by Sydney Addae
“Good, you’re almost done.” He strode into the kitchen taking up most of the space and stepped close.
He smelled damn good standing next to her finishing the dishes. Realizing she stood there like a paralyzed fool, gazing at his square jaw and long lashes, she took a step back, grabbed her purse from the seat and walked into the living room.
Yesterday it seemed smaller, but it was actually a nice size with solid furniture that looked both comfortable and stylish. There were photos of him and others in uniforms. She looked at each picture, several of the same men were in each photo. The last photo was him and an older woman and a guy with a wide grin who could’ve been his brother except they looked similar in age.
“My aunt and cousin,” Noah said standing near the door.
“Oh.” She spun around as he picked up his sunglasses and slid them on.
“She died a couple years back. He’s all the family I have left, I don’t really count my younger brother,” he added as he held the door open for her.
Heat raced to her cheeks as she strode toward him and outside.
“I’ll drive,” he said.
“No, I’ll—”
“My legs are too long for that compact car. Please, let me drive this time,” he asked with a slight grin.
It was the naughty boy grin that did it for her, well and the fact he smelled yummy, like wood, oranges, and vanilla.
“Let me get my bag.” She grabbed her work case that held her laptop and information she had printed this morning. He stood next to the passenger seat and assisted her up. It was either that or a step-ladder she thought after fastening her seatbelt.
He pulled out and onto the road. “These guys you’re meeting later, they live around here?”
Thoughts on Thomas’ suggestions for the case, Mia nodded. Once they reached the college, she would head to the security office, show the photos of the victim’s van. It was possible someone saw the van on campus or they might have security cams. Thomas had looked as if he felt bad dumping all of this on her, which made her feel like a big crybaby for crying when he left her room.
“What are their names? I might know them,” he asked.
“Ryan and Ryder,” she murmured while scrolling through data to get the phone number and address of the security department on campus.
“Don’t know them, are you sure they’re locals and not someone from out of town?”
“I’m sure.”
“How can you be sure? Does your gift...oh, that’s right, can’t lie to you.”
She nodded without looking at him. They continued the drive in relative silence as she keyed the address for their destination into her GPS.
“You interested in them?”
“Huh?” Frowning, she glanced at him.
He shrugged. “Asked if you were interested in them, you know.”
“Interested how? I don’t understand what you mean.” She returned to search for the next college and the security address just in case the twins didn’t come through. Ultimately it was her responsibility to handle the search.
“Guy likes girl, dates, that kind of interest,” he said a few moments later.
“No.” Seriously? Ryder and Ryan were babies in her mind even though they were grown, human men. They were fun and cute, but nothing more than that. When was the last time someone interested her? She looked out the passenger window, watched the trees and grass fly by as disappointment settled in her gut.
She couldn’t remember.
All of her spare time and energy had been utilized for the search of the child that disappeared minutes after she pushed him or her into the world. It totally drained her resources and she had nothing to show for it. No lover. No fond memories. Nothing. Worst, she didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
Noah didn’t speak again until the GPS led him in front of a small building in the back of the campus. He pulled out a disabled placard and hung it on his rear view mirror.
Mia looked at it but didn’t question him as he walked around to help her down. Folder and ID in hand, they entered the building.
A motherly looking woman with round spectacles perched on her nose smiled at them. “Hello, how can I help you?”
Mia showed her badge and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of the department while second-guessing herself the entire time. Should she have started at the top, spoken to the President? Or someone in charge of student affairs? Heart racing, she remained cool, steady while answering a few of the woman’s questions while she spoke to someone on the phone.
“Mr. Grain will be here in a few moments, please be seated. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?”
“No, thank you,” Mia said, taking a seat.
Noah walked around the small waiting area looking at everything. Five minutes later the door opened and a tall, lanky male with sandy red hair and freckles entered. He took several deep breaths as he pulled on his waistband.
“Hello, Kevin Grain. I’m in charge of campus security, how can I help you?” he asked Noah.
Aggravated, Mia stood and looked at him. “Special Agent Haddon.” She extended her hand to him.
His gaze flew to her hand to her face to Noah who met his gaze. “Um, sorry. How can I help you?” He shook her hand and stepped in her direction.
“Is there someplace we can talk?” she asked politely.
“Oh yes, this way please.” He strode down the hall, opened a door and waited until she and Noah entered. He closed the door behind them.
“Mr. Grain, during the process of an ongoing investigation, we’ve discovered the victim in that investigation was seen on a college campus. This campus is within five miles of the victim’s residence.” She pulled out a photo of the van. “As you can see it’s handicapped equipped and unique. We need to speak to your staff and if you have surveillance cameras we’d like to see them as well.”
Gran rubbed his jaw while staring at the photo. “How far back you need to go?”
She told him the date of the murder.
He nodded. “Not too long ago, we can do that. Come with me.” Down the hall, to the right, he entered another door. Two women sat in front of monitors watching screens and speaking on headsets.
