Chapter Six
She had one just like it.
The sleek design of the Taser, with its black coloring and small size, had ensured it was easily lost to the thickest section of weeds along the bank.
The area itself had been just outside the perimeter police had established upon securing the scene around Iliana Meyer’s abandoned vehicle.
There was a chance the Taser had nothing to do with the forensic analyst’s or Lauren’s disappearance, but what were the odds this exact model had been found along the bank?
Sliding her thumb along the plastic casing through the evidence bag, Maeve couldn’t help but give in to the free-fall of nostalgia.
“It’s the same model I gifted Lauren right before she moved to Springdale about five years ago.
” Callen wrung his hands against the steering wheel as he navigated toward the nearest hotel.
They’d walked the riverbank for another two hours before the sun had finally given over to evening and severed their chances of finding anything more.
Hours had somehow felt like minutes, and before Maeve had realized it, they’d spent nearly the entire day together.
“The company who makes it was one of my security firm’s contractors.
They wanted us to test them before they hit the market, so I gave them out as Christmas presents that year. ”
“I remember.” The Taser had been Maeve’s favorite gift because while it hadn’t been thoughtful in the way he knew she collected office supplies she’d never use, Callen had thought about her safety.
Hers, his sister’s and his mom’s. He most likely hadn’t put in much effort, but that Christmas had changed everything for her.
He’d included her as part of his family whether he knew it or not, and because of that single act, Maeve had realized how much she liked spending time with him.
How much she wished he would see her as more than his sister’s best friend.
Imagined what it might be like to want something…
more. “Kind of hard to forget after I accidentally Tasered you right there in front of the Christmas tree testing it out.”
His mouth hitched at one corner, though he didn’t let it hike any higher. “And to think the FBI trusts you with a sidearm.”
“I’ve had a lot more training since then.
” She couldn’t stop the near wince at the reminder of not having her weapon on her now and directed her attention out the window to the impossibly high cliffs, and she had to crane her neck to catch sight of the first stars breaking through the velvety sky.
“Plenty of people carry Tasers. Like you said, Lauren had this same make and model, and I know it’s one of your favorites, but we also have to consider whoever abducted Iliana and Lauren may have accidentally left it at the scene. ”
“You said there were no signs of skid marks leading to either scene and that both victims may have pulled over willingly.” The tendons running down his neck flexed and released. “Law enforcement officers have the ability to pull people over. And they carry Tasers.”
She tried to breathe through her nose without picking up hints of his earthy pine scent that filled the entire cabin of his truck.
She’d spent a lot of time in this passenger seat.
It should’ve been familiar, but all she could focus on was the ache in her muscles from holding herself together over the past few hours.
Flipping the Taser over, she made a plan to get the device to the medical examiner who’d taken custody of the skeletal remains that morning to capture fingerprints.
Normally, a forensic unit would take the lead in processing the evidence, but backlogs were real.
Maeve had the dust and brushes in her overnight bag.
All she needed was the equipment capable of reading the print and uploading and comparing it to the federal database.
“This model of Taser only holds its charge up to a week, and this one still has a little bit of charge to it. I’m betting it was left around the same time Iliana was taken five days ago. Could still hold the owner’s prints.”
“All right. Should be easy enough to have them pulled if the weather hasn’t compromised the plastic surface.
” Callen maneuvered the truck into the parking lot of the cute two-story motel, its bright blue doors standing out against beige stucco and brown railing.
The motel itself was situated directly outside of Zion’s main entrance, close enough that she could walk back if necessary, but far enough away from the congestion of cars waiting to access the park.
Pulling into the closest parking spot to the main office, Callen shoved the truck into Park.
“I can drop it off to Simpson and his team in the morning, see if there’s anything we can use. ”
There was that word again. We. It pried beneath her hard-scaled intention to keep her distance—physically and emotionally—and wiggled under her skin like a parasite looking for its next host. Her ex-fiancé might consider them a team for now, but she was under no illusion of how quickly that could change.
She was no longer part of a we, and pretending there was a chance to fix that would only drive her insane.
Because even if she managed to bring Lauren home happy, healthy and alive, it wouldn’t be enough.
She hadn’t been enough for him while they were together, and his sister’s disappearance had broken him piece by piece. And she wouldn’t be enough now.
“No offense, but the FBI has their own way of processing missed evidence, and considering this case is under federal jurisdiction, I’ll have my own people run it for prints.
” Maeve reached for the passenger door, tugging the Taser and her overnight bag out after her and unequivocally ignoring the long blond hair sticking to the edge of her seat.
It wasn’t the first. She’d already had to peel another three from her jeans and jacket in the short time they’d driven free of the park, and the last she’d checked in the days since Iliana’s disappearance, neither Callen nor his roommate were into bleaching their hair.
