“I can walk by myself,” she said, jerking her arm from his grasp. “Besides, if we’re late, it’s your fault, not mine. You insisted we go shopping.”
Following her to the checkout, he cursed his own suggestion. The whole idea had been not to draw attention to them. Now every man in the pub would have to be blind or stupid not to notice Abby. If anything happened to her now, as she’d just said, it was his own damn fault.
* * * * *
Luke parked around the corner from Flannery’s Pub. They locked her laptop and their other purchases in the trunk. He insisted Abigail put her hand through his crooked elbow so they’d look like a couple as they walked up the street. She’d never admit it to him, but she was thankful he was there to steady her as they walked. Unused to even the small heels of the sandals she’d bought at the store, she’d wobble more if it weren’t for the support of his strong arm.
The pub sat on the corner of the street in the lower part of a refurbished building that looked like it dated from the turn of the previous century. They strolled past the outdoor patio with umbrella-topped tables and flowerboxes full of spring flowers. It was still a little too chilly for diners outside yet, but Abigail imagined what a lovely spot it would be in summer for lunch al fresco.
“After you,” Luke said with a wink as he held the wood-and-lead-glass door for her.
She gave him a slanted look of irritation then stepped into the warmth of an Irish pub, complete with Celtic designs etched into the glass panels throughout the space. Rich, dark wood covered the bar, the paneling and all the booths. Numerous televisions mounted around the area marked it a sports enthusiasts’ haven. Luke was right, her new attire helped her relax and blend in with the lunch crowd, many of whom looked like they were going to the baseball game later in the day.
Detective Jeffers sat in a corner of the pub, a heaping plate of fish and chips and a glass of something dark in front of him. As they approached his table, he scooted out of the booth, focusing his attention on her. Even she would be hard-pressed to miss the sudden male appreciation in his face.
“Ms. Whitson,” he said, shaking her hand.
Abigail liked his firm handshake. Sister Rose Thomas always said, You can tell a lot about a person from their handshake. Jeffers’ grip said I’m someone strong and trustworthy.
Abigail smiled at him before sliding into the booth.
“Edgars,” the detective said as he shook Luke’s hand too. “Glad you two could join me.”
“Jeffers.” Luke slid in beside her, muttering under his breath.
She swore he said something about damn supermodels. When she peeked at him, his mouth was set in a firm line and he stared down at the beer menu. Ever since she walked out of the changing room, he’d been as grumpy as a bear with a burr up his butt.
Too bad. He’d wanted her in this outfit and he’d just have to get over whatever was bothering him. Putting Luke’s surliness out of her mind, she leaned a little closer to the policeman. “Is there any news about—”
Luke grabbed her hand, startling her. He stared into her eyes, giving his head a little shake.
The waitress, dressed in a green T-shirt promoting the pub and jeans stepped up to their table. “Can I take your order?” she asked, smiling sweetly at Luke.
Flashing the girl his best smile as if nothing in the world was bothering him seconds before, he pointed to the beer section of the menu. “I’ll take a Black and Tan and we’ll have two orders of fish and chips.”
Abigail swallowed her own sudden irritation. “I’ll just have water, please,” she said when the waitress quit grinning at Luke. “And make that one order of fish and chips, I’d like the Reuben instead.”
“Don’t know what you’re missing.” Luke winked at the waitress who actually blushed before turning away.
Did the man know how to do anything but flirt with women?
Once the waitress brought their drinks and were alone again, Detective Jeffers cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to him. “To answer your unspoken question, Ms. Whitson, no we haven’t gotten any closer to finding your friend.”
“If you have nothing new, then why did you want to meet with us?” Abigail asked, her irritation with Luke spilling over to the policeman.
“Simple, sweetheart,” Luke said, sliding his arm onto the back of the booth, once more giving the illusion that they were a couple. “Jeffers wanted to make sure we hadn’t left town.”
Jeffers shrugged. “I was hoping that after a night’s rest you could give me some more information.”
“I told you everything I knew last night. I have nothing to hide.” Which wasn’t the truth. While she’d answered his questions honestly, she’d kept her suspicions from him. Luke knowing them was problem enough.
“I understand you’ve been friends with Miss Mathews for quite some time.”
“Yes, since childhood.” She took a drink of water and filled him in on meeting Brianna at the orphanage and the years of their friendship.
“You’ve remained close? Even after college?”
“We went in different directions after school, but doesn’t everyone? She went into the corporate world and I found work with the government.” She gave a little shrug, not liking the twinge of guilt that nibbled at her brain. Even though they’d talked several times a month by phone or internet, she and Brianna had drifted apart more the last year or so. She should’ve kept in closer contact, known more about what was going on in her friend’s life.
Their waitress returned, saving her momentarily from further questions. While they dug into their food, Luke and Jeffers chatted amiably about baseball and the Indians’ chances this year against the rest of their division. Despite how good her sandwich tasted, Abigail picked at her food, idly listening to the two men.
What was it about men and sports? A woman is missing and they can focus on the earned run averages of starting pitching as if there were no crisis going on. Of course they didn’t know Brianna, hadn’t held her hand after they’d both had their tonsils removed, hadn’t stayed up and listened to her heartache when her first college boyfriend dumped her.
