Chapter 2 #2
Mickey walked toward him with a pink yoga mat slung over her shoulder.
Tight black pants showed off her sculpted legs and defined shoulders peeked out from her purple tank top.
The mess of curly red hair piled high on top of her head bounced with every motion and long wisps of unruly strands curled around her face.
Her gaze met his and her wide mouth curved into a smile.
Knots twisted in his stomach like a pretzel. Under different circumstances, he’d be smiling about seeing her again, too. But not like this. Not when he had to tell her that her goddaughter was missing and then figure out if she had anything to do with it.
Mickey stopped to stand in front of him and pushed back a coil of stray hair. She furrowed her brow and studied him, but the smile never left her face. “Hi.”
Graham shoved his hand in the pocket of his khakis, rocked back on his heels, and let the file dangle at his side.
The sun hung high in the sky behind her, causing him to squint despite his aviator sunglasses.
He noted the dark circles under her eyes.
She hadn’t been sleeping, either. “Can we talk?”
Her amber eyes darted around him and she shifted her stance. “About the plane? I already gave my statement. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“No, something else. Can we go somewhere private?”
A light blush colored her cheeks and her eyebrows rose. Dammit, he was giving her the wrong idea. He cleared his throat. “There’s been an incident this morning and I need to ask you some questions.”
“What kind of incident?” Her voice held a hint of weariness and she hoisted her yoga mat higher on her sunburned shoulder.
He ground his teeth together. She wasn’t making this easy. He wanted to get her somewhere private so he could gauge her reaction when he told her about the girl. “I’d really like to sit somewhere to talk about this.”
She folded her arms across her chest and pressed her lips together. The pleasure etched on her face moments before disappeared. “And I’d really like to know what’s going on.”
A young man in a suit and tie bumped into his shoulder as he hurried by.
Graham grunted and staggered back before gaining his footing.
Enough. He was hot and tired and he didn’t have time to play games.
If she wanted to do this the hard way, he’d play along.
“I’ll try one more time to be nice. We can go to your apartment and have a conversation, or I can take you to my office. The choice is yours.”
Mickey’s eyes hardened, sketching lines in their corners. “Fine.” She stepped around him and climbed the stairs of the stoop. The faint scent of sweat and strawberries lingered behind her.
Following her, he climbed the two flights to her apartment and his dress shoes slapped against the wooden stairs.
He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head and tried to keep his eyes off the rounded shape of her ass.
He was in enough hot water with his boss right now.
He didn’t need to add fuel to the fire by allowing himself to become attracted to a woman involved in one of his cases.
He could already hear Harper berating him over conflict of interest bullshit.
She took a key out of a discreet pocket in the top of her pants and opened the door.
Pushing the door wide, Mickey stepped over the threshold and threw her yoga mat on the gray sectional in the small living room.
The door squeaked as he closed it behind him and he followed her to the kitchen.
Mickey grabbed a clean glass from the cabinet and then banged the door shut.
Water splashed out of the faucet and she filled the glass before bringing it to her full lips for a sip.
“Can I get a glass?”
Mickey shut off the water and sat down at the round distressed table nestled in the corner. “Sure. Once you tell me why you’re here.” The tight smile on her face told him her patience wore thin. She’d worn the same smile when he’d pissed her off on the plane.
He walked over to the table, sat down across from her, and placed the file in front of him.
She placed her glass on the table and kept her gaze trained on his face.
He studied her. How would her porcelain coloring change?
Would lines ripple on her smooth-as-silk skin?
Would tears burst from the corners of her eyes?
He blew out a breath and dove in. “I’m here to tell you Becca Stanley went missing this morning around ten a.m.”
Water sloshed over the side of the glass and dripped down onto the table. Her hand trembled and she set the glass down. “You can’t be serious.”
He watched her intently. Her forehead puckered as she took in his words, but no other signs of distress burst forward. “Trust me, this is no joke. I’d like to know where you were all day.”
She jumped out of her seat and pulled her shirt from her body and said, “What does it look like? I was working out. What happened to Becca? I need to call Suzi. She doesn’t have a lot of family.
She’ll need me.” She started pacing across the kitchen and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. “This has to be a mistake.”
His gaze followed her. No tears sprang to her eyes, no asking who took the girl. Mentally tucking away his observations, he waited a beat before he said, “You need to answer some questions before you call Suzi.”
She stopped moving and scanned the kitchen. “Where the hell did I leave my phone? Dammit!”
Mickey raced into the living room and threw decorative pillows and blankets off the sofa. Graham stood from the table and walked to the cabinet Mickey had taken a glass from. He grabbed a clear glass, filled it with water, and waited for her to find her phone.
Her head popped up from the front of the couch and she raised her phone in the air.
She shot fire at him with her eyes. “She didn’t call.
I don’t know what game you’re playing, but Suzi would have called me if something happened to Becca.
I love that girl with my whole heart.” Mickey’s voice cracked, but the heat never left her gaze.