“Our emergency operators,” he said as he opened another door. Inside this room were monitors and computer equipment. He sat in front of a monitor, pulled up a keyboard and started typing. “I’ll have that day up for you in a few seconds. There are cameras all over campus, you can load four at a time.”
Inwardly, Mia groaned. This would take some time.
“Good news is it covers all entrances and exits, so if you don’t see the van enter, you can scratch us off the list,” Grain said. “Was he a student here?”
“No,” she said, certain for some reason. Nothing in his home suggested it. Besides, Lisa, his boss would’ve mentioned it. “But please verify to be sure.” Second guessing again as she gave him the name.
“No, not a student,” Grain said. “It’s all set up.” He moved from the chair.
Mia hesitated a second and then sat. This was one thing she would’ve been grateful to have Noah handle.
CHAPTER 15
BY NOON, MIA’S STOMACH rumbled. No way she’d make it to the Lucky G for lunch.
“That was the last one,” Noah said from the seat beside her. He’d been a champ, assisting her as she looked through the all the tapes. Even though Lisa and the others said he’d been at work the day before and she had seen it when they dream walked, she insisted on reviewing everything on that day. It had taken over three hours.
Standing, she stretched before pulling out her phone to contact the twins. They hadn’t reached out to her since this morning. If they hadn’t been able to hit the University she would head there now.
“Hey, I was going to call you in a few. We showed the van and the victim’s photo to the security team looked at the footage from that day and asked around campus. He’s not a student and there’s no proof the van was here,�
� Ryder said.
Mia heard female voices in the background and hoped the twins took the search seriously. She couldn’t afford to mess up.
“How did it go there?” Ryder asked.
“Nothing, we looked through the security feed as well. Headed to the last college within 30 miles of Littleton, now. Hard to believe he traveled that far.”
“Who knows, people do strange things. Want us to meet you there?” Ryder asked.
She thought about it. “No, that’s okay. Noah’s driving, won’t take long. I’ve already called campus security, they’re getting things ready. Thanks so much for your help today, I really appreciate it.”
“Any time. Call if you need anything. Maybe we’ll hit the Lucky G again. I love watching you eat.”
She smiled. “And I’m outta rolls. I need my fix. We’ll do it again soon.” She disconnected and looked at Noah who stared at her.
“Ready? One more campus and that’s a wrap,” she said.
“Can we grab something to eat first? I’m hungry.” He stood and opened the door.
“Me too. Maybe that buffet across the street, what do you think?” She pointed to a building in a shopping center that advertised all you can eat southern cooking.
Shrugging, he followed her out. Mr. Grain said goodbye before leaving for an earlier meeting. They waved at the receptionist and headed to the truck.
Once in her seat, she glanced at the disabled placard. When he slid into the driver’s side she pointed at it. “What’s up with that?”
“Mental disability. When they took the metal out of my skull, I was messed up. Just started driving four months ago, my doctor insisted I get one of these. I only use it when parking is tight.”
Why allow someone with a mental disability to drive? she wondered before realizing there must be degrees to these disabilities. “Green had one.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, he did.” They drove across the street from campus to the Golden Buffet. It was crowded. Noah pulled into a handicapped parking space.
Before he opened his door a really pretty blonde with bright green eyes approached him with a wide smile.
Mia disliked her staring up at him on the spot.
“Hello and blessings from Yahweh. I’m Tiffany and would like to share a positive word with you today. She held a brochure in her extended hand.
“Take it,” Mia whispered her gaze latching onto the gold bars at the top of the paper.
“Thanks,” Noah accepted the brochure.
“Many blessings from Yahweh,” Tiffany said and quoted two scriptures as she stared at Noah. When she finished, she asked. “Do you need any help?”
“No. No thank you,” he said, sounding surprised or embarrassed.
Mia looked in the side and rear view mirror to see if Tiffany was alone. There were college students everywhere in the parking lot because of other stores and a large supercenter on the other end.
Was it possible the victim came here? Or to one of the stores in the shopping center? It was definitely a thought. She searched for a gas station. There was one near another entrance to the shopping center. What if Mr. Green bought gas? That would be more likely since there hadn’t been a large amount of food in his system. Thomas had pulled the victim’s credit card info, there had been no purchases on the day of his death or the day before. Cash was still king, so that didn’t mean he hadn’t purchased gas.
When Tiffany walked off to bless someone else, Mia watched for a few moments and looked at the brochure. “The Leviticus Club?”
“Never heard of it,” Noah said. “Probably some local college organization. We eating here or what?”
“Go to the gas station over there.” She pointed while reading the group information.
“For gas? Tank’s almost full.”
“No, I want to see if you’re approached again.” The brochure was filled with religious information about the goodness of God. Nothing wrong with that. But it felt wrong.