Burning started behind her eyes and in her nose. Abigail set her Rueben back on the plate then clutched her linen napkin in her lap with both hands, biting her upper lip and staring out the window, willing the tears to stop. She was a professional. She shouldn’t be crying in public.
“Hey, come here, sweetheart,” Luke said as he draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the side of his body.
It was an act for the detective, keeping him thinking they were a couple, but she couldn’t help how good being held and comforted against Luke’s strong warm body made her feel. Even with her eyes closed tight, tears slipped out to slide down her cheeks, but after a few minutes, she’d managed to get her control back. With a little sigh, she dabbed at her eyes with the napkin and blinked back the remnants of her tears.
“I’m sorry about that detective,” she said with an embarrassed lift of the corner of her mouth.
“Quite understandable.” He wiped his mouth, set the napkin on the table and pulled a notebook out of his pocket, indicating he was finished with his meal and the question period had started. “So exactly what branch of the government are you working for?”
“The Treasury.”
A lift of his brow was the only indication he was surprised by the news. He looked at Luke. “You, too?”
Luke gave a quick nod.
“And Ms. Mathews? What function did she have at…” Jeffers looked at his notes. “…Hollister-Klein Exporters?”
“Brianna was…” Abigail paused and swallowed the lump in her throat. “She is the assistant to the Chief Financial Officer for the company.”
“A secretary then?”
Luke snorted beside her. She cast him a narrow-eyed look, then smiled at Jeffers. “No, sir. Brianna was the A/P manager.”
“A/P manager?” he asked making a note in his small notebook.
“Accounts Payable. She reported directly to the CFO. Despite what you see in her pictures, she was probably smarter than most of the men in her department, if not all of them.”
Jeffers had the grace to look embarrassed. “Did she ever talk about anyone she had a problem with at work?”
“Not that she ever mentioned to me.”
“Any particular boyfriend or lover?”
The question and his tone suggested he believed Brianna was a loose woman. Abigail wanted to defend her friend, but given the number of pictures of Brianna with so many different men Jeffers had obviously seen in the condo the night before, Abigail didn’t argue the point. “We hadn’t talked in a few weeks, but she hasn’t mentioned anyone special in her life.”
“Did she ever use any on-line dating services?”
The question caught her so off-guard she choked on the sip of water she’d taken. “Excuse me?”
“The last page she had open on her computer screen last night was to an on-line dating service. Do you know if she was a member or if she’d been a member of other sites like it?”
Her mind quickly retrieved the first page Brianna had left open. She hadn’t been logged in as herself. Guest. That’s what had been on the login bar and what she’d been browsing under.
“No. As far as I know she’s never used any online dating sites. Besides, Detective, you’ve seen how stunning Brianna is. She wouldn’t need to advertise for a date. She got them by simply walking into a room.”
“I didn’t think so, but it I wanted to be sure it wasn’t connected to another case.”
“You’ve had more women disappear like this?” Luke asked, the edge in his voice surprising Abigail.
Jeffers finished off his drink before answering. “No, just covering any possibilities.”
“I can assure you, Brianna wasn’t part of an online dating service. At least she hasn’t ever mentioned one to me.” Could her friend have been part of this? If so, why would Brianna have been so insistent that she come see her this weekend?
“And you just came to town for a visit?” Jeffers asked as if reading her thoughts.
“That’s right,” Luke answered before she could, his hand lightly rubbing her shoulder. “Like I said last night, when the lady wants to visit an old friend on a whim, we hop on a plane and come visit.”
“Right.” Jeffers locked gazes with Luke and for a moment Abigail was reminded of two gunslingers in an old-time western movie—the first one to blink lost.
The hair on her neck lifted and a chill ran through her, not from the tension between the two men, but something else in the pub. She slowly looked around the room. The lunch crowd had thinned out. A family of four sat at a table near the window. Two different couples sat in cozy booths, talking intimately.
No one was near the bathrooms, but the wait staff filtered in and out of the doors to the kitchen. She let her gaze slowly slide over the few men seated at the bar, then studied them a little closer through their reflections in the mirror behind it.
There. The younger man with the baseball cap and hoodie, his body turned away from them, seated closest to their table—near enough to keep an eye on them, but not close enough to hear their conversation, his fingers flying on the phone in his hands. Caucasian by her best guess, although he might have some Hispanic features, she couldn’t quite tell. Possibly mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Something about him was familiar, but at this angle she couldn't get a good view.
“If you'll excuse me, please.” She gave an apologetic smile to Detective Jeffers and a light elbow nudge to Luke. “I need to go to the ladies’ room.”
As she scooted out of the booth, Luke gave her a worried look and whispered, “Everything okay?”
His warm breath against her ear startled her as much as the concern in his voice. “Yes. I’ll be right back.”
Focused entirely on getting to the bathroom, she kept her gaze straight ahead, even though the urge to stare at the man seated at the bar ate at her. She was sure she’d seen him somewhere before. As she turned to enter the women’s room, she took one hard look at his face in the mirror, then went through the door.
