was out of the loop on such a big op. Since Tanya always referred to Garrett Wheeler as “the man,” it didn’t take much to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but was he trying to cut her out of the action? Anger roiled in the pit of her stomach until Tanya defused it.
“He told me to tell you he was coming to pick you up in two hours and that you’d know where to meet him.” The woman heaved another sigh. “I sure hope you know what he’s talkin’ ’bout, ’cause I don’t want to get in the middle of this.”
Alexa looked at her watch. She had no time to lose. Fumbling in her pocket for money, she paid the bill and gulped down the last of her lukewarm coffee. Two hours would barely be enough time for her to pack, check out of her hotel, and meet Garrett at the private hangar he used at O’Hare. His jet would be arriving soon.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got his number.”
“Uh-huh…I bet you do, honey.”
She heard the sarcasm in the woman’s tone and had to smile. “Thanks for pushing on this one, T.”
Alexa ended the call, flooded by a mix of relief and frustration. Garrett had intervened and taken over. On the one hand, she was happy that he’d finally seen the light on Globe Harvest. Blood had been spilled on this one, and she’d nearly gotten blown into hamburger meat. She knew her investigation had merit. But on the other hand, Garrett always had his own agenda, and she was never quite sure she trusted his motives when it came to the Sentinels.
Before now, he’d all but dismissed her case against Globe Harvest, refusing to utilize the vast resources at his disposal. Yet overnight it had become his top priority. Why?
“What are you up to, Garrett?”
She headed for the cafe door, making a mental list of what she’d need to bring on this trip. But someone important deserved a bone tossed her way—Jessica’s words. Making a heads-up phone call to the bounty hunter felt like the right thing to do. And in Alexa’s world, the “right thing” wasn’t always clear-cut. Garrett would have no appreciation for her gesture, but she didn’t care. Because of Jessica Beckett’s help, she’d get a chance at taking down Globe Harvest.
A phone call was the least she could do.
Marriott Hotel
Oak Brook, Chicago
Early morning
Last night, rain on the window might have been magic, but in the light of morning the dresser mirror sure wasn’t. The same old face stared back as she sat on the edge of the bed, trying to straighten her disheveled appearance. She had stopped finger-combing her hair when reality bitch-slapped her across the cheek. She’d taken a good long look at her reflection and in the unyielding light of day the magic of last night vanished like a bright gold coin snatched away by a slight-of-hand parlor trick.
“Hey, remember me?” she muttered to herself, but stopped when she glimpsed something else in the mirror—Payton.
Bare chest and wearing his pajama bottoms, he was still asleep in bed, lying flat on his belly with his sun- streaked hair against tanned skin. Wrapped in white hotel bed linens, he looked like a Christmas present, all shiny and new. That thought made her smile until she remembered last night. In Payton’s arms, she had nearly forgotten who she really was. For a brief time she had allowed herself to feel…normal. But that simply wasn’t so, and she had to remember.
The reality of the woman she’d become was plain to see—as immutable as the scars on her face and body. Years ago she had refused to have them removed. Plastic surgery would only improve the outside, denying the person she had to contend with on the inside. She explained it to Sam once, but not many would understand her way of dealing with the past—penance for what she’d done and what had been done to her.
She endured the scars of her past with a fierce determination to protect faceless others from what happened to her. If she’d “fixed” the scars, her outward appearance would have been more tolerable to others, but screw them. If others chose to judge her book by its cover, then so be it. As far as she was concerned, her scars served as fair warning, like the Hazardous to Your Health label on a pack of cigarettes. It hadn’t been easy to live this way, but in her mind it had a ring of honesty to it. And she could live with that.
“Good morning. Did you sleep okay?” His gravelly morning voice jostled the insides of her stomach—in a very good way.
She looked at herself in the mirror one last time, forced a smile, then turned around. The pale glow of morning shone through the window, casting a welcoming light on him like a long-awaited invitation.
“Yeah, I did. Thanks.” She cleared her throat and avoided his eyes. “Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea I ever had, but it’s a new day and we can start over.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
Payton shoved the sheets aside and sat up, staking out his own corner of the mattress. Jess didn’t know where she was heading with this, but she felt the need to galvanize her heart before it was too late.
“I mean, Nikki is out there and I think we both have to believe we’ll find her…so maybe we should focus on that for now.”
Payton narrowed his eyes and thought about what she’d said, letting silence build an awkward obstacle between them. Jess watched his reflection in the mirror, her way of distancing herself. Nibbling the inside corner of her lip, she had no idea what he was about to say, and waiting for him to do it was making her miserable with regret…and expectation.
“Jessie, I thought we—” He stopped and fixed his eyes on her through the mirror. “I agree Nikki should be the focus, but searching for her is not the only thing between us.”
“I’m just saying we have a clear priority here, that’s all.” She wanted to distract him from the personal connection they had made last night. In the long run, it would be best for him. “For you and your sister, it’s important to keep hope alive and give it all your energy.”
She coaxed another smile and went on.
“Until you know for sure, you should hold onto the hope that you’ll find Nikki alive, Payton. Hope can get you through some pretty tough times.” She reached for his hand and clutched it. “Believe me…I know.”
With her touch, he looked into her eyes and listened. Jess searched her heart for what to say next, but what she found completely overwhelmed her.
“The thing is, Nikki made a mistake. She trusted the wrong person and believed what they told her. But a kid’s mistake isn’t supposed to be a death sentence, damn it. This wasn’t her fault. And when we find her, she’s gonna need a lot of help to recover, Payton. She’s gonna have an uphill battle each day. It angers me when I —”
She stopped herself, stifling the rage. Nikki’s plight had hit far too close to home. And the urge to tell Payton what had happened to her felt like floodgates opening, the force of water not to be denied.
“When I was a kid, I was taken from my mother. I was too young to remember all the details of that day, but I do recall images, you know?” She swallowed and edged closer to him on the bed, shoulder-to-shoulder. His warmth gave her the courage she needed to continue.
“A bright sunny day. Fall colors. And a woman’s smiling face, playing with me at a park. She must have been my mother. They were the last happy images I remember, and I’m not entirely sure if they were…real. I just know that they’ve stayed with me even after all that happened. I guess they were real.” She nodded. “Truth is, I need to believe they were.”
Jess always pictured vague fragments of a woman’s face and wondered who had meant so much to her that she recalled her face even now. Over the years, she had clung to the belief that the woman had been her mother, but the truth was that she really didn’t know.
“Wait a minute. You mean you never got to see your mother again?”
“No.” Jess shook her head. “The police never found her. I became a ward of the state.”
With all the effort the police had put into finding her family, it was surprising that no one ever claimed her. That weighed heavy on her mind over the years—and still did, if she were being honest.
“I’m so sorry, Jessie.” He squeezed her hand.
She fixed her eyes on Payton, surprising herself with how easy it had been to open up to him. “But the man
