Friend
Sean read the list twice, and saw exactly what Lucy did. “Her friend is dead.”
She nodded. “Could it be Jessica Bell?”
Sean narrowed his search to media sites. “If it was her, her death hasn’t been reported, at least not with her name.”
“Or maybe her body hasn’t been found. What if Kirsten saw something? Or she went to meet her friend and she was already dead? We don’t even know why she was going to New York. Unless-”
Lucy turned to her laptop and started typing rapidly.
“What are you looking for?”
“Just checking something.”
Sean resisted the urge to get up and look over her shoulder. He continued to narrow his search parameters on Jessica Bell by including Columbia University in the mix. He quickly confirmed that she was a student.
“That’s it,” Lucy said. “Look.” She turned her laptop to face him.
Lucy had brought up Kirsten’s page on Facebook, and showed all her “friends.”
Jessica Bell was among them.
“See her?” Lucy said.
Sean nodded and reached over to click on Jessica’s profile, to get a clearer image of the blonde, but Lucy slapped his hand. “Wait a minute, there’s more.” She switched tabs, and there was Kirsten’s
“Yes.”
“Now click on the girl named ‘Jenna.’ ”
Sean did as Lucy said, and a larger picture came up. “It’s Jessica.”
“Exactly. That’s why Kirsten went to New York-to visit Jessica-and I suspect it had something to do with activities related to the
Sean looked at Lucy’s list of Kirsten’s key phrases. “She’s scared because something happened to Jessica, and she’s hiding. Or maybe she’s hiding out with Jessica. If the two of them are in trouble, they might think it’s better to lay low for a while.”
“Especially if they were injured or attacked. But, from the message, it seems that Jessica is the one who’s missing. And if that’s the case, who’s Kirsten staying with?”
“Maybe at Jessica’s apartment.”
“Could be. She’s scared, but sounds like she doesn’t want to leave. She says it’s pretty and there’s a view of a bridge. Is there a bridge near Jessica’s apartment?”
“There are lots of bridges in New York,” he said. “That’s what Google Earth is for.” He zeroed in on Jessica’s address. “She wouldn’t be able to see any bridge from that location. So if Kirsten’s not at Jessica’s, who’s helping her?”
“Maybe someone else on her friend list.” Lucy pulled out a sheet where she’d noted all the friends on Kirsten’s Facebook and
“That’s a lot of people to go through, but we can get started tonight. Before we go to New York.”
“You’re going to New York?”
“We are going to New York,” Sean said. “You and me. That’s where Kirsten is, and Trey is likely there by now if he didn’t drown in this storm.”
“You really want me to go?”
“I won’t go without you,” he said.
“Let’s get back to work.” Lucy stretched her back, then turned the laptop back to face herself. Sean rose and walked behind her chair. He put his hands on her shoulders and used his thumbs on her muscles. “You’re really tense. You’ve been working too long without a break.” He switched to his palms and wondered how much of her tightness was from the FBI letter and how much was from their work today.
“Umm,” she moaned and closed her eyes, her head tilting back as she relaxed, revealing her long, elegant, smooth neck. “Don’t stop.”
Lucy had no idea how sexy she looked in this position. Her lips parted a fraction, and he swallowed. He wanted to make love to her right here, right now, on his desk. Or the floor. Or he’d carry her to his bed-he didn’t really care where they were.
He leaned over and kissed her, upside down. Then he continued rubbing her upper back and arms.
“What was that for?”
“I was compelled to kiss you. You must have cast a spell over me. I’m completely enchanted, Princess.”
“That’s right,” she teased with a sly smile, “so keep working on those muscles, Prince Charming, and I might share another kiss.”
“All right, if you insist.” Her hair hung down the back of the chair in black waves. Her cheeks were high and well formed, her nose long and narrow, her skin with just a hint of brown, a light blend of her Irish-Cuban heritage. He stared at the daisy that rested in the dip of her neck and was taken aback at the powerful emotions hitting him. He’d known Lucy was special from the beginning, but at this moment, he felt something else: a complex need to love and protect her, to support her now and later, to give her everything he could-not material objects, but his real self.
He was far from perfect. Smart? Oh, yeah, he was a damn genius, if anyone looked at his IQ. Sometimes too smart, and he had a past that someone who liked him might charitably call “colorful.” But Sean was still the same person he’d always been, the one with the overwhelming need to right wrongs, even if that meant breaking the law. He was no vigilante, not by a long shot, but he could not tolerate bullies. They made him see red, and that had gotten him into hot water many times.
Lucy needed to know everything about him, but it wasn’t as if he could just sit her down and give her a chronological history of his life, the good, the bad, and the illegal. His big brother Duke had gotten him out of trouble more times than he could count, but Duke didn’t know everything. And even now, Sean didn’t regret his past. If he hadn’t turned the tables on that pedophile professor at Stanford, how many other little girls would the man have molested before he was caught?
Sometimes, you had to do the right thing even when it got you in trouble.
Lucy looked peaceful, an expression he hadn’t seen on her much lately. He loved that he was able to give her that momentary peace, that she could relax with him, that he made her laugh and smile.
He kissed her again; he couldn’t resist.
“Your hands are amazing,” she said, obviously enjoying the shoulder massage.
“I know.”
“The Rogan ego speaks.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned her chair to face him.
She opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Done so soon?”
“I haven’t gotten started yet.” Putting his hands on the armrests on either side of her, he leaned over and kissed her, drawing her bottom lip into his mouth. Her hands went up to the back of his neck, her long fingers in his hair.
“What?” she murmured faintly.
Had he spoken out loud? Maybe he had. He pulled his lips reluctantly from hers. “I’ve missed being with you. I
