She nodded. “So. What’s the plan? What are you camping out in this eyesore to see?” She unzipped the sweatshirt and slipped it off, revealing a long expanse of skin from her shoulders down to her lithe arms thanks to the minimal coverage of the top she’d chosen.
Is she even wearing a bra under that thing?
From the noticeable shaking as she pulled her arm through the last sleeve and tossed the jacket behind her, he was guessing not.
Hell. He should not be having these types of thoughts, and he certainly shouldn’t be having this physical reaction. To Meredith, of all people. He shifted uncomfortably in the seat.
What had she asked him?
Oh, right. Why he was here. “Thought I’d try and see if the squatter from earlier returned. Maybe they know or saw something.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything, and instead drew her cell phone from her pocket and stared down at it, as if willing it to ring. A breeze crossed through the car and played with the long dark strands of her hair, sending her intoxicating scent his way.
“Can we talk frankly? About what you think’s happened to my daughter?” she asked suddenly. “I can’t help but hold my breath when I turn on the news or pull up the internet, worried there’ll be a story about the body of a young woman being found. Murdered. If this were a case o-of someone who wanted to harm her, they would have had her for twenty-four hours now. Plenty of time t-to rape her and kill her.” Her voice was strained as she fell over the words, but she continued, “So now would be the time they’d likely dump her remains somewhere. Did I get that right?”#p#分页标题#e#
There was no reason to sugarcoat anything. Her imagination probably already covered all the possibilities in detail, plus some. “Yeah. Your time frame sounds about right. If the aim is murder, they usually kill the victim in the first twenty-four hours, then look for someplace to leave the body. Ideally somewhere it won’t be detected for as long as possible. But there are other possibilities in cases like this. Young girls have been taken for nonmurderous reasons. Think of that guy Castro, from Cleveland. He kidnapped three different women over a couple of years. Held them for over a decade. You just never know.”
He debated sharing the next bit of information but figured she needed to be a part of this. She’d probably follow him anyway. “I’ve contacted someone. An analyst of sorts, who is pulling some information together for me. We’re meeting in the morning to go over it.”
She sat straighter. “I’m coming with you.”
“Figured as much.”
Silence stretched between them again. Nestling back into the seat, he watched the activity on the street. Meredith wiggled around another moment and finally settled in. Two minutes passed.
“My God, this is boring. Do you do this often?” she finally asked.
He shrugged. “This is nothing. Try lying undetected on your belly for sixteen hours in scorching hundred-plus temperatures while waiting for insurgents to leave a safe house. This is like a day poolside in Key West.”
Another minute passed before she spoke again. “I almost forgot. I had a visit from my neighbor earlier.” She briefly relayed what the woman told her about the neighborhood stalker. “Do you think it’s possible this guy could be the one Bryce saw with Darcy? And if so, why was he watching my house?”
That’s what he’d like to know.
He really wanted to get his hands on that Matt kid. He had to be the key.
Meredith wiggled around on the seat again, and he willed himself not to glance at those full breasts that bounced with every motion. Imagine their fullness in his palms, teasing them with his mouth.
Oh, Shit.
The last thing he needed in his life was fantasies about hot and torrid sex with the queen bee herself.
Hadn’t he learned anything since high school?
…
If Meredith needed a cure for insomnia, sitting in a car in temperatures in the upper eighties without air-conditioning with nothing to do but stare out the window as people passed by was just the ticket.
Sometime after the first hour she nodded off, dreaming that she and Darcy were in Allie’s English class. Travis was there, too, sitting in the back wearing that damn tight T-shirt.
Meredith heard the mean words coming out of her mouth but couldn’t stop them. Something about Darcy’s hair smelling like something died in it and how she needed to take a shower every once in a while, which earned everyone’s laughter. Save for Allie’s. And Travis’s. He’d shaken his head. Disappointment sketched across his face.
A sharp barking sound came from his lips, filling the classroom. Had he just snored? He did it again but…