Lost and Found

by Allison Brennan

  “I used the database. I’ve got a backdoor that lets me access the non-public records. But I’m invisible. No one knows I was there.”

  “Okay, good. Just… don’t look up anything else.”

  “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy.”

  “No, I am. I appreciate your work… But this is sensitive information.”

  “Hey, no kidding. I’m not an idiot.”

  Of course he wasn’t. That was the problem. Mac was one of the smartest people she knew.

  “You going to give this to the Santa Ana detective who’s investigating the shooting?” he asked.

  “I’ll take care of it. Just text me what you have and I’ll handle it from there.”

  They got off the phone and she looked around her bedroom.

  She heard noise in the kitchen, and she started down the hall, then glanced down at herself and made a detour into the bathroom.

  Whoa.

  She stared at reflection. Her hair was a tangled mop. Her lips looked swollen and she had beard burn on her neck.

  “Damn it, R.J.”

  She hurriedly brushed her teeth, then splashed water on her face and reached for a towel. Her head was spinning, and she suddenly felt a surge of insecurity.

  What the hell had she done last night?

  “That’s my shirt.”

  She spun around. R.J. leaned against the doorframe, watching her. He wore only jeans, and the sight of his gorgeously sculpted chest made her heart stutter.

  He eased closer and slid his arms around her waist. He kissed her and she melted into him. His mouth, his body, his hands. His palms slid under her shirt, and he made a low groan of approval as he encountered bare skin.

  Krista’s phone was ringing, but it was her landline, which she almost never used. She pulled out of R.J.’s arms and rushed into the kitchen to grab it.

  “Krista Hart?”

  “Speaking.”

  “This is Seth Brozik, L.A.P.D.”

  R.J. sauntered into the kitchen, and for a moment, she couldn’t think straight.

  “Ms. Hart?”

  “Yes.” She turned away from R.J. to look out the window above her sink. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I’m here at the hospital, and I thought you’d be interested to know that Riley Campbell regained consciousness.”

  She closed her eyes. “Oh, thank God. Is she okay? Is she going to be all right?”

  “She’s been lucid the last hour, and she’s had some interesting things to say. She was able to give a description of the car and the people she saw leaving the scene of a certain incident several years ago.”

  Krista’s stomach knotted. “People?”

  “I don’t want to discuss this any further on the phone. I suggest you come down here and we can talk in person. I’m at the hospital.”

  “But what about Riley? Is she safe?”

  “For the foreseeable future. She’s under police protection.”

  “Oh yeah? Whose?”

  He paused, clearly not liking her tone. Krista didn’t trust the local cops one bit, and he obviously knew why.

  “FBI,” he said. “And that’s all I can say for now. I really need to talk to you in person.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there. Give me…” She glanced around. R.J. was leaning back against the counter, watching her with keen interest. “Give me thirty minutes.”

  She hung up the phone and looked at him.

  “That was the detective?” he asked.

  “Yes, Brozik. He says Riley’s awake and he interviewed her. Everything’s coming together. Or coming apart. I don’t really know what’s happening, but it sounds like she told him what she witnessed at the warehouse three years ago. I think this detective is on some sort of internal investigation and he’s working with Scarlet’s brother. He told me that last night.”

  R.J.’s brow furrowed and he stepped closer. “You trust this guy?”

  “John vouches for him, so yes.”

  “So, who were you talking to earlier? I heard you on the phone.”

  “Mac. He got a license plate off the car we spotted on Long’s surveillance footage. Car’s registered to L.A.P.D.”

  R.J. frowned. “The sedan?”

  “We think it’s one of their undercover cars.”

  For a moment they just stared at each other and let the meaning of that hang there in the air between them.

  R.J. shook his head. “Damn. This thing’s fucked up.”

  “I know.”

  “You going to give this to Santa Ana P.D.?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  Right now Krista didn’t trust anyone. Especially anyone with a badge.

  I’m just thinking about tripwires.

  Maybe someone in L.A.P.D. had Riley Campbell’s records flagged so they could monitor to see if anyone started looking for her. Or maybe someone had an in at the prison where Riley’s mom was, and they’d been instructed to pass along info if anyone started poking around, asking about her visitors. Krista didn’t know for sure, but she knew somehow her search for Riley had set off an alarm and put her in danger.

  She ran her hand through her hair. “I need to get dressed and get to the hospital.”

  R.J. slid his hand around her waist and pulled her close. “So you’re booting me out?”

  The look in his eyes made her pulse race. And the feel of his hand sliding up her spine… She wanted to stay. Never in her life had she felt so tempted to blow off her responsibilities and just indulge.

  He must have sensed her weakness because he dipped his head down and kissed her, pulling her tight against his hard body. He felt so good. She couldn’t bring herself to let go, so instead, she clung to him, kissing him and kissing him until the room started to spin. Finally, she pulled away, breathless.

  “I’ve got to go take care of this,” she said. “But… maybe we could have dinner later?”

  A date, in other words. She held her breath, waiting for what he’d say. She didn’t want this to be a one-time thing.

  He pulled back, and her stomach knotted.

  “Tonight’s no good. I’ve got a thing.”

