They were quiet for a minute, the radio playing something that he couldn’t really hear.
“You’re a good man, Travis,” Meredith said softly. Before he could give any kind of response or reflect on what she’d said, she was scooping up Meems’s files and opening the car door. “I’ll get these inside. See you in a minute.”
When she reached her front door, she shot him a quick glance over her shoulder before unlocking it and heading inside.
Her unexpected empathy, the way her dark eyes swam with emotion and her hand rested on his arm to try and comfort him, was playing havoc with everything he thought he knew about this woman. He stared at the house another moment, wondering how she could continue to completely surprise him. Make him almost believe people could change.
He shook his head, needing to get it together.
He picked up his cell and dialed. “Jace? Yeah. I’m going to need you to do a background check. A full background check.”
…
The sun had dropped two hours ago, but the temperature outside was still holding in the upper eighties as they drove to the address Bryce had texted them. Meredith had given up on the car’s air-conditioning and rolled her window down, letting the air blow against her face, whipping her hair around her head, almost taking her breath away.
Normally she’d be worried about the effect on her smooth blowout but for tonight’s style, she figured it couldn’t hurt. She’d been looking for tousled and messy—the wind could only make it more so.
Her real worry was that they’d take one look at her and turn her away at the door. It wasn’t like she was eighteen anymore. A decade later, not even close.
Which was why she hoped that hot and sexy would be enough. From her closet she’d found a white halter top and a short sequined peach skirt, both of which had been gifts from her former husband. In hindsight, his desire for her to dress as a slutty coed should have been her first clue of how things were going to work out. Miraculously, the skirt had slid up over her full hips, and a quick scan in the mirror had surprised her. The skirt, combined with the four-inch strappy gold sandals, make her legs actually look longer. That had to be a bonus, right?#p#分页标题#e#
The top was where she was more concerned, as, even now, she tugged at the neckline that nearly revealed enough cleavage to make the whole thing irrelevant.
But seeing Travis’s face go slack with surprise when he saw her waiting at the front door had assured her this was the right choice. Especially when she’d had to repeat her question if he was ready to go. He’d had to clear his throat to form a reply.
Oh, yeah. It had definitely been worth it.
And even though Travis hadn’t changed into anything different, wearing the same jeans that molded perfectly to his quads and ass and the short-sleeved black tee that was more like a second skin over his hard, sculpted torso, the look worked for him. She risked a glance over at him, his hand casually on the wheel. Yeah, he’d do just fine.
But she had to focus. This wasn’t a date.
This was maybe their best chance of finding her daughter.
The ping from Travis’s cell phone caught her attention, and he picked it up and glanced down. “Text from Bryce. He’s running late but should be here in half an hour.”
“Here?”
He turned right at the next block. “Here as in…we’re here.”
A familiar old three-story building sat on the corner lot. Even from the street outside, she could hear music blaring with every swing of the front doors as patrons mounted the steps and entered the establishment.
“I know this place.” Surreal. Once upon a time this was the hangout for students from the U and anyone else who had a fake ID—her included. “This doesn’t look like an abandoned building, though.”
“From what Bryce said, whoever organizes these events has used this place before on the weekends. There’s a third floor that’s private.”
She scanned the sidewalk, where gaggles of girls in their early twenties, wearing tiny outfits and dangerously high shoes like hers, were making their way to the club. Any doubts she’d had about fitting in almost melted away entirely. Save for maybe a handful of years, she didn’t appear that much different from these women. She just felt different.
Probably having to do with raising a teenager daughter for the past seven years.
They drove farther down the street until Travis found a spot to park the car. He glanced around, then reached over to open the glove box and grabbed a gun.
Meredith watched in shock as he did a check of the weapon and then tucked it in some kind of holster on his left side before pulling his T-shirt back down to cover his waistband.