Her head tilted back so she could stare into his eyes. Despite the strength she seemed to project so well in the field, Cadence was a delicate woman, barely five foot five, and built along slender lines.
He was so much bigger, his body rougher, and he’d often thought before—
I’d have to take care with her.
He’d imagined the two of them together many times. Harmless fantasies.
Weren’t they?
“Why would I be scared of you?” Cadence brushed by him. “I mean, sure, there’s the fact you’re acting like a jackass…”
He was. Kyle sucked in a sharp breath. It’s this place. The memories. He was striking out at the person closest to him. Stop.
“I’m trying to make allowances, seeing how personal this is for you.”
He put their bags near the small closet and went back and secured the door. Right. Like that flimsy lock would really keep anyone out.
“But don’t push me much more, Kyle.”
She stood glaring at him, in the middle of the worn motel room, her hands fisted at her hips.
His gaze slid over her. That woman was sexy.
Her left eyebrow rose. Just the one. Only Cadence did that move. “Because you are being such a jackass, you can take the floor.” Her smile held a wicked edge. “Hope you enjoy your sleep.” Then she turned away and marched into the bathroom.
He waited for it. Yes, she slammed the door.
When the shower roared on moments later, he tried real hard not to imagine Cadence naked under the blasting water.
Tried. Failed.
Unable to stop himself, he stalked toward the door.
Cadence.
She was right. He was being a jackass, and he needed to cool off. Only being so close to Cadence didn’t exactly make him feel cool.
More like I’m burning alive.
That had been the problem from the beginning. The awareness between them, an awareness Cadence was determined to ignore.
He wanted her naked. Wanted her screaming in pleasure.
The fleeting glimpses he’d caught, the hints of emotion in her eyes—she wants me, too.
Only she wasn’t acting on that desire, and if she didn’t act, neither could he.
His hand rose. Touched the chipped wood on the door. “Cadence.”
No response. She wouldn’t hear him over the roar of the water.
“Look, I’m sorry.”
His voice was a little louder, but there was still no response from her. Not that he blamed her.
“I want what you can’t give.”
It was for the best she couldn’t hear that.
He turned away. Cleared his throat. “I need some air.” Still talking to a woman who couldn’t hear him. Yeah, he was skirting crazy that night. “Cadence!” Much louder now. “I’ll be right back.”
He wanted something to take the edge off for him.
Maybe a trip to Striker’s would be just what he needed.
Cadence stood in the bathroom, her hands gripping the edge of the sink. The shower blasted beside her as she stared at her reflection.
Kyle’s words echoed in her ears.
I want what you can’t give.
Her chest ached.
Story of her life.
Two hours had passed, and there was still no sign of Kyle. Cadence glanced outside through the small blinds, making sure she didn’t see their rented SUV below. Since the vehicle wasn’t in the lot, it meant she had a little more time.
She reached for her phone and quickly pressed the number for her contact.
“I know there are clocks in Alabama,” came Danielle Burton’s annoyed voice about two seconds later.
Cadence almost smiled. “There are, Dani, but we both know you weren’t sleeping.”
Danielle Burton was the source for intel at the bureau. The agent hadn’t been cut out for fieldwork—at least, that was Dani’s story—but no one could deny she was a master when it came to information retrieval.
“Okay, fine, I don’t sleep,” Dani said. True. Dani had suffered from insomnia for as long as Cadence had known her. Our FBI training days. “But you do. Or you should be sleeping.”
“I need information, Dani.”
“Of course, you do. Why else would you be calling me at almost two in the morning?” A long-suffering sigh. “I’m already running those missing-persons reports for you. If Ben hadn’t pulled me away to track a serial in Connecticut, I would’ve had ’em already.”
Cadence’s fingers pressed into the side of the phone. “There’s one specific report I need right now.”
Silence. “I know where this is going, but are you sure you want to go there?” Dani would know exactly what Cadence was talking about.
Cadence glanced through the blinds once more. “It relates to the case. I’m not just digging through his past.”
More silence. Dani could say far too much with silence.
Cadence let the blinds snap back into place. “E-mail me the case file, okay? I need to read it. All of it.” She’d only read the case summary before—gotten the bare bones of his sister’s abduction. Now, she needed to know all of the dark details.
“It’s already on the way.” Dani was nothing if not fast. If the file was coming, then she was also still at their main office in Virginia. Not at home. Working—at two a.m.
Ghosts chased Dani, too. They chase us all.
“But be careful, Cadence.” Dani’s voice was more subdued than normal. “When you dig into someone’s past, you won’t always like what you find.”
That was why she buried her own past.
“His sister vanished here, Dani, and he’s…” Different. Harder. She didn’t say that. “He needs closure.” That was true enough. Maybe there was something in the file—something, anything—that could help them.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cadence could easily picture Dani in her mind’s eye, and she was sure her friend was sitting back in her chair, shaking her head. Maybe rolling her eyes. “You warned me.”
“I’m still working on gathering the intel on other missing persons. I’ll send you everything I’ve got ASAP.”
Ah, now she was back to business. That was Dani.
“I narrowed the search just like you told me. Females, traveling alone, no bodies ever recovered.”
Those had been her search specifications, and because of Kyle, she had made sure the search went back fifteen years.
She believed in being thorough.
She ended the call, opened her laptop, and found Dani’s e-mail waiting for her.