Inside the stall, she sat and closed her eyes, letting her mind pull out images and work backward over the past two days. He hadn’t been on the street outside the pub, nor at the shopping center. She scanned the images from the hotel and the parking lot this morning. No. Not there.
She switched further back to their arrival at the hotel. No one had been in the lobby except the guest registration boy and the man mopping the far end of the lobby. Both had been African-American, the housekeeping man much older than the man at the bar.
Further back she went to the walk from Brianna’s condo to Luke’s BMW. She pulled out the mental pictures of the crowd that gawked from the opposite side of the street. Two elderly couples huddled together. An extremely tall man and woman, with an equally small dog. Several young teens.
There. Just off to the side. Same hoodie, same hat, same muscular build. Adjusting her mind’s camera lens, she zoomed in on his features. Dark brows, dark eyes, straight nose, mustache and goatee. Even the same pock marks from uncontrolled acne.
It was the same man. He’d been outside Brianna's condo watching the police. Had he been looking for Brianna? Had he been observing to see who’d come to find the condo in such a mess and Brianna gone? Had he followed them to the hotel, then here?
Taking a slow breath, she willed her heart rate to slow to a normal pace. She was a professional agent. She’d been trained to handle situations like this and right now she had the advantage. The man at the bar didn’t know she’d identified him. First thing, she needed to warn Luke.
Gathering herself together, she exited the stall and washed her hands, then splashed a little water on her face. Once she dried everything, she took another steadying breath and studied the near stranger in the mirror.
Slow, deep breath. You can do this. Calm, casual. Blend in. Concentrate on getting to the table. Do not acknowledge the suspect.
She opened the door and let her gaze focus on her own table—on Luke. As if he knew she needed his strength, he looked up, his gaze locking on hers. Pasting on a smile, she concentrated on his face and headed straight for him.
“Everything okay?” he asked when he stood.
She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, murmuring against his lips, “Of course, darling.”
The hand he’d laid on her hip tightened slightly and she knew he’d gotten the message from her endearment that something was entirely wrong. Then he stepped aside to let her slide back into the booth, his eyes promising they’d talk as soon as they were alone.
Detective Jeffers looked at the time on his watch before reaching for his check and sliding in cash to pay it. “I’m afraid I’ll have to cut this short, but if you think of anything your friend might’ve said that will help us, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Ms. Whitson.”
“Of course. And you’ll let me know if you find…” She swallowed hard and blinked back the sudden burn of tears that threatened. “If you find anything.”
“Edgars,” he said, shaking hands with Luke again before sliding out of the booth.
Slipping his arm around behind her shoulders, Luke drew her into his warm side once more as they watched the detective leave the bar area and head for the men's room. Once they were alone, Luke leaned in and whispered in her ear, “What’s got you spooked?”
She tried not to jump at the shiver of awareness that shot through her as first his breath then his lips caressed her ear. He was in character, a lover indulging in a public display of affection. She needed to remember that and keep up her part in their cover. Turning her head so her lips were mere millimeters from his, she murmured, “The guy at the bar in the hoodie.”
“Ohio State cap? His body turned slightly away from us?” Luke kept his gaze locked on hers, the warmth of his eyes drawing her closer. He never even glanced at the bar.
“Yes. I saw him before.�
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Luke lifted his hand and smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Where?”
“Outside Brianna’s townhouse last night. In the crowd across the street.”
“Have you seen him anywhere else we've been today?” he asked without questioning if she was sure and how she knew she’d seen the man before.
“No. I only saw him the one time before now.”
Luke leaned in and kissed her ear, tugging slightly on her earlobe, sending more shivers of heat through her. Then he whispered, “Can you get out your phone and get a picture of him, but make it look like you’re taking pictures of the bar for some reason?”
She pulled away slightly and turned her head to look at him, her gaze going immediately to his lips that were just a few inches from hers. Quickly she lifted her gaze to his eyes, which had deepened even more to a darker jade. “Um, I don’t need a camera to remember what he looks like.”
“I’ve figured that out, sweetheart,” he said with a grin, his words surprising her. How had he known? “But,” he continued, “I do need the pic to run background on him on my laptop.”
“Oh. You can do that?”
He leaned in closer, he lips brushing hers once more. “You'd be surprised what I can do. I have mad skills.”
Swallowing hard at his implied sexual prowess, she blinked and turned to fish her phone from her purse. He moved slightly away, giving her a little space and she took a steadying breath.
“Why do you want pictures, sweetheart?” she asked just loud enough to be heard by the people near the bar as she started clicking pics at the entrance, away from their suspect and working closer, one picture at a time as if she were taking random shots.
“This place could give my brother some ideas for his pub in Cincinnati when he opens it. Don’t forget to get some photos of the bar and pool room.” Luke pointed around, giving her an excuse to get a picture of the hoodie guy.
After a few more views of the pool room, she focused her attention on Luke, who had slipped cash into the check sleeve to pay for their meal. “What a great idea. Your brother is going to love these pictures.”
VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) Page 6