Brianne and Alex did as he suggested, settling into the plush leather seats. Dean walked around to the other side of his desk and took a seat opposite them. “Now, how can I help you?”
“A few weeks ago, I called you,” Alex explained. “At the time I asked you if you knew a Carter Smith.”
Dean’s eyes registered understanding. “Right. I remember.” He paused. “I also remember telling you that I didn’t know anyone by that name.”
“I know you did, but I’m thinking you might know him by another name. I brought some pictures with me. All I want you to do is look at them and see if the guy in the pictures is someone you know.”
“Look, I don’t want to get in the middle of anything,” Dean said. His expression was still guarded.
“The guy we’re looking for is a friend. We…lost touch. I’m just trying to reach out to him. If it
is
him.”
Alex spoke casually, and Brianne could see the tension in Dean’s shoulders ebbing away. “Let me see the pics.”
Alex withdrew the handful of photos from the envelope and passed them across the desk to Dean. Dean flipped through them, giving a good five seconds of attention to each of the first few before skimming the others.
Shaking his head, he passed the photos back to Alex. “Naw. He doesn’t look familiar.”
“Are you sure?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know him,” Dean said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here.”
“Wait.” Brianne quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. Opening it, she withdrew a photo. Alex could see that it was a picture of her and Carter. He didn’t know why, but it bugged him to know that she was carrying around such a photo.
Of course he knew why. Because Carter was not worthy of her undying admiration.
“This is another picture of Carter,” Brianne explained. “As you can see, he’s got a goatee in this photo—which
he didn’t have in the photos that Alex showed you. Try to look at the facial structure. He might have gained or lost weight—”
“I said I don’t know who he is.”
Dean spoke abruptly, almost as if he were annoyed. Alex knew that the man was busy, but something about his tone and body language set off an alarm in Alex’s brain.
He was lying. Alex didn’t know why, but he was certain of that fact.
“Well, you know someone who looks like him,” Brianne insisted. “Alex saw him. He saw him on television with you. You’ve got to know—”
Dean raised his palms in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know what you want me to say. If I don’t know the guy, I don’t know the guy.”
“But—”
Alex put a hand on Brianne’s arm. “Brianne, he doesn’t know him.”
Brianne looked at Alex, her eyes large and glistening with tears. “But you said—”
“I know what I said. But I was obviously mistaken.” Alex looked at Dean as he said the last word.
Dean nodded. “Exactly. I see a lot of people, man. Sometimes they run down to see me after a race. I don’t know who they all are. This guy—even if he was on the track that day—I don’t know him.”
Brianne wanted to cry. And she wanted to scream. Alex was giving up so easily. Why walk away now? After they had come so far?
Besides, she got the impression that Dean was hiding something. She wasn’t sure why—it was just a sense she had. Now was the time to stress to Dean just how important it was that they find Carter. Not simply act like they were two old friends in town hoping to touch base with him.
Alex stood. Reaching across the desk, he shook Dean’s hand. “Thanks for your time.”
Brianne stared at Alex in a state of disbelief.
“Come on, Brianne. We’ve taken up enough of Mr. Knight’s time.”
She didn’t move. Instead she tried to convey with her eyes her desire that they stay and press Dean harder. But when Alex extended his hand to her, she reluctantly stood.
“Sorry I couldn’t be of help,” Dean said.
“Hey, if you don’t know him, you don’t know him.”
Alex placed a hand on Brianne’s elbow and guided her toward the door, as if he didn’t trust her to go of her own free will.
“Take care,” Dean called out as they reached the door to his office.
Alex responded, but Brianne didn’t bother to even turn and acknowledge him as Alex ushered her out of the office. She was suddenly angry. With Dean Knight and with Alex.
“Going so soon?” Ginny asked.
“Yeah,” Alex told her. “Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime.” Ginny fluttered her unnaturally long eyelashes.
Brianne wanted to throw something.
“Brianne, will you wait for me outside?” Alex asked.
Her eyes grew wide in astonishment. But when she saw the megawatt smile on Ginny’s face, she knew the deal.
“Fine,” she said tersely.
Brianne turned and marched out the door. She thought she heard Ginny say a goodbye, but she wasn’t sure.