Graham pressed the small of his back against the countertop and set the glass down beside him. “Suzi didn’t contact you because she was told not to. If you want to help us find Becca, it’s important you tell me where you were today.”
Mickey pressed the tips of her fingers into her eyes and drew a long breath in through her nose. She lowered her hands and tears hovered above her long lashes. “I went to yoga class this morning.”
“What time did it start?”
Her cheeks sunk in as if she were biting them. “Nine.”
That was hours ago. No way she’d been doing yoga until after three in the afternoon. He scanned the lean lines of her body. Well, maybe she had with a body like that. He forced his eyes back to her face. “What time did class end?”
“The class lasts an hour and a half. After class, I went for coffee with a friend.” She lifted a hand to her forehead and her fingers rubbed her hairline. “By the time we finished, it was lunch. We intended to get a quick bite to eat but ended up talking for a while.”
“About?” He picked up his water and took a sip.
Anger flashed in her eyes. “About how I almost died last night in a plane crash and the asshole who saved my life.”
“Did you tell your boyfriend about how I saved your life?” He kept his gaze steady and gauged her reaction to his words.
She snorted and sat down at the table. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Can I call Suzi now?”
“No.” He picked up his glass and sat across from her. “What about Pete Bogart?”
She squinted and tilted her head to the side. The hair piled on top of her head bounced along with the movement. “How do you know about Pete?”
“I know a lot of things.”
“Then you should know we aren’t seeing each other anymore. I ended things a couple of weeks ago.”
Suzi had told him the same thing earlier, but that didn’t mean Mickey didn’t know the truth about her recent ex. “When you were together, did the two of you spend a lot of time with Becca?”
Mickey straightened and her body tensed. “Sometimes. I try to see Becca once a week, and Pete would come along when he was in town. Becca’s father isn’t in the picture, and she liked having him around.”
“Why didn’t you see Becca this morning? Aren’t Sundays the day you usually see her?”
“I needed some time to myself today.” She dropped her gaze and wiped some crumbs off the table. “I wanted to get my head on straight before I spent time with her. She’s a sensitive girl, and I didn’t want her to pick up on my anxiety.”
Graham slid the file toward her. “Did you know Becca planned on seeing Pete this morning?” He flipped open the file and a grainy picture of Pete and Becca eating yogurt on the street stared up at Mickey.
Mickey’s head whipped up and met his gaze. “No. I haven’t talked to Pete in two weeks, and Suzi didn’t mention it when I called and canceled yesterday.”
“He was the last person seen with Becca.” He reached forward and fanned out the pictures in the file so all three were visible.
Three photos of three different missing girls taken from various traffic cameras in the city.
All with the same man. All with the man’s face conveniently covered.
He hadn’t been able to obtain the bastard’s identity until the call came in from Becca’s mom this morning.
“I’ve been investigating Pete for the past month.
He has a connection with a sex-trafficking ring that recently moved here from Mexico. ”
A high-pitched laugh bubbled from Mickey and morphed into a hysteric groan. She shook her head, but her gaze never left the photo of her goddaughter. “This is all wrong. Pete’s a good guy. He’d never do anything to hurt anyone, especially Becca. He adored her.”
Graham waited a beat, studying her reaction.
He wanted to believe she was telling him the truth, but he’d never been in this situation before.
Instead of wanting to badger her with questions about her possible involvement, he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right.
“This has to be a mistake. I’m sure Pete lost track of time and will bring Becca back any minute.”
Graham raised his brows and glanced behind Mickey at the clock on the wall. “Becca was supposed to be home five hours ago.”
She grabbed her phone and her fingers flew over the screen. “Did you call Pete? Maybe they went to a movie or something.”
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. Jolts of electricity shocked his hand and he yanked it back. Mickey dropped her phone and stared at him. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Are you going to ask about the other girls in the pictures?”
“It can’t be true. There has to be another explanation.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She dropped her gaze to the pictures and swiped the tips of her fingers over Becca’s face.
Ring, ring, ring.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I have to take this.” He stood, turning away from Mickey, and talked to his partner. “What have you got?”
“Harper called and wants to see us as soon as possible.”
Shit. He didn’t have time to waste dealing with his boss, but if Harper wanted them in his office he didn’t have a choice. He pressed his lips together and sighed. “I’m on my way.”
He hung up the phone and faced Mickey. Digging in his pocket, he grabbed a card and threw it on the table. “I have to go. Here’s my card. Call if you think of anything I should know. I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Can I call Suzi now?”
The slight tremor in her voice tightened the knots in his stomach. He nodded. “Yes. If you think of anything that will help us find Becca, call me. The longer we go without finding her…”
She waved away his words and tears streamed down her face. “She’s going to be fine. I know it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He turned and walked out of the apartment and back into the steaming heat of summer.
The sun shone bright in his eyes, and he lowered his shades to hide the glare.
His gut told him Mickey was telling him the truth, but his head knew he needed to keep an eye on her.
Too much shit had happened around her in the last week.
He couldn’t ignore that. Either way, he’d just dropped a bomb on her.
Now it was time to watch and see how she picked up the pieces.