Chapter Twenty-Four
“I’m not sure why you think she would be here,” Becs told Evan when they walked into the diner.
“She’s looking for someone,” he replied, appearing cool and casual, like this was an everyday occurrence.
“Good mornin’,” the hostess greeted cheerfully. “Just two?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Evan replied to the woman. “By the window, if you don’t mind.”
She smiled and said, “Right this way.”
“Are we really gonna have lunch?” Becs asked, keeping her voice low.
“We really are.”
Rolling her eyes, she sighed and followed the woman to the table for two at the front of the restaurant. She had to admit, this was a pretty good spot to keep an eye on the restaurant as well as the parking lot.
Evan paused at the booth and gestured for her to sit. Before she could disguise her response, her surprise registered, and she knew he saw it. Playing it cool, she forced a smile and took a seat.
When he joined her on the other side, she realized he’d purposely positioned himself so he could see everything, while she was forced to look at him or the wall behind him. Sneaky butthole.
“Have you eaten here before?” he asked.
“Once or twice.” She’d actually been here a few more times than that, but Becs wasn’t interested in sharing that with Evan.
She had come here with Atticus a few times for lunch.
The diner was the closest to HQ and had better food than the fast-food joints they’d find farther up the road.
Plus, Atticus seemed to like it. Or maybe he pretended to for her benefit. She made a mental note to ask him.
She and Atticus had established a friendship after the trip to New York, and she found he was easy to talk to. Not to mention, he was funny, and she didn’t spend the majority of her time wondering whether he liked her.
Unlike Evan. Talking to him required her to get past the butterflies doing the cha-cha in her belly. And every second was spent wondering if her makeup needed to be fixed, or her hair, or whether she had something in her teeth.
They sat in silence for a few minutes while they perused the menu.
When the server came around to take their order, Evan had her go first, so she ordered the chef salad and a glass of water.
Evan ordered the same. When she left, the silence descended again, though this time it was thick enough to choke.
Sitting there with Evan, sharing a meal, was something Becs had fantasized about more times than she could count. Only in her fantasies, she wasn’t staring out the window or nervous. She usually imagined herself carrying the conversation, making him smile and laugh.
She chanced a glance at him, noticing he was staring at her. “What?”
His expression softened. “Nothing.”
“Then why are you starin’ at me?”
“Because you’re sitting in front of me.”
Look at him being all logical. “Well, stop it.”
He chuckled and she felt the pleasure bubble and fizz in her bloodstream. She loved to hear Evan laugh. He didn’t do it all that much, so when he did, it was a treat.
Reminding herself they were working, Becs shifted gears. “What do you plan to do if we do see Allison?”
“Talk to her.”
“About?”
“Her reason for being in Coyote Ridge.”
“What if she says she’s visiting family?”
“Would you believe that?”
Becs shrugged. “Maybe.”
He smiled. “If she does say that, we’ll ask who.”
Again, he was being far too logical. “I can’t imagine she’d just walk in here. Charlie’s been lookin’ for her since Sunday.”
“Baz and JJ saw her in here.”
Becs recalled reading that in the notes. It had been right before Brantley and Reese’s wedding. Which meant Allison hadn’t been too worried about anyone seeing her. Considering how small this town was, she had to know someone might recognize her.
Then again, maybe she thought no one would remember her since she only worked with the task force for a very short time.
“Fair enough. But JJ’s pinged her phone dozens of times. She can’t get a location, so it must be turned off.”
“I’m sure she’s got more than one phone. The number we have is likely for a burner she used specifically for us.”
Yeah. She’d considered that too. Since Allison had purposely targeted the task force, it would make sense for her to have compartmentalized the role.
“You worked with Allison,” Evan said casually. “What did you think of her?”
“I didn’t work with her long enough to form an opinion.
” That was the truth. Mostly. She’d spent a little time with Allison at HQ, and she remembered the woman was bitchy, determined to get her way in all things.
Her heart certainly hadn’t been broken when she learned that Allison skipped out on the job.
“Why do you think she left?” she asked Evan. “She only worked one case. And didn’t even finish it. Why would she up and quit so quickly?”
“Maybe Calloway called her in. Or maybe she figured out we didn’t know anything.”
“I can’t imagine she had enough time to figure out anything. Not when we were focused on the case.” The first big one that Becs had worked on, in fact.
