You're Still the One (7 page)

              "It's okay," she said tightly. She flattened herself against the wall, and when she did, her breasts pressed against his arm.

              She looked quickly away and brought up an arm protectively over her chest. Or tried to. Instead, she jabbed Rick in the side.

              Refusing to acknowledge the tightness in his throat, he snapped his attention to the guy in front of them. "It seems Tommy has disappeared, Mr. White."

              "What?" The guy blinked like an owl behind his thick glasses.

              Katie put her arm down, looking pained. Rick faced her, scooting past so he stood slightly in front of her. This way, he could face Steve and so could she.

              She moved behind him, inching closer to peer around his shoulder. When she did, her hips pressed against his, and the touch jolted him like fire.

              He sucked in a breath. Holy crap. He'd managed to go all day without giving in to his imagination. Now his arm burned and a low insistent throbbing started in his blood. "Um, do you know him well?"

              "Not really. He's only been here, uh, let's see... a couple of weeks." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Maybe a month?"

              Rick knew it had been less than three weeks. "Mr. Townsend says your cubicle is closest to Tommy's."

              "Right. And we've had lunch together a couple of times."

              "But you wouldn't say you knew him well?"

              "I was getting to know him, I guess." Thumbing his glasses up his nose again, he glanced from Rick to Katie.

              "What's going on? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

              "We think he might be. Is there anything you can tell us? Have you spoken to him in the last couple of days?"

              "No, not since last Friday, here at work." He slid a small screwdriver into his white shirt pocket, already sagging with the weight of other tools and a rubber-banded notebook. He quickly glanced at Katie. "Oh, you're the one who left me a message about Tommy."

              "Right." She smiled tightly.

              Rick could feel tension humming through her body and knew it had nothing to do with her sister and everything to do with the tight press of his body against hers.

              Steve smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I didn't call you back. I got here early this morning to work on one of the mainframes and I forgot."

              She nodded, her breath washing hotly against Rick's shoulder, which only increased the burn in his veins.

              He cleared his throat. "Did Tommy say if he had any plans to go out of town over the weekend?"

              "No," White said. "He told me he was going to the movies, some science fiction picture, I think. I'm not big on movies."

              "And he wasn't acting strangely?"

              "Not that I could tell, but I really haven't known him all that long."

              Rick studies him for a moment, and the guy met his gaze without blinking, again nudging up his glasses. "Did he ever mention a man named Henderson?"

              The man's smooth forehead furrowed. "No."

              Rick believed the guy; Tommy probably wanted to keep Henderson as far as possible from his new life.

              "If you hear from Tommy, would you give me a call?" Rick managed to get his arm up and slide two fingers into his shirt pocket to retrieve a business card. He handed it to White.

              "Sure." White glanced at it, then at Katie. "I hope everything's okay. Are you his sister or something?"

              "Something," Rick answered for her, shifting to show Katie he was ready to go. "Thanks for your time."

              She pressed against the wall, but wouldn't meet his gaze. In the mix of bright and dim light, her cheeks looked flushed. "Do you know Tommy's wife, Mr. White?"

              "Grace?" As if startled by the question, the man blinked a couple of times."Oh, sure. Tommy's crazy about her."

              "Have you met her, then?"

              "We've had lunch together a couple of times." He looked from Katie to Rick. "It this about Grace, too?"

              Rick watched Katie, admiration growing. She'd done that exactly as he would've.             

              "She's my sister," Katie admitted.

              The man peered over the top of his glasses. "I don't really see the resemblance."

              "Most people don't," she said with a smile, but Rick wondered at the tightness in her voice.

              "Hope you find them."

              "Thanks."

              "If you find out anything, it would really help us if you'd call," Rick reminded.

              "Yeah, if I hear from them, I'll let you know."

              "We'd appreciate it."

              Rick reached the door first, curious to know if Katie's cheeks were really as flushed as they appeared in the closet.

              He stepped out, sucking in a deep breath. It was too dang tight in there.

              Katie was right behind him, and she seemed as glad for the space as he did. He tried to put out of his mind the feel of her body against his, the way her scent still crowded his lungs.

              Color flagged her high cheekbones. Her nostrils flared delicately. She was either turned on or mad. Or both.

              "What's going on?" he asked as they got into the elevator to take them to the first level.

              "If Steve White knows Grace, then than means she's been seeing Tommy while telling me she wasn't. I mean, Tommy's only worked here three weeks!"

             
Mad.
Rick didn't know why Katie was so surprised. Grace had always done exactly as she pleases, regardless of what it might mean to or for Katie.

              "She swore she'd changed. She swore she was getting her life back together, that she agreed when I told her she should wait and see if Tommy was really going straight." Katie shook her head, looking disgusted. "If she's not in danger now, she's going to be when I find her."

              Rick bit back a grin, struggling not to replay the memory of all that passion exploding beneath him at one time. Had Katie always been so verbal? If so, he didn't remember. Another trait he'd squashed with his personality?

              As they walked outside and across the parking lot, he found he had to match her quick steps. Her heels clicked angrily against the asphalt.