Which meant they’d most likely come from a woman passenger.
One who may have been in this vehicle as many times as Maeve had.
Had he really moved on so easily? That thought festered until she hardly remembered what they’d been talking about, or that he was waiting for her to get out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride.”
“The sign says no vacancy.” He pointed through the windshield toward the sign with slim black block lettering beneath the motel’s too-whimsical name for being out in the middle of the desert.
“I already have a reservation.” Liar. Gripping her overnight bag in one hand and the Taser in the other, she didn’t look back as she headed for the main office.
The engine rumbled behind her, but she refused to give Callen the satisfaction of seeing her sweat.
Because every cell in her body dreaded what came next.
Within five minutes of asking the clerk at the front desk to check—and double-check—availability, her worst nightmare had come true.
The sign hadn’t been lying. Maeve stepped back out into the dark parking lot.
To find Callen hadn’t left.
She could pretend to walk to one of these rooms and stand there working a fake key in the door until he drove away. Maybe beg one of the other occupants to let her in for a couple of minutes. But she couldn’t fake the exhaustion dragging at her shoulders.
The passenger door popped open, and she caught sight of Callen retreating back behind the wheel. “Get in.”
Did she have any other choice? It was either get back in the truck or sleep on the bench tucked near the vending machines.
Then again, she might not die from exposure to Southern Utah’s November temperatures or a fugitive hiding out in a place like this.
The temptation to risk it fizzled in her veins, but Maeve gave in.
Heat flared up her neck and into her face as she got back in the truck. “Don’t say a word.”
“Wasn’t going to.” He pulled the truck into reverse. “You should know, though, that the only other hotel in town flooded a couple months ago. All three floors are still under renovations.”
Of course they were.
“For a tourist town, this place sucks.” It took everything she had not to hyperfocus on another strand of bleached blond hair clinging to her knee.
Hell, how much hair had this woman lost in one sitting?
But the flash of anger wasn’t about the hair, was it?
It was about the fact that the man she’d planned to build a life with had already started that with someone else.
“Just take me back to headquarters. Simpson has a couch in his office.”
She could deal with a strained neck and a sore back if it got her out of this truck and away from Callen.
“The office is already closed.” His gaze swung her way as he pulled out of the parking lot. “You’re not getting in tonight.”
“Great.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, Maeve leaned back against the headrest. She’d driven up from Las Vegas that morning and immediately met up with Simpson before heading to the crime scene.
Since then, all she’d done was fight off the urge to rip Callen’s head from his shoulders or brace for his next biting comment.
She was tired. She was hungry. And she wanted a bed, damn it. “The homeless shelter, then.”
“You’re not sleeping in the homeless shelter.” Directing the truck east, Callen cut through the short width of town until they reached a winding neighborhood of cookie-cutter homes no one in their right mind would be able to tell the difference between.
The yards, the trim, the stucco, the two trees and clipped grass.
They all looked the same. Built quickly and with a few missed corners, the neighborhood played host to an array of off-road-capable vehicles, drought-resistant plants and poor excuses for personalization.
Some even with Christmas lights already hung.
Because why would temporary residents make an effort?
Maeve sat up straighter. “Oh, hell no. Are you out of your mind?”
“You got any better ideas?” Callen expertly made his way through the neighborhood until they slowed in front of one of the most drab and depressing houses she’d ever seen.
She opened her mouth to reiterate every idea she’d had since leaving the motel.
“A park bench doesn’t count.” He parked in the driveway and reached into the back bench to pull his coat and gear free.
“Listen, I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the offseason.
My roommate only worked part-time and went home for the winter.
So I have an extra room, and this way, you won’t be able to cut me out of the investigation. What you know, I’ll know.”
He had to have been joking. “You do realize we tried living together once before, right?” She grabbed for the door as if intending to barricade herself in the truck. If he couldn’t open it, she wouldn’t have to go in there. She wouldn’t have to be in proximity to him at all. “It didn’t end well.”
“Unless you’re planning to misplace another key piece of evidence during this investigation, we’ll be fine.
” Callen got out of the truck and slammed the driver’s-side door behind him.
The entire vehicle shook, but it didn’t come close to the tremors threatening to consume her now.
He set his sights on her through the windshield. “You’ll freeze in there.”
If she froze, she wouldn’t be able to find Lauren.
She couldn’t pay the Russells back for all they’d done for her.
Her fingers somehow managed to work the door handle, and Maeve slid from the truck.
Three steps and she was at the front door behind him.
Two more and she was taking in the worn furniture, the hint of spice and pine that always seemed to punch her straight in the gut, and the evidence that her ex was capable of living apart from her. Of moving on when she couldn’t.
Maeve dropped her bag on the end of the sectional. “Yep. We’re going to kill each other.”