Evan took a sip of water. “I worked with Trey that day, but according to Baz’s notes, she was confrontational and too rigid when it came to how to handle things. I doubt he opened up to her about whatever it was she was lookin’ for.”
“I don’t think he did, either.” Becs couldn’t see Baz spilling details to someone he didn’t know. “But somethin’ spooked her. Why else disappear the way she did?”
Becs remembered wondering whether she’d had a family emergency or simply didn’t like the way the team worked together.
Or maybe Allison had seen or heard something that sent her running.
But what? It had been a fairly straightforward case.
Cedric Hawkins had gone missing, and Governor Greenwood contacted Brantley for their assistance.
In the end, it turned out that a group of wives had conspired to kill each other’s husbands.
Charlie was the one who talked down the wives, and they were all arrested.
But based on Baz’s notes, Allison hadn’t approved of the way they were handling things, and at some point, she walked away, never looking back.
“Maybe she didn’t want to stick around because we expected her to work,” Becs considered. “If she already had a job as a spy for Calloway, she probably thought she had enough to do already.”
Evan grinned. “Possibly.”
Whatever her reasons, Becs wished they could find her. If she was tied in with this, they needed to know. They had very little to go on, and the thought of never finding out what happened to Kylie Walker didn’t sit well with her.
“Let’s have lunch, then we’ll talk to some more people,” Evan said, his tone smooth and easy. “And if she happens to walk in while we’re eating, it’ll make our jobs that much easier.”
Yeah. If only.
When Evan commented that they might stumble on Allison, he’d been joking.
He’d used the excuse to get Becs to have lunch with him because he wanted to spend more time with her outside of HQ.
Yesterday had been an eye-opener for him, and he realized how much he enjoyed talking to her, listening to her theories, watching her expressive features when she tried to work out a problem.
It was a ruse, and sure, his mother would likely accuse him of sending mixed signals again. She was probably right, since when it came to Becs, his only objective was to do right by her.
Did he want more? Absolutely.
Could he risk it? No.
More accurately, he couldn’t risk her.
So, yeah, he was hoping they would run into Allison so that it didn’t look as though he’d manipulated the situation. He had, but he didn’t want it to appear that way.
And what do you know? That was precisely what happened as they were finishing their meal.
The waitress had just removed their plates when Allison Bogart walked into the restaurant, her eyes scanning every inch. As she looked his way, Evan purposely turned his attention to Becs, smiling at her as though they were enjoying a lunch date and not suffering through a silent meal together.
She looked nervous.
Not Becs.
Well, not only Becs. She looked nervous, too, but he was referring to Allison.
Leaning in, Evan touched Becs’s hand, keeping his smile planted on his face. Her eyes widened with what he could only describe as shock, but she didn’t pull away.
“She just walked in,” he said softly, pretending he was telling her how pretty she was.
“Nuh-uh.”
“Yes-huh,” he chuckled. “Do not look.”
Becs managed a smile, but he could tell it wasn’t easy. “Is she with anyone?”
He shook his head, caressing her hand, hoping they looked like a couple enjoying a romantic meal together.
It wasn’t difficult to pretend since Evan had been thinking about it endlessly ever since New York, when he fucked everything up.
The friendship they had established prior to the kiss that blew his mind had disappeared completely, thanks to all his mixed signals.
Becs leaned in. “What about outside? See anyone suspicious?”
Evan glanced out the window, scanning the parking lot. He didn’t notice anyone lurking or anyone sitting in a vehicle waiting for her.
He looked at her again. “All clear.”
“We need to talk to her.”
“I agree.” He patted her hand, sat up straight. “You should do that. I’ll take care of the bill.”
Becs frowned. “Me? Why me?”
“Because you can go to the restroom, then pretend to recognize her on the way there.”
“It’s not hard to pretend. I do recognize her.” Becs lowered her voice. “And I’m sure she recognizes me. We didn’t exactly become friends when she worked with us.”
“Do you hold a grudge?”
Her red-gold eyebrows dipped low. “Of course I do. She’s workin’ with Calloway.”
“Would you hold one if she didn’t?”
Becs shrugged one shoulder. “Probably not.”
“Well, then, pretend she’s not workin’ with anyone. Stop and chat, see how she’s doing.”
“That makes far too much sense,” she muttered.
Evan laughed. God, he missed this woman so much.