at his hands, he tried to find the right words.
“I am not quite as hands on as you and your Teya are. I have several assistants who each run different parts of the Fraction and the resort. They report to me, and I make big decisions and oversee their work, but they do the day-to-day management. It leaves me more time to focus on my own projects. Right now, that's finding Emily.”
“Have you noticed that our conversations always seem to circle back to our searches? It's like we can't get away from them, even for a few minutes.” Her head fell, and she looked down at her hands folded in her lap, sadness obvious on her pretty face.
Go to her. The voice of his wolf was clear and commanding in his head. Unable to resist, Chris scooted closer on the couch until he could reach out and pick up one of her hands.
“I know having someone you love gone hurts, and finding Ricky is important. That's why you are having a hard time thinking about anything but how to find him.” Silent tears crept down Rachel's cheeks, and the sight drove Chris's wolf crazy. The wolf snarled in his head. Do something. Unsure what else to do, Chris pulled Rachel into his arms where her silent tears turned to sobs as he held her tight.
Rachel cried until Chris was afraid she was going to make herself sick. About the time he was thinking about calling her leader to make sure she was all right, her sobs began to subside. He didn't know how much time had passed, but she seemed to have exhausted the flood of emotion that had broken through her defenses. While normally Chris hated when women became emotional, he hadn’t minded holding onto Rachel while she cried. The tears and raw emotion let him know she cared deeply about her brother, and she would care just as deeply about him, if he managed to work his way into her heart. After his less than ideal childhood, Chris craved a caring relationship, but not with just any-one. He was waiting for his mate. The same mate his wolf insisted was Rachel.
When Rachel's tears had passed, she stayed curled in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder as she caught her breath.
“I'm sorry,” she started to pull away, but Chris tightened his arms just a little. Not enough to keep her from going if she wanted to go, but enough to let her know he wanted her to stay.
“It's all right.” Chris dropped his cheek to the top of her head and marveled at how well she fit in his arms. “It's never a hardship to wrap my arms around a pretty girl.” Just as he hoped, she snorted then laughed.
“You're full of it.”
“Yes, I know, but the question is whether you think I'm full of charm or full of bullshit.”
“I'm thinking probably both.” Her smile was dazzling, and the tiny drops of moisture still on her eye-lashes only added to the sparkle in her eyes. He leaned closer, tired of fighting the urge to kiss her.
7
Rachel sat in the circle of Chris's arms, wondering exactly how she'd gotten here and why she didn't want to leave. Normally, she couldn't stand being too close to anyone, well, anyone she didn't know well. And to be touched or held tightly, that usually sent bolts of panic through her. But here in Chris's arms, it felt right somehow. Even when he laid his cheek on top of her head.
“Yes, I know, but the question is whether you think I'm full of charm or full of bullshit.”
She thought he was teasing but couldn't tell from his voice alone. Leaning back, she looked up at him and found a playful smile lighting his eyes. “I'm thinking probably both.”
Chris’s banter was infectious and she couldn't help but respond in like as she smiled back. He leaned closer and the look in his eye changed, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
Rachel hoped he was going to kiss her. Chris stopped a few inches away, and he glanced up at her eyes. Kiss him. Her dragon's voice whispered through her mind, pushing for what Rachel already wanted. Uncertain why he stopped, she closed the distance between them and closed her eyes as her lips touched his. A jolt of awareness shot through her body, and she wrapped one arm around him as he responded to her kiss, covering her mouth with his.
Heat flooded her body and lust clouded her mind in a way she'd never experienced in all her life. Her dragon rose and rubbed along the inside of her body as if trying to rub up against Chris. Rachel noted that it was odd but not odd enough to pull her out of the moment or away from the intense rush she felt as her tongue tangled with Chris's. Without thinking about it, she pressed her body closer to his and wrapped one arm around his neck to pull him nearer.
Chris pulled away and stared down at her a moment.
“I should go.”
“Why?” Rachel resisted the urge to curl her fingers into his skin and clothes to keep him from moving away.
“It's getting late, and this isn't what I came for.” Chris gently slid her off his lap and moved back to the far end of the sofa. “I don't want to take ad-vantage of the situation, or you, though I would like to get to know you better.”
“I'd like to get to know you better, too.” Rachel reached across the
empty space but stopped short of touching him. Make him stay. Her dragon wanted him too, but she didn't know how to convince him, and she wasn't going to beg. “Please stay.”
Chris froze, watching her for several long seconds. “Are you sure this is what you want? I can go now and nothing will change, but if I stay, things may go even farther than they already have.” He watched her carefully, as if he didn't want to miss any small reaction.
I hope things go farther, way farther. Rachel ignored her dragon and reached out to take Chris's hand. “I'm sure.” She took a deep breath and let it out while still meeting his gaze. “I have wanted you from the moment I first set eyes on you, before we'd even spoken.”
“At the party?” Chris tilted his head to one side as he waited.
“Yes.” Rachel glanced away. “I noticed you long before you spoke to me. I tried to ignore you and concentrate on what I was doing, but for some rea-son I couldn't.” She turned and met his gaze again. “It's only gotten worse since we spoke. I can't keep you out of my head. And my dragon won't stop pushing me toward you,” she sighed, “Please stay.”
Chris's eyes narrowed when she mentioned her dragon. “Your dragon?”
Rachel nodded.
“Has she been more aggressive and possessive than usual? Making demands she doesn't normal-ly?”
“Yes,” Rachel frowned, wondering where Chris was going with this, “why?” something occurred to her. “Oh, has your wolf been doing the same?”
“Very close. He's been demanding and restless when I'm not with you since I first scented you last night, and he wants to take a chunk out of my hide for trying to leave right now.”
Rachel glanced away then looked askance at Chris. “You're gonna tell me this means what I think it does, aren't you?”
“That depends,” Chris gave a careless shrug, “on what you think it is.”
“You're going to make me say it, aren't you?” Rachel said with a small laugh.
The Dragon Chronicles_City of Sin Page 12