"You being the outcast is why I thought there might be even a slight chance that you'd help us."
They talked a little more about what Knox planned to do. They both decided that they needed to travel to Douglas to talk to Lori's neighbors and friends. He also talked about pulling her phone and credit card records as well.
It was almost ten o'clock when he stood and said he needed to get home. They had a great deal of work ahead of them. Jenna was too excited to sleep but she wouldn't keep Knox from getting his rest. She walked him to the door and although they’d shared a few passionate embraces in her entryway, this time they wouldn't be kissing before he left.
Nope, he was currently standing about three feet away.
"I'll call you in the morning. We'll make plans from there."
"I'm an early riser," she said, leaning against the door frame. "So you can call early if you need to."
"I need to talk to Logan in the morning about all of this before I call you."
"I meant what I said. We'll pay to hire you if it makes it easier."
They didn't say anything else, that tension between them building again. She could hear the chirp of crickets and some music being played far away. She could feel her heartbeat too. It was pounding way too fast because of this man.
"So goodnight," he said, bounding toward his car. "Call you."
He sounded just like a guy at the end of a bad date. He says I'll call you, but he wasn't going to call. Except...he would call because he'd said he'd help. He just wasn't going to call for a date.
Jenna would rather have Knox's help finding Lori than his kisses.
But it sucked that she had to choose.
8
It was dark outside. Because it was five in the morning.
Jenna had always considered herself okay with mornings but this was a bit earlier than she was used to. In the last campaign she'd worked, there had been many late nights which often meant sleeping in the next day. She'd grown used to it.
Even the birds weren't awake yet. Smart birds.
Stretching and yawning, Jenna poured herself a large travel mug of coffee, the heady aroma perking her up slightly. She took a sip of the hot brew and sighed as it hit her stomach. Soon the caffeine would be winding its way through her veins, waking her up and hopefully helping her form words into sentences so she made sense.
She'd already showered and dressed, shoved last-minute items like her toothbrush into her suitcase, and placed her bags by the door. Knox was going to be pulling up in front of her apartment any second now and she didn't want to keep him waiting. They were going to Douglas, Montana to start the investigation, although they were planning on staying with Jenna's family in Green Falls less than an hour away.
They were driving there. As in a road trip. Jenna still wasn't sure why they weren't flying into Billings and renting a car from there. Michelle had even offered to pick them up at the airport and then lend them one of the family vehicles so they could get around but Knox hadn't been all that fond of the idea. He'd kept shaking his head whenever Jenna had talked about taking a flight, so eventually she'd dropped the subject. He was doing them a favor, after all.
Although, technically, it wasn't really a favor anymore. Two days ago, she and Michelle had officially hired Knox's firm to investigate Lori's disappearance. It was such a relief to put it in the hands of a professional team. She'd even met with Logan, Knox's boss, and he'd assured her that their team would do their best to find out the truth. He'd had a certain air about him that made her instantly want to trust him with this case.
Taking another sip of coffee, she saw headlights flash in her window. Knox was here. Grabbing her suitcase and laptop bag, she juggled her keys and coffee in her other hand as she quickly locked her front door.
"Let me help you with that."
Knox's voice was close to her ear and she had to steel herself not to react. This wasn't easy. Just being friends and all. She still had feelings for him even though he wanted nothing to do with her.
"I've got it. My bags aren't that heavy."
He didn't listen worth a damn. He grabbed her suitcase and laptop bag and was already striding back to his SUV, leaving her standing on her front step staring at the space that he'd occupied moments before. With another sigh she followed him, climbing into the passenger side. He shut the back of the vehicle with a thump and then joined her in the front seat. He had the radio going and the wide-awake disc jockey was happily telling his audience about the weather and traffic.
What traffic could there be at five in the morning?
Knox had even said that one of the reasons for getting on the road early was to avoid traffic issues. The drive was going to be around twelve to thirteen hours and he didn't want to be driving late at night.
If we'd flown, we would have been there by dinnertime.
"Can you tell me again why we're driving thirteen hours instead of taking a plane?"
Knox didn't even take his eyes off of the road to answer.
"It wouldn't have made the travel time much less," he replied, navigating toward the highway. "With flying these days you have to show up hours before your flight, then you sit and wait and hope that the