              "You think White was telling the truth? About not knowing anything?" For some reason, Rick really wanted her opinion.

              Her nose scrunched up in that cute little way she had when she thought about something. "I do. I thought he was forthcoming. He didn't have to say anything about my message, for one thing."

              "True."

              "I think his concern about Tommy is genuine, also his surprise that Tommy isn't at work."

              "I agree." Rick was impressed. Not just by the fact that she was showing anger toward her sister for the first time since he'd known her, but also by the fact that they had actually worked together, and worked well.

              As Katie slid into the 'Vette beside him and buckled her seat belt, he reminded himself that they would go their separate ways once this was over. He had to forget about wanting to know more about the woman she was now. He'd been close to her before, let his guard down and had his heart torn to pieces. That engagement ring had burned a hole in his pocket, and his heart, for a year as he'd waited and hoped she'd change her mind about them. She hadn't. Neither would he.

              Ten minutes later, Katie's gaze shifted from the green blur of passing trees to Rick as he hung up his cell phone. He'd put in another call about Henderson to Kyle Walker, his buddy at the OCPD, and gotten no information. "I think I've wasted your time."

              "How so?" Rick turned right into the parking lot of a flat-rooted, muddy brown apartment complex in northwest Oklahoma City. They had agreed the next stop should be Tommy's ex-cell mate, Billy Edwards, who was also out on parole.

              "You heard Steve White. Grace has been seeing Tommy. You were right." Kathy shoved a hand through her hair, trying to corral the anger that bubbled through her. As she had a hundred times this morning, she checked the battery on her cell phone. Fully charged. "She probably took off with him to Cancun or somewhere for a wild time. That would be so Grace."

              "I don't think so, Katie."

              "Why not? You know how she is."

              "I found a listening device and a camera in your house, a tracker on your car and mine. I think someone's after them, through you."

              "Why haven't I heard from her?" Frustration would her nerves tight.

              "I'm not saying they didn't run off to Cancun, but it's looking more and more as if they had a reason."

              Katie stared at him in amazement, then huffed out a breath. "This is a switch, huh?
You
defending Grace."

              He grinned. "I'm saying your instincts were right. There's a difference."

              She laughed, but felt the same slow roll of her belly that she'd felt while sandwiched with him in that closet. Was it because she couldn't stop looking at him, thinking about him? About
them?
Or was it because of the distance between them? A distance Katie knew needed to be there, regardless of the ache in her chest.

              She told herself that ache was more about nostalgia than regret, but she didn't believe it.

              She felt more pleasure than she should about the fact that Rick had agreed with her assessment of the parole officer.

              Katie tried to concentrate on Tommy's ex-cell mate. Edwards wasn't home, and they learned from his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Carter, that Billy was working the wheat harvest in Texas but was expected back the next day. Rick slid a business card under Billy's door, then pulled out another and asked the woman to call if she heard from him. She promised she would.

              As Rick and Katie pulled out of the parking lot and headed to his office, she found herself staring at his strong jaw, the sculpted profile of his lips. He'd treated her like an equal today, and she liked it. But she couldn't let herself wonder what might've happened between them ten years earlier if she'd felt they were equal then. Their breakup had been her fault for not asserting herself more, and Rick's for asserting himself too much.

              As they walked into his office, Katie again checked her cell phone. In perfect working order and no word from Grace. The tension that had knotted her shoulders upon first learning of Grace's disappearance wound tighter.

              The same attractive, middle-aged brunette whom Katie had seen on her first visit rose from the dark pecan desk that dominated the reception area. A striking oil abstract of a serene lake on a  canyon floor hung on the wall behind her. Burgundy leather chairs winged the corners of the desk, inviting people to wait comfortably. A credenza, matching the polished wood of the desk, held neatly slotted file folders and manila jackets bearing typed labels with case names.

              "Katie, you've met Mary Stewart, my office manager." Rick shut the door behind them and grinned at the other woman.

              Mary's short ash-brown hair was perfectly styled, her makeup meticulous and understated. Her deep purple suit gave her blue eyes a hint of mischief. "Hello, Katie. How nice to see you again." She shook Katie's hand warmly, her gaze measuring Rick.

              Katie wondered what Rick might've said about her to his secretary.

              Rick handed her the photos of Grace and Tommy that Katie had given him.

              Mary pushed a small sheaf of messages at him. "Katie, have you had any word from your sister?"

              "Not yet." She tried to keep the tightness out of her voice. It wasn't Mary's fault that Grace was as irresponsible as they came.

              The older woman moved gracefully around the neatly organized desk, glancing at Rick. "I'll post these photos on the Internet and also e-mail them to your uncle at the local FBI office."

              "Thanks."

              Mary sank down in her chair, smiling reassuringly at Katie. "If anyone can find your sister, it's Rick."

              "Any more messages, Mary?" he asked gruffly.

              "He hates to be talked about," she explained to Katie.

              "Especially when I'm standing right here."

              Mary waved a dismissive hand at him, and Katie grinned.

              "There are a few messages, nothing urgent, but you did have a suspicious visitor earlier. A man. I'd say early forties."

              Rick's gaze sharpened. "What did he look like?"