He waited in silence, his elbows propped on his knees, his hands dangling down between his shins. A fine layer of dirt clung to his shoes, socks, and shins. The scent of the sunshine and hot male skin swirled in the air around him, somehow calming her nerves.
Pride or not, she was glad she was no longer alone in Ashley’s house. Sure, she didn’t really know this man, but he was real and solid—something to grasp onto when the rest of the world seemed to be spinning out of control.
Trent sat there, watching her, casual and patient as if he had all the time in the world. It was probably some sort of interrogation skill he’d learned as a cop.
Elise pulled in a deep, steadying breath. “You said to look for changes in her spending habits. Ashley hasn’t used her credit or debit cards since Friday night. Before that, she used them every day.”
His mouth flattened and she thought she saw his shoulders drop a fraction of an inch. “What about her phone?”
“The phone company wouldn’t tell me anything, but Officer Tindle said he’d call and see about getting them to release the information.”
“That’s good.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not enough.”
“Let me call Bob and talk to him for you. Once he finds out that her spending habits changed, it will light a fire under him. It’s proof that something has happened and it will get the police to work harder to find her.”
“He told me he’s already doing everything he can, but he was evasive on the phone, like he didn’t want me to know what he was going to do.”
“He doesn’t want to worry you.”
She let out a scathing laugh. “Like I could be any more worried. I’d feel better if I knew what he was doing.”
“Would you really?” asked Trent. “Or are you just saying that?”
“I’d rather know than not. I’m tough, but I need some kind of hope to grab onto—something to focus on so my mind will stop eating away at itself with worry.”
Trent sat silent for a moment, studying her, like he was trying to decide if she was lying. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him, because he let out a resigned sigh and said, “Bob will contact area hospitals to see if anyone matching her description has come in for treatment. If she was in an accident, she could still be unconscious or unable to tell the doctors who she is.”
That sounded smart. In fact, she should have thought about that herself. She was just so tired. She hadn’t had time to adjust to this time zone yet, and she’d worked all day during the hours she’d normally be sleeping. “Why wouldn’t he want me to know he was doing that?”
“Because it logically leads to the next step.”
“What next step?” she asked.
“Checking morgues for any Jane Does that have come in since Friday.”
The image of her sister’s lifeless body lying on a cold metal slab slammed into her, making her sway. The room spun around and Elise held on tight to the toilet to keep herself from spinning away with it.
“Easy,” said Trent. His voice sounded like it came from a long way off, even though she could feel his strong hands on her arms, anchoring her in place.
Her stomach gave a heavy lurch, like she was going to be sick again, but nothing came up. Her eyes watered until all she could see was wavering blobs of color, which made her feel even worse. She closed her eyes to shut out the nauseating sight and felt hot tears stream down her cheeks.
His warm, work-roughened hands slid up and down her arms, holding her steady. His soft, low words of comfort seeped into her, but she didn’t understand them. They gave her something to focus on, something to think about other than the horrifically real images of her dead sister.
Ashley wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. Elise would have known if her sister had died, wouldn’t she?
Elise frantically clung to that notion, gripping it tight in desperation. She needed a shred of hope to help her move on—to keep her strong—so she would use this one. She’d hold it close and let it give her strength.
Ashley was alive, and Elise was going to find her.
Slowly, she regained her composure and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her skin was cold with sweat and her hands vibrated with tension, but at least she could see again.
Trent was crouched beside her, stroking her spine with a repetitively soothing sweep of his wide palm.
“Better?” he asked.
Elise gave a weak nod. “Yeah. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry,” said Trent. “I guess I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No. I needed to know. I don’t want to be coddled. If I’m going to find her, I need to know how to do it.”
“The first thing you need to do is take care of yourself. It’s important that Ashley has a voice to make sure everyone remembers she’s still missing.”
“Are you saying the police will forget?”
“No, of course not, but this isn’t their only case. Every time a new one comes in, it pushes Ashley down farther on the list of priorities. You need to be there to keep her at the top.”
“Believe me, I know how to make myself heard.”
“I’m sure you do, so long as you don’t get sick. If she
is
in trouble and something happens to you, no one else will be here to champion her.”
“I’m the wheel that needs to keep squeaking. I get it. This was just a temporary case of nerves. It’s already passed.”
She pushed away from the toilet, needing to put some distance between her and the nauseating reminder. Trent’s hand fell away, leaving her feeling oddly chilled.
She washed her hands, rinsed her mouth, and felt him standing behind her. When she glanced in the mirror, she saw the gold flecks in his eyes glittering with concern.
“I get that. Believe me. But what starts out as a case of nerves can get worse fast. Why don’t you come over to my place for some dinner?”
The idea of food was immediately revolting. “No, thank you.”
“You’ve got to eat. Besides, you can show me what you found today. A fresh pair of eyes never hurts.”
Elise shook her head as she dried her hands and walked to the kitchen for a drink. “I appreciate the offer. I really do, but I have plans tonight.”
“What kind of plans?”
“I’m going to Sally’s Bar to talk to anyone who might have seen her Friday.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Researching her credit card charges is one thing, going out asking questions is something best left to the police.”
“I’m not going to sit around and do nothing. I can’t. Someone there might know something.”
“Suppose they do,” said Trent. “Suppose you find whatever guy she was with Friday. What then?”
She reached into the fridge, pulled out two bottles of water, and handed one to Trent. “Then I start asking questions.”