Brianne stomped all the way to the car, yanked on the door, but found it locked. Silently she cursed.
“If you leave me out here waiting forever…”
Two minutes that seemed like two hours passed. Then the front door opened. Alex casually made his way down the steps, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“I see you have your priorities straight,” Brianne muttered as Alex reached her.
“Excuse me?”
“We’re here to find Carter, but you seem more interested in making a love connection with Ginny.”
“Brianne—”
“And Dean says he doesn’t recognize Carter, and you just say, okay fine, let’s go? Why exactly did you have me come down here with you if you were going to give up so easily? What was the point?”
“Brianne—”
“After getting my hopes up, telling me you were certain, you now you think you were mistaken. So does that mean you think you were wrong about Carter being alive?”
Alex pressed a finger to Brianne’s lips to silence her. “Bree, stop talking for a second and hear me out.”
“No,” Brianne said, stepping away from Alex’s touch. It looked to him like she was going to cry. “This is exactly what I was worried about. Coming down here on a wild goose chase. I got my hopes up, and now—”
“He’s lying,” Alex said, and that stopped her cold. “Dean Knight lied about not recognizing Carter.”
Brianne’s eyes widened, her lips parting in surprise. “So it’s not just me?” she asked. “You felt it, too.”
“He tried to hide it, but I saw the recognition in his eyes when he looked at the picture of Carter. He knows him.”
“Then what are we doing out here?” Brianne asked. “We need to go back inside, get him to fess up.”
Brianne took a step in the direction of the Dean’s office, but Alex reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. “No. We’re not going back in there. Not yet.”
Confusion streaked across Brianne’s face. “I don’t understand.”
“Brianne, we came down here to find out if Carter is alive.” Alex couldn’t help grinning. “Let’s not lose sight of the big picture. The fact that Dean’s lying is good news. Because it means what I thought was true. Carter’s alive.”
Chapter 10
A
lex was smiling like the cat who ate the canary. “He’s alive, Brianne. He’s alive.”
Slowly, realization dawned on Brianne. She got it. “Oh, my God, you’re right. I never thought of it that way. He would only lie if he knows who Carter is.”
“Exactly.”
Brianne frowned. “But I don’t understand. If Carter was lost on a mountain three years ago, why would Dean lie about knowing him?”
“He shouldn’t. But maybe Dean’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like answering questions asked by random strangers. He doesn’t know us. That could be affecting his decision to say anything. Remember, his first words were that he didn’t want to get in the middle of anything. He might assume we’re looking for Carter for some untoward reason.”
“If you’re right,” Brianne began, “then how do we get through to this guy?”
“We could follow him.” Alex paused, thought for a bit. “See if he goes straight to Carter. Of course, he might just call him. Or maybe I’m wrong and he doesn’t know who Carter is.”
“Do you believe that?”
“No. I think he knows something. If I had to guess, I would assume that he figures Carter is in some kind of trouble. Maybe a guy who’s wanted by the cops for some reason, and that’s where his hesitation is coming from.” Alex shrugged. “I think that makes the most sense.”
“So, what should we do?”
Alex pursed his lips. “I asked Ginny if she recognized the photos of Carter, and she said no. I believed her but left her my information in case she learns something that can help us.”
“I’m sure you’ll be hearing from her regardless,” Brianne muttered.
“Pardon me?”
“Nothing,” she said. Seriously, why was she feeling uncomfortable at the idea of Alex and Ginny getting together?
“You know, maybe you’re right,” Alex said after a moment. “Maybe we should go back in there.”
“Right now?” But before Brianne even got the question out, Alex took her hand in his and started back up the stairs to the office. Moments later, Alex was striding past the receptionist, smiling sweetly at her and apologizing profusely. He walked right into Dean’s office.
The look on Dean’s face was more than surprised. It was as though he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “When you get this message,” Dean said quickly into the phone, “call me back.”
“Was that Carter you called?” Alex asked.