  “A thing… like a social thing or a work thing?”

  “I have to do a locate for Walker.”

  She paused, trying to read his eyes. “I thought you took care of that?”

  “This is something else. It’s complicated.”

  She turned away so he couldn’t see the hurt on her face.

  She walked into her bedroom and pulled his shirt off, then found one of her own T-shirts and slipped it over her head. She dragged on some jeans and slid her feet into sandals.

  “Krista.”

  She turned around and tossed his shirt at him. He caught it.

  “I have to go,” she said, tucking her phone into her pocket. She walked past him, and he snagged her arm.

  “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  She huffed out a breath. He had her by the elbow, and he wasn’t letting go, so fine. She may as well hash this out now.

  She looked up at him. “I have a question, and I want you to be honest with me.” She took a deep breath. “Are you seeing someone?”

  His gaze narrowed.

  “I don’t care if you are—”

  “You don’t care.”

  She stared up at him, and it was all she could do not to bite her lip. He looked intense. And pissed. And she hated how she felt right now, all clingy and insecure and vulnerable, but she had to know.

  “Fine, I care.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Sometimes I get the feeling you’re keeping things from me. I know you are. And know you lied about going to Hawaii on business. Why were you really there?”

  He bristled. “It’s personal.”

  His words were like a dart in her chest. She tried to walk away, and he caught her arm.

  “Damn it, would you listen a minute?” He gazed down at her and heaved a sigh. “My mom lives there. She’s been out there ever since my dad died.”<
br />
  His mom. His mom. And Krista hadn’t even known his dad was gone. That’s how little she knew about this man, and here she was prying into his life. She felt like an idiot.

  He raked a hand through his hair. “She’s having some health problems, and I convinced her to move to a place where she could get some help day-to-day and I wouldn’t have to worry all the time.”

  The sadness in his voice made Krista’s heart squeeze. Whatever it was, was serious, she could tell, and it pained him to talk about it.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  She leaned against him and rested her forehead on his chest. “You can probably tell I’m a little paranoid.”

  “A little?”

  “My ex lied to me and… Damn it, I know you don’t want to hear all this. You know what happened.”

  He eased back and pulled his T-shirt on, his gaze never leaving her face. Then he picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You’re going to have to learn to trust me, Krista.”

  Her nerves fluttered and she managed a nod. She wanted to kiss him, but he dropped her hand and walked out.

  Krista took a deep breath.

  She finished getting ready and found him in the kitchen, leaning back against her counter and scrolling through his phone. She silently took down a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn’t talk about dinner dates or when she’d see him again, because she knew she would. She could feel it.

  She trusted him.

  It felt weird and awkward to open herself up to another heartache. But what choice did she have?

  She’d fallen for R.J. Now all she could do was follow this thing through and see where it went. The idea scared her. But it excited her, too, and she felt a buzz of anticipation as she watched him over the rim of her coffee mug. He looked at home in her house, and that made her ridiculously happy.

  He glanced up from his phone. “You ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve got some time this morning if you need me to come with you to the hospital. You have any doubts about this guy Brozik?”

  She drained her coffee and set her mug in the sink. “I’ll be fine.”

  Someone pounded on the door, and R.J. turned around.

  “No place like home! No place like home!”

  “Hush up, Spence.” Krista hurried for the door as the pounding continued.

  “Wait.” R.J. pulled her out of the way so he could check the peephole. He looked at her. “It’s Alex Bishop.”

  Krista yanked open the door to find Scarlet’s boyfriend on her porch. He was flushed and scowling and had a cell phone pressed to his ear.

  “Damn it, Krista, I’ve been calling you.” He stepped inside, not even looking at R.J. “What’s wrong with your phone?”

  “I had the ringer off. What—?”

  “I’m here with Krista,” he barked into his phone. Then he looked at her. “Is Scarlet here?”

  “What? No.”

  “Goddamn it. She’s not at Krista’s,” he told the caller.

  “Alex, she’s in Arizona,” Krista said. “She’s on her way back right now.”

  “No she’s not.” He shoved the phone into his pocket. “They found her Jeep on the freeway.”

  Krista’s blood turned icy. “Who found her Jeep?”

  “The highway patrol.” Alex looked frantic. “The Jeep’s been abandoned and Scarlet’s gone.”

  ###

  FOUND

  Allison Brennan

  Chapter One

  Twenty-Four Hours Ago…

  When Scarlet Moreno turned off Interstate 10 onto 101 North, heading toward Peoria, her phone’s GPS told her she’d reach her destination in twenty-six minutes. Twenty-six minutes until she had the answers she’d been seeking for three and a half years.

  Three years, seven months, and twenty-one days.

  Not that she was counting.

  Her stomach flipped, threatening to toss her blueberry muffin and the Venti black coffee she’d been sipping since she stopped for gas near the Arizona border. She’d left Orange County at dawn and had made good time, but her Jeep didn’t go over eighty without threatening to blow up. And it wasn’t like she’d slept much in the last two days.

  Her phone rang and she glanced over, about to press the answer button because she thought it was Krista. She was glad she hesitated, and sent the call straight to voice mail.