“Like what?”
“Like where she went after she left, who she was with.”
Trent ran a hand through his shaggy hair in frustration. “We searched for her car between here and the bar. There was only one stretch of road where her car would be hidden if she’d had an accident. We saw no signs of bent guardrails or tire marks. I checked again on my way to work, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything in the dark.”
“So? All that means is we know she didn’t drive her car off the road
there
.” She opened the bottle and sucked down about half of the cold liquid. It did nothing to ease the worried burn in her stomach.
Trent watched her mouth as she drank, like he was dying of thirst, but didn’t take a drink. “It also could mean she didn’t drive her car off the road at all. Sure, she could have had an accident driving home from some guy’s house, but the longer she’s missing, the more likely it is that she… met with foul play.”
Elise was pretty sure he was going to say something different but censored himself for her benefit. “You mean that someone hurt her.”
He cracked open the bottle and drank. She watched his throat move, watched his tongue lick away a drop left on his bottom lip. “It’s possible. What if you start asking questions of the guy who did it? You’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“I may be putting myself in danger, but I don’t think I’d call it unnecessary. You know as well as I do that the longer she is missing, the more likely it is she’ll be found too late.”
Or not at all.
Elise couldn’t bring herself to say the words, but she knew it was a possibility. So would Trent. It just wasn’t one she could deal with yet. Not if she wanted to stay sane.
“There are other things you can do to help—things that won’t put you in danger.”
“Like what?” Elise had finished off her water, so she tossed the bottle into the trash. She wanted more, but those were the last two bottles in the house.
Trent must have read it in her expression. He offered her his half-empty bottle, and Elise’s throat burned enough she was willing to take it. She thought she could taste some spicy hint of him on the plastic, but it had to be her imagination.
“Talk to the press,” he said. “Get her name and photo out there.”
“I already did that. I contacted all the Chicago stations and did a live interview earlier today—before the noon news. Guess you didn’t see it.”
Trent shook his head. “I ate at the job site. No TV.”
Good. She’d cried during the interview, despite her promise to herself that she wouldn’t. She didn’t really want Trent to think she was a basket case. Even if she was.
He seemed to know what he was talking about, and she needed all the allies she could get. She didn’t want to scare him away with her tears. The fact that he’d seen her get sick was bad enough.
“I’ve done all the safe things I can think to do,” said Elise. “Now, it’s time to move on.”
He shot her a hard, level look of disbelief. “To unsafe things? That’s stupid.”
“Not stupid. Desperate.”
His mouth twisted with contempt. “Either one could end up with you just as dead.”
Elise ignored his harsh words. She knew he was trying to protect her.
She pulled in a breath, hoping it wasn’t a mistake to bring him in on her plans. “I have a plan I think is safe enough. Want to hear?”
He crossed his arms over his wide chest, making his biceps bulge in a mouthwatering display. “Why the hell not. At least this way I might be able to tell the cops where to find your body.”
Elise was not going to dignify his cynicism with a response, so she pretended he hadn’t spoken. “I’m going to Sally’s to talk to people who might have seen her. Show her photo, offer cash for information. If it’s like most bars, there are a lot of regulars at Sally’s and someone as colorful and flamboyant as Ashley is bound to get noticed.”
“You have to be careful who you talk to. There are a lot of dangerous people out there.”
“How dangerous could it possibly be to go around asking questions about my sister?”
“Some people protect their privacy more viciously than others. No one likes a nosey reporter.”
Elise let his thinly veiled insult slide off her. “Story of my life. I’m used to it—and used to getting around people’s need to keep information to themselves.”
Trent shook his head. “At least let me come with you.”
“No. Ashley would have gone alone, so I need to, too.”
“So, what? You’re going to dangle yourself out there as bait, hoping that if someone picked her up, they’ll do the same to you?”
The thought had crossed her mind, and it must have shown in her face.
“Shit,” spat Trent. “What makes you think that you won’t end up disappearing the way she did? How can you help her if you’re de—missing, too?”
He’d almost said
dead
before he caught himself. Too bad Elise caught it, too.
“You think she’s dead?” she asked, barely able to force the words through her dry throat. The empty water bottle dangled uselessly from her fingers.
Something in his hard expression softened, making him look inhuman in his beauty. His voice was low and quiet—the kind of voice reserved for funerals. “I don’t know.”
But he used to be a cop. He knew the odds.
So did Elise. She’d googled them earlier today when she’d gone through Ashley’s e-mail. She knew that the chances of finding her sister alive were dwindling by the second. She had to
do
something, even if that something didn’t help. If she stopped doing, she’d start thinking, and that was dangerous.
If she started thinking about Ashley and what could have happened to her, she’d crumple into a soggy heap and never get up again.
She never should have let Ashley live alone, no matter how much she begged. She should have moved in with her. Taken care of her. Protected her from herself.
But Ashley wanted to be free—she craved it the same way Elise did. After years of being overprotected by their mother, they both deserved a little freedom. Or so Elise thought. It was clear now that she’d been wrong. Selfish. She wanted to pursue her own dreams to see the world, and she couldn’t do that if she was tied to her scatterbrained sister.
Elise refused to be selfish any longer. She was going to do whatever it took to find Ashley, even if it meant putting herself in danger. She’d do whatever she could to minimize the risk, but she wouldn’t back off. And anyone who stood in her way had to go.