then hesitated. A grin tugged at his lips. An invitation. Rae ignored the warning signals in her head and met him the rest of the way. His lips pressed against hers. His hand came up to cup her chin as his lips explored. Pleasant sensations flooded her. All she wanted was to melt into him. All she wanted was his arms around her.
What am I doing?
She ended the kiss and pulled away before she wound up in his arms, because once she found herself there, she wouldn’t want to leave. Rae’s breath caught.
She shouldn’t be surprised that they would take this kind of risk. They were both risk-takers in almost every way.
He peered at her as though dazed and lost and missing her lips.
“I’m . . . I need to go,” she whispered.
He moved out of her way. She headed to the house, leaving him behind and feeling ridiculously awkward as she clomped up the porch. I sure hope Evelyn is back from her date. At this hour, she’d have to be.
At the door, she turned around. “Oh, I forgot. Do you want me to help you unload those?”
“No,” he called. “We’ll tackle that in the morning. You’re good to go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Check on the horses.”
Cowboy code for “I need time alone to think.”
“See you in the morning.” She quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Evelyn had left the door unlocked for them. Rae was relieved. She didn’t have a key, and she wanted to avoid another close encounter with Liam.
Rae shut the door and sagged against it. Despite their hours of work, she felt no closