“Oh, yeah? Try me.”
Jason pushed off the car and turned his back on the building. “Trust me, I’ve had my fill of slogging through these swamps. If there was something to be found, we would have found it already.”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe not. What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know yet.” Dari grinned. “I’ll let you know when I do.”
Jason chuckled and shook his head. “I should have known better than to ask.”
“Hey, you know I’m more a man of action. Put me on field duty any day.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“Nah, you were always good at working either angle. Actually, from what I’ve seen over the past year, I think you may have missed your calling. You could have done something to land yourself on the Forbes list.”
“Good God, why in the hell would I want to do that?”
“Money, of course. And chicks.”
“Money I could always use. But I’ve never had any trouble in the chick department.”
“Speaking of which…anything interesting down here?”
Jason squinted at him but didn’t say anything.
This time Dari laughed. “It’s not like you to play coy. Don’t tell me you went and found discretion.”
“It is the better part of valor.”
“Never where you’re concerned. I usually get the details whether I want them or not.”
A sheriff’s vehicle pulled up into the lot beside them.
“So, are we planning to go in or just hang out here all day?” Dari asked.
“Get your cane.”
“Why?”
Jason gave him a long look.
Dari opened the door and took it out.
“Hey, Savage,” the uniformed officer called out as he headed in their direction. “Sheriff.”
The two men shook hands, said something obvious about the oppressive heat and then Jason turned toward Dari.
“Sheriff Harry Brown, I’d like you to meet one of my partners at Lazarus Security, Darius Folsom.”
Dari shook the man’s hand, noticing the way he looked him over.
Jason added, “Dari’s just back from Afghanistan. IED action. Injury leave.”
The sheriff’s brows hiked up on his forehead. “Rally? Which branch?”
Dari told him.
The other man hiked up his pants. “I’m a Marine myself. And my son’s over there now. Kandahar.”
“Tough duty,” Dari said.
“You bet your ass.”
They talked for a few moments more and then the sheriff said, “It’s getting hot as Hades out here.
What’s say we go inside? I’ve got some info you guys might be able to use.”
Jason winked at Dari as they followed the other man across the lot toward the building. If he didn’t know better, he’d say his buddy had set up everything from the word go, from hanging outside at the SUV, to bringing Dari along for the ride, down to the cane he’d asked him to get. And as such, he’d gotten offered information rather than begging for some he’d likely never get.
Dari shook his head. Jason had definitely missed his calling.
UNFORTUNATELY, AN HOUR of small talk had yielded them little more than they already had judging by Jason’s disappointed expression. Dari followed him back outside after accepting another cup of coffee the sheriff brewed himself from beans he chose and ground.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Dari said, “I take it he didn’t give you anything we can use.”
“You take right.” Jason let out a long breath, not any happier than Dari at being caught inside—no matter how air-conditioned—wasting precious time. “I already knew the other volunteer search teams had turned up nothing and had been suspended until some of this blasted water dries up. As for the mother and her possible involvement…well, it’s little more than glorified gossip at this point without any solid evidence.”
They got into the SUV and Jason started it up, blasting the air.
“Do you think they have it?” Dari asked.
“What, solid evidence?” Jason shook his head. “If they did, they would have arrested her already. Or at least pulled her in for official questioning.”
“What do Linc and the FBI have to say?”
“Unfortunately much the same as you heard in there. They’ve already pulled teams back to Quantico.”
“So essentially, we’re the only ones still actively working the case at this point.”
“That’d be about right.”
“On our own dime.”
“Yep. Unless we turn something up.”
“Is there any talk about cutting our own losses and going home?”
“You mean turn tail and run?”
Dari grinned at the saying.
“Not a word. Yet.” He glanced at his watch. “I figure we have a good week before we run out of options. Until then…”
“We keep spinning our wheels.”
Jason squinted at him. “We keep trying to find the girl. Hopefully alive.”
Dari considered him silently. He was mildly surprised his friend held out hope Finley might still be alive. Jason Savage had never been the hopeful type. It was reality and odds all the way. And the odds in this particular case said that if the girl was lost or had been abandoned somewhere, she’d have been dead a few days ago, just from dehydration and exposure to the elements alone.
If someone still had her…well, then they wouldn’t be finding her in any forests. And while Amber Alerts were still being aired, and tips called in and followed up on, it wasn’t part of the Lazarus team’s job.
A cell phone buzzed.
He checked his, then watched as Jason answered his own.
“Hey,” he said simply.
Dari settled back in the seat, scanning the trees on either side of the road.
“We’ll meet you there.”
He disconnected.
“What is it?” Dari asked.
“That was Megan. Our team found the girl’s bike….”
MEGAN HAD BEEN ON the scene for five minutes before Jason and Dari arrived.
The radio call had come in while she was busy with Daisy. He was simple and to the point: “Got it.”
Team #2 had been assigned to retrace their steps from the first day, only a few yards to the east. An hour in, they literally stumbled across a girl’s pink bicycle mostly submerged under a foot of murky standing rainwater, one handlebar bearing a white-and-pink plastic tassel attached to the end.
Due to forensics concerns, they left the bike where it was, not touching it beyond the initial lift to verify it was what they thought it was and to take photos.
Now they all stood at the tree line waiting for the sheriff’s office and FBI forensics team to show up.
“Is it hers?” Jason asked, coming to stand next to Megan.
She relayed the news to the other team. “It looks like it,” she said. “Do you think I should pull the other team?”
He appeared to think for a moment. “No. This may be a decoy and the girl was never even in these woods. Tell them to push on. Maybe it will give them added incentive now we’ve finally found something concrete.”
Megan grimaced. “You mean like the fact that we know the girl and her bike weren’t beamed up by aliens?”
“Something like that.”
She passed on the command and then refastened the radio to her belt.
“Sheriff on his way?” Jason asked.
She nodded. “As is the FBI forensics team. I pulled everyone out of this area until they’re finished.”
She looked beyond him to where Dari stood at the edge of the forest looking inside. He appeared…oddly detached somehow.
Jason asked, “What’s the ID on the bike?”
“Same make, color, tassels. Oh, and the plate has her name on it.”
“Finley’s not a common name.”
“No, it’s not.”
They shared a look.
She shivered despite the heat. Changing the subject, she asked, “How is he?” She nodded toward Dari.
“Who? Oh, Dari? Good. He’s got the sheriff eating out of his hand.”
She smiled. “He’s good at that.”
“Yes, but don’t tell him, he’ll only call you a liar.”
She laughed and then looked to find Dari watching, his gaze moving from her to Jason and back again.
The smile instantly left her face.
He knows…
She wasn’t sure where the thought came from, or what she should do about it. But she was suddenly very certain that he knew there was something going on between her and Jason.
Correction: there had been something between them.
11
LATER THAT EVENING, everyone was gathered in the command center sharing their stories of the day, catching dinner, indulging in a brew and enjoying a general atmosphere of relief and accomplishment—their efforts had finally yielded something, even though it wasn’t what they’d have liked, which was to find Finley Szymanski alive and well. But now that they’d found some solid evidence, they would be paid for their time in Florida.
And the presence of the bike indicated that they were advancing in the right direction, that they’d been correct in pushing ahead when everyone else had stopped looking.
Finley’s mother and grandparents had, indeed, verified that the bike belonged to the little girl and was the one she’d been riding at the time of her disappearance. Unfortunately Linc told them Forensics was pretty sure there would be little available by way of trace evidence, considering it had been pretty well submerged in water. And while it wasn’t impossible that the girl had walked the bike that far into the forest, she definitely hadn’t ridden it. Meaning they were leaning more toward the “red herring” line of thinking—that there was, indeed, someone else involved in her disappearance and they’d hidden her bike there purposely to throw anyone looking off the true trail.
Megan decided she didn’t want to think about that as she knocked back another good swallow of beer, watching Dari across the room where he sat talking to Linc.
He hadn’t said more than two words to her since meeting up at the evidence scene. He appeared preoccupied and in more than a little pain.
Jason appeared at her elbow. “Sheriff says he’s again acting as go-between for the Szymanskis. Guess the FBI and that slimy lawyer they hired pissed the family off.”
“Again.”
He smiled. “Again.”
Her gaze was glued to Dari’s.
“Hey, everything all right?”
She slowly looked at him. “You tell me.”
He eyed those around them, enough within hearing range not to take the conversation too far. “If you’re asking what I think you are, everything’s fine. Nothing on this end.”
She exhaled, but not fully. Something was up. She just wasn’t sure what yet.
“I think he’s in pain,” Jason said.
“Yeah, me, too. Not that he’ll cop to it.”
“Or take the pain pills I’m sure he has.”
“We both know why…”
“Yeah. We do.”
She turned toward Jason. “Do you think he’s looking at us…oddly?”
“Oddly?”
“You know…”
“No. I don’t think he’s looking at us oddly. He has no reason to.”
She nodded. “Right.”
“I think you’re letting your mind run away with you, McGowan. Reel it back in. Trust me. Everything will be okay.”
A COUPLE OF HOURS later back in her motel room, Megan tried to focus on Jason’s words, but the more she tried, the blurrier they became.
She spent as much time in the bathroom as she could possibly squeeze out. She showered, shaved, dried her hair, moisturized…and then sat down on the closed toilet trying to gather up her courage to go out in the other room where Dari waited.
She pressed her fingertips against her eyelids.
She’d pitted hope against hope that Jason was right and the passage of time would make the situation easier. Instead her guilt seemed to be getting worse. Every time she looked at Dari, the darkness in her expanded. She’d never dealt with an emotion of this nature and figured that had a lot to do with it.
What she didn’t know was what to do about it. This…pretending nothing was wrong was not working, no way, no how.
If only the incident hadn’t involved someone else close to Dari.
She increased the pressure against her eyelids until she saw stars and then moved her hands away. If the person with whom she’d been unfaithful had been a stranger, this would be so much easier.
Easy. Not a word to be used anywhere in conjunction with her life at the moment.
Still, she had to consider Jason and his friendship with Dari. If this blew up in their faces…
She pushed from the commode and paced the short length of the bathroom then back again.
A rap on the door. “Meggie? You okay in there?”
“What? Oh. Yeah. Be right out.”
She bit down hard on her bottom lip, listening for Dari to move away from the door. Then she took a deep breath and went into the other room.
He was limping toward one of the two uncomfortable chairs on either side of a small table near the open window. Like her, he didn’t care for the air conditioner, preferring to leave it off until it was time to go to bed.
Megan’s gaze drifted to the bed in question.
“Did you need the bathroom?” she asked.
He winced as he sat down. “Nah. I took a shower earlier.”
She nodded as she went about the task of putting her laundry into a bag and then stowed it back in the small closet.
“Have you taken something for that?” she asked, gesturing toward where he kneaded his leg above the cast.
He shook his head.
She went into the bathroom and collected ibuprofen along with a glass of water, then took them to him.
“Thanks.”
She sat down in the chair opposite him. It was only nine-thirty and the sun had just set, leaving enough light filtering in through the window that they didn’t need a lamp yet. The eerie, dim orange glow seemed fitting somehow; surreal.
“So,” he said, placing the water glass on the table next to her notes. “Linc called while you were showering. Forensics think they’ve got a partial thumbprint. And it doesn’t match the kid, mom or grandparents.”
“Good. That’s good. Did they run it through the database?”
“No match.”
She reached for the pen next to her notes and wrote down the information. “Both good and bad. Good that no known offender took her. Bad in that we don’t know who did.”
“If anyone did.”
She nodded. “Right.”
While chances might be small, they still remained that Finley had walked her bike into that forest for some godforsaken reason and had pushed forward on foot.
Dari took another sip of water. “All search teams resume tomorrow at daybreak.”
Another turn with both positive and negative consequences. Good because the more people actively looking for the girl, the greater the chances of finding her. And, ironically, bad for the same reason. The more people who looked for her, the greater the chances that the seasoned pros would be distracted by amateur searchers.
Dari cleared his throat. “Jason and I thought it might be a good idea to get a jump on the others.”
She nodded. “Send our teams out before the others get there.”
“I’m going out with Team #1.”
She squinted at him. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”
“I’m sure.”
She glanced at where he rubbed his leg again.
“At the first sign I’m holding anyone back, I’ll get out.”
“Fair enough.”
She got up and crossed to the small ref
rigerator in the corner, taking out a soda and popping the top. “You want one?”
“No. But I’ll take a sip of yours.”
She smiled and offered it to him before taking a sip. He smiled back and drank, nearly emptying it in one gulp.
She laughed. “Smart-ass.”
She got another soda, standing as she drank from it. It was almost unbearably hot. Despite her shower, she was again drenched in sweat. But she’d gotten used to it at some point during their time here.
“Shall I turn on the air?” Dari asked, noticing the way she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
She considered him quietly. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you’re ready to go to bed.”
The grin returned. “To sleep, you mean.”
“Mmm. To sleep.”
A slow burn began in her stomach and swirled outward.
“Nothing else?”
She opened her eyes innocently. “Are you accusing me of trying to seduce you, Mr. Folsom?”
“No. Just hoping you will.”
She pressed the cold soda can against her neck. “Oh, I think that’s pretty much guaranteed.”
He pushed from the chair and came to stand in front of her. He stood at least five inches taller and she tilted her chin to gaze into his handsome face awash in the fading orange light from the sunset filtering in through the window. Anyone outside wouldn’t be able to see inside. At least not yet. For the time being, they’d get the reflection of the setting sun.
He lifted a hand to the side of her face. Megan’s eyes drifted closed and she leaned into his touch, her heart beating thickly in her chest. In that one moment she felt more love for him than she’d ever believed herself capable of feeling. He rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip and then a moment later followed with his own lips. He kissed her leisurely, lingering at the corners of her mouth before making his way back to the middle.
Oh, how she’d missed being kissed by him. That was one thing that nothing could take from her…from them.
She reached up, framing his face with her fingers, probing the familiar planes and angles, reveling in the stubble on his chin, the silkiness of his brows, the rough texture of his hair against her skin.
“I love you.”
Her whispered words came straight from the heart and left an ache that lodged firmly in her chest.
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