A Wanted Man. Jennifer Morey
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she’d head home. He really did scare her right now. His aloofness. His insensitivity to the Sara Wolfe murder. His odd demeanor.
He slipped his arms loosely around her waist. “Then we can come back and do some more exploring.”
Would he take her to the barn and the boarded up house? She highly doubted that, given his suspicious behavior.
Hoping to pull off an act, she patted his chest. “Actually this morning I remembered something I need to do for another project that’s due Monday. I need to get home and work on it.”
Back came his distrust. “You can do that tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “I need tonight and tomorrow.”
“Then you can work here. I’ll leave you alone.” He grinned. “Until tonight, that is. Quinten is going back home soon. You and I can have a romantic dinner together this evening.”
They hadn’t been dating all that long. Just a couple of weeks. She’d had reservations about going to his mountain house. Only his announcement that his son would join them had made her agree, that and his promise that she’d have her own room. Finding out Quinten would leave this morning sealed her decision to go home.
“Haven’t I been a perfect gentleman?” he asked, seeing her hesitation.
“Yes.” He had. But that no longer mattered.
“Then stay. I invited you here to meet my son and spend some time getting to know each other outside work.”
That might have appealed to her prior to making the connection between the truck in the barn and the missing girl. Now she just needed to get away.
“Last night was lovely. Your home is lovely. But my boss has been breathing down my neck lately. I have to get this job done on time.” She thought she sounded sincere.
“What’s he going to do? Fire you?” He smiled crookedly, falling for her pretense. “You’re his best ad executive. My brother will vouch for that.”
As CEO of Ballard’s Sporting Goods, Jax’s brother, Dane, did have significant influence. Jax, too, as president. Penny had met her boyfriend when she pitched her idea for their ad campaign. Handsome and driven, he’d attracted her from the start. She, apparently, had caught his eye for the same reason. They had a lot in common. He’d been the one to tell her Ballard’s would hire Avenue One to do their advertising, a huge boost to her career.
Moving back, she eased out of his arms. “Ever since I delivered that Super Bowl ad, Dane’s expectations have been grandiose.”
“My brother counts on you, for good reason.” He brushed his finger down her nose.
Disliking the affectionate touch, she stepped back.
“Sorry, I just love your nose with those big, sexy green eyes of yours.” He chuckled. “I didn’t mean to treat you like a kid.”
A sick feeling plunged in her stomach. Why had he used the word kid?
Tucking her shoulder-length reddish-brown hair behind her ear, she said, “I’m going to go get ready.” Penny turned to head for the stairs.
“I’ll let you leave on one condition.”
Let her leave? Putting her hand on the railing, she looked back and couldn’t tell if he was joking.
“I get to come over Tuesday night and cook you dinner. Mondays are always a train wreck for me.”
She nodded even though she didn’t feel like it. “Deal.”
That seemed to placate him, to put to rest any concern that whatever Penny had discovered hadn’t spooked her away.
Going up the stairs, she ran into Quinten on the first landing, Jax’s six-foot tall, eighteen-year-old son. Quinten’s mother, only a teenager herself when he was born, had left him with Jax when she was fifteen. Jax had devoted his life to the boy and it showed. Quinten had grown into a well-mannered young man with aspirations to go far in college. She’d loved their conversation at dinner.
“Morning, Penny,” Quinten said with a sleepy smile livening his hazel eyes. He looked a lot like his father, except younger, of course, and with wilder hair.
She smiled back at him. “Morning.”
“My dad down here giving you a hard time?”
She laughed. “Not any more than I give him.”
He passed her on the way down. “He likes you.”
Not responding to that with anything more than an amicable look, she climbed the rest of the way up the stairs. She felt a bit of a kinship to the boy, growing up in a single-parent household like him. When she’d asked if he wanted to find his mother, he said no. She’d seen the love Jax had for him and it reminded her of how her mother loved her.
Would a man who’d raised a son like Quinten be capable of harming young girls? It didn’t seem likely. There had to be some explanation.
* * *
Breakfast passed without incident, with Jax being his old self and not that weird, suspicious man who’d confronted her after her walk. But the time had passed painfully slowly and she couldn’t be happier to be—finally—home. Dumping her purse on the table in the wide, wood-floored entry, she sighed, feeling tension leave her shoulders. Her airy apartment with views from every room welcomed her. She took in the sunny city scene through the big windows along the far wall of her living room, metal and glass sparkling.
After removing her shoes, she passed stainless-steel appliances and gray schist granite countertops of her kitchen and padded down the hall to her office. Bright green, white and gold accents made this her favorite room. She was her most creative here. But creativity wasn’t on the agenda for today. Truth was, she had no other work project going on as she’d led Jax to believe. Sitting down at her white desk, she started up the computer and began her research.
Reading about the eleven-year-old girl disturbed her. An adorable, blue-eyed, blond-haired angel, Sara Wolfe had a big smile, and innocence radiated off her in the photos Penny found. Active in sports, she played the piano and had joined theater. She came from average parents who lived in a clean suburban home in the Sugar House area, a normal little girl who had a lot going for her until she’d been robbed of her bright, promising future.
Penny had never aspired to be a mother, but she didn’t have to wonder what they must have gone through—were still going through. The police had only one lead, the one they’d received from a witness who’d seen the white pickup truck. The killer had so far gotten away with his horrible crime.
Tipping her head back, Penny closed her eyes as she contemplated what to do. Tell the police. Yes, she wasn’t trying to talk herself out of going to the cops. That had to be done. She had to do the right thing. But could she find a diplomatic way of going about this? Could she find a quiet way of finding out if the truck belonged to Jax and whether he’d used it to abduct an eleven-year-old girl? He was her boyfriend, after all. She liked him—except for this morning after her walk. Before she accused him of such a horrendous crime, she had to be more certain. What if he hadn’t done it?
Lowering her head, she stared at the last article she’d read online. The parents had contacted a private detective to help them find their daughter’s killer. The man had said he’d consider their request. Why had they asked this particular man?
Kadin Tandy.
She did a search on his name and found an article.
Will Renowned Victim Rights Activist Join Sara Wolfe’s Murder Investigation?
Intrigue made her click on the link and peruse the article. Sara’s parents had reached out to a man who’d gained noteworthiness after single-handedly solving his own daughter’s kidnapping and murder case. After the sick pedophile had been thrown into prison, Kadin quit his impressive job with New York City’s Cold Case Squad within the Fugitive