He started the truck, pulled out and headed to the gas station on the other side of the center. As soon as he pulled in, another person, brunette female this time, approached with a smile, another blessing, and a brochure.
“Don’t get out,” she hissed when his hand went to the door.
Mia all but dropped to the ground, thinking he needed a step stool. She watched the young woman who was as bright and pretty as Tiffany talking to people about her faith. After putting five bucks in the tank, Mia climbed back in and fastened her seatbelt.
Noah started the truck. “Where to?”
“Someplace nearby to eat and do a computer search,” she said.
“Not the buffet?”
“No, not there. Any restaurant will do. With a booth or large table,” she said using her phone to start researching the Leviticus Club.
When they pulled into the parking lot of a Chinese buffet, she looked at him and shook her head. “Chinese food has no staying power, you know that, right?”
“True, but I can eat as much as I want within a minute of taking a seat.” He stepped out and opened her door to assist her. They took a booth at the back. He headed to the buffet while she ordered their drinks. Once he returned with two loaded plates, she went to the buffet and did the same.
They didn’t talk until they were done eating.
She turned on the laptop and searched for everything she could find on the club.
Her phone rang.
“Ryder?”
“Yeah, how’s it going?”
She told him what about Tiffany and the other female at the gas station.
“So... they were nice, religious groupies. Is that a problem?”
“Not really but I noticed they didn’t approach other cars the same way. It was as if they targeted the disabled vehicles. There were cars in disabled spots with these brochures beneath the windshield wipers while other cars had none. I watched one of them work while we were at the gas station. They picked and chose who got the information.”
“That’s not very Christian-like is it?”
“No. It’s a long shot. Another thread to pull. I’m looking into the organization now.”
“Yeah. Give me the name, I’ll have my dad do a deep search and send it to your email tonight,” Ryder said.
Grateful, she smiled. “Thanks a bunch. I appreciate it.” After giving him the name of the group and her email address, she disconnected. Things were looking up. Once she returned to the hotel, she would send Thomas an update, see if he had any suggestions.
“You didn’t mention that.”
She looked across the table at Noah. “What?”
“You didn’t tell me all of that was going on and I was sitting next to you.”
Was he angry? She couldn’t tell. Couldn’t read his face. “I’m sorry.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her short curls. “I don’t know how to do this. You say you won’t work with me, tell me to get away, then you ask to come along. I don’t know if I should share information or what’s going on. So tell me, what’s this all about? Why are you helping when you said you wouldn’t?”
Noah met her serious gaze, read the frustration and recognized the signs. Mia was close to the edge. He needed to handle this correctly or everything would blow up in his face. She had a valid point. He hadn’t told her about last night or this morning when everything changed for him.
“No. I apologize. You’re right. I’ve been all over the place with you. First, I want to help, to work with you to solve this, as a team if possible.”
Her gaze widened as she leaned forward. “You want to join our team?”
No. He didn’t know them or about them. He wanted to work with her. “Maybe. Right now, I want to be on your team.”
She frowned. “My team? I don’t have a team.”
“Yes, you do. You’re in charge of this op, calling the shots and we’re helping you,” he said gently reading the fear and doubt in her gaze. “You’ve got great instincts, Mia. I didn’t notice what you did and it’s import
ant. At the very least it starts the conversation, why are they targeting people with disabled tags?”
Her gaze narrowed for a few seconds and then she nodded. “Yeah, good question. We need answers. Eat up and then we’ll head back to their campus, talk to a few people.”
“As the FBI?” That wasn’t the best move but he didn’t want it to appear he was taking over.
She met his gaze and bit down on her lower lip for a few seconds. “Ryder.” She placed the call and shared what she wanted to be done.
“There are a few people in the area who would be perfect and can get the information you need in less than 30 minutes,” Ryder said. “Stay there, eat, breathe and eat some more.”
“Okay. Thirty minutes?” she asked.
“Or less,” Ryder assured her.
Mia returned her phone to the table and looked at him. “Ryder’s going over, he’s young and will bring the information soon. I’m getting another plate.” She went to refill her plate.
Noah remained seated, all of his senses were jacked. He heard both sides of her conversation, had heard it the entire day and had been struggling to deal with the new changes. They drove with the window down to dilute her scent. He heard every sigh and small noise she made which made his dick harder than steel. Thank God she was preoccupied and hadn’t caught on.
She returned and sat down. “You okay?”
He nodded. No lies. “No. Not really.” He met her surprised gaze and told her what happened this morning, his senses being off the chart, feeling great, better than he had in years.
“Feels like I can see clearly again, no pain, nothing.” He waited for her prognosis.
“That’s great, you deserve it,” she said seriously without explaining what happened to him as he thought she would.
His smile dropped a bit. “Why do you say that?”
She tilted her head and stared into his eyes. “You served in the military, put your life on the line for everybody, it’s not right that your life is messed up because of that. You’ve given enough.”