  “Fuck you, Alex,” she muttered. But there was no venom in her tone. She had none left.

  She was still angry, but beneath the anger was a pain like none she’d ever felt.

  Her boyfriend had lied to her. Correction: her soon to be ex-boyfriend. Alex had lied to her face. Worse, he knew she knew he was lying and still he didn’t do anything to fix it. He didn’t tell her the truth. He didn’t try to explain. He just let her walk away.

  Story of her life.

  Scarlet had thought they had something different, something… dare she say… special. But no. There was nothing special when a man told you he loved you, then lied to your face.

  Maybe he’d lied when he said he loved her. Maybe their entire relationship was a farce.

  She slowed as the traffic slowed. So much for the wide, open spaces of the West. How many people actually lived out in this godforsaken desert?

  She glanced down, half hoping and half dreading that Alex had left a message. He hadn’t. Probably for the best. She didn’t want to hear him say he was sorry, that he would explain later, that he loved her and that he wanted her to trust him.

  If she even bothered to listen to it. She would probably have deleted it without hitting play.

  Probably. Maybe. Maybe not.

  She really detested having her stomach in knots over a man. Never had she felt like this before. Never had she let her lover turn her to an indecisive pile of mush.

  She called Krista. Talking in her Jeep was impossible if she was speeding down the highway, but now that the traffic had slowed, she could talk. “I’m almost at Gabe’s house,” she told Krista. “What’s going on with the witness?”

  “R.J. and I have a new lead—we’re following up now.”

  “Good—let me know as soon as you find her.”

  “Alex called me this morning.”

  “Really? You didn’t tell him anything, did you?”

  “Of course not—just what I need is to have a cop find out we bribed a dispatcher for information.”

  Scarlet snorted. “Bribe is such a harsh word. No money exchanged hands.” Only tickets to the Lakers. Scarlet had bought them as soon as they went on sale—Lakers vs. the Sacramento Kings. Alex was a basketball fan and from Sacramento. She’d planned on taking him for his birthday at the end of January.

  That wasn’t going to happen now.

  “You okay, Scarlet?” Krista asked.

  “Fine,” she said. The last thing she wanted her partner and best friend to know was that she was on the verge of losing it.

  Over a guy.

  She never lost it over a guy. The fact that she was giving him so much thought during the five-hour drive to the desert was a testament to the fact she had fallen for Alex Bishop hard.

  “Alex just called,” Scarlet said. “I didn’t answer the phone. What did he want with you?”

  “He wanted to know where you were—I said try your apartment. He’d already been there, and the office. He sounded really concerned.”

  “Jerk.”

  “Maybe you should call him. He seemed… unusually worried.”

  “He lied to me. To us, Krista. We can’t trust him.”

  “You’re right,” Krista said with a sigh. “But—there has to be a reason.”

  “Maybe there is. And maybe it’s a damn good reason. But he still lied about something important, and I can’t just forget it.”

  “I totally understand. Whatever you decide, know I support you.”

  “I love you for it. Ditto here.”

  “Be careful, Scarlet. Gabe has a
lot to lose. I should have gone with you.”

  “I have to do this alone. You know that. He’ll tell me the truth—once I tell him I have the recording of his call to me. You be careful, too.”

  A male voice said, “I’ll watch her back, Moreno.”

  Well, shit, R.J. was there and the phone had been on speaker. Krista had said R.J. was with her, but Scarlet didn’t think he was actually listening in… What was she afraid of? R.J. knew what was going on. He was all in with them, but still… it wasn’t his battle.

  “She gets hurt, R.J., you’re next,” Scarlet said and hung up.

  Scarlet grudgingly liked R.J. Flynn. She’d hated him when she first met him and, oh, for the two or so years she and Krista had run up against him on cases. The bastard always had the good-paying jobs through the slimy scumbag defense lawyer he worked for. Scarlet didn’t trust him primarily because of his employer, but over the last few months, he’d proven he was dependable. And Krista lusted after him. She had just (barely) admitted it, but Scarlet had seen the signs. As long as R.J. didn’t hurt her—Krista hadn’t had the best track record with guys, through no fault of her own.

  Unlike Scarlet, who dumped them faster than a hot potato. Until Alex.

  Why was Alex looking for her? What the hell did he want? Twenty-four hours ago, he lied to her face about where he’d been and who he’d been with. She’d flat out seen him going into the Armor Plus headquarters—because she’d been staking them out, taking pictures of their staff—and when she confronted him, he said he hadn’t even been in Los Angeles and certainly not Armor Plus.

  Now he was looking all over town for her? He could go to Hell for all she cared. When she returned from Arizona, she’d add him to the long list of men she’d dumped. He wasn’t anything special.

  Right. Nothing special.

  Sure, lie to yourself, too, Moreno.

  Scarlet’s former partner, Gabe Stone, had lied to her before he quit the force and moved to Peoria, Arizona, to teach high school history. She’d thought then that he’d quit because she’d been nearly killed on the job and he was worried about his family. There were hints of corruption, and the way Internal Affairs completely dismissed her claim that she’d been called to the warehouse by someone who knew both her and Gabe well, told her the corruption had tentacles everywhere.