Dean didn’t answer right away. “I already told you—”
Alex advanced. “You and I both know that you’re lying about recognizing him. I’m not saying I blame you. You’re obviously a good friend, having his back like that. But in case you think we’re here because we’ve got a beef with Carter, or because he’s wanted for something illegal, rest assured that is not the case. We simply are trying to track him down. We’re friends of his from…from way back. Mostly, we want to know that he is okay.”
“Please,” Brianne said, “if you know something, you’ve got to tell us. I was his fiancée.”
Dean’s eyes widen slightly, as though Brianne’s words had surprised him. Still, he didn’t speak, just stared.
Alex passed Dean a card. “This is my name and all my info. Enough to go to the cops with if you think I’m out to harm Carter.”
Dean accepted the card, staring at it for a moment, then meeting Alex’s eyes once again. He exhaled sharply and said, “The guy I know, his name isn’t Carter.”
“So you do know him,” Alex said. Obviously his decision to give Dean his contact information had assured him that he was trustworthy.
“I don’t know him well,” Dean answered. “But if it’s the same guy, I know him as Donnie. Loves the racing circuit. He’s a friend of a friend. That’s who I was calling when you walked in the door.”
“Who’s this friend?” Alex asked.
“Someone who’s out of the country right now.”
“And he can tell us where to find Carter?”
Dean stared at Alex, then at Brianne. He was sizing them up, as if still trying to decide if he could totally trust what they told him. “How do I know this business card is real?”
“It’s real. Call my phone right now if you want. I’m the owner of several sporting goods stores across the country
and in some international locations. I’ve never had a speeding ticket, much less been arrested. No—that’s not true. I did get one speeding ticket when I was twenty.”
Dean’s expression relaxed somewhat. “Where I come from, you don’t just go telling people things when you don’t know who they are. This guy is a friend of a friend, and I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
“Like I said,” Alex began, “we don’t want to hurt him. We’re friends who lost touch some years back.”
Dean’s eyes fell on Brianne. “You said you used to be his fiancée.”
“I did. I was his fiancée.”
“And here you are, trying to find him.” Dean said the words almost like an accusation.
“I’m perfectly aware that he’s likely moved on, but we didn’t end things on a…sour note. In fact—”
Alex gently nudged Brianne, silently urging her not to divulge too much information. “Why don’t we do this? If you get in touch with your friend, you can tell him that I came by looking for Carter—Donnie—and leave it up to him to call me.”
Nodding, Dean once again glanced at the card Alex had handed him. “All right. I can do that, man.”
“Thanks.” Alex offered Dean his hand, and the two exchanged a hearty handshake. Alex could tell he’d gotten through to Dean.
When they were outside, Brianne said, “You think he’ll pass along your info?”
“I think so. Talking to him a second time, I get the sense that he believes us. He’s just trying to look out for his friend’s friend.” He paused.
“Donnie.”
Brianne rounded the car. “If Carter’s using the name Donnie, then he definitely doesn’t know who he is.”
“Hmm,” Alex responded noncommittally. He pressed
the car’s remote to unlock the car. He could think of another reason to explain why he was using a different name.
Brianne spoke again when she was sitting in the passenger seat. “Was it just me, or did Dean look shocked when I said I was Carter’s fiancée?” She didn’t wait for Alex to answer. “I know I should be prepared for the fact that Carter has a whole new life—I keep telling myself that—but it’s hard to believe he could have a girlfriend or a wife and have completely forgotten me.”
“You know that’s a possibility,” Alex said. “Yes, we’re here looking for Carter, but I think it’s important for both of us to accept that he’s not going to be who he was three years ago.”
“I know, but…” Brianne’s voice trailed off.
“But what?”
“I’m scared.”
Damn if she didn’t sound all soft and vulnerable. Again, Alex wondered if it had been wrong to involve her in this at all. He knew that if they found Carter, Brianne would be devastated.
Provided her feelings for him were the same as they had been three years ago.
“I know you’re scared,” he said. “But I’m here for you. I want you to know that. Whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
Alex didn’t think. Just reached for her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
Warmth shot through his body. Touching Brianne was like touching a live wire. Of course it was. He was attracted to her—that much he had accepted years ago. What he didn’t understand was why the attraction hadn’t faded over time. After all, it wasn’t like he’d had a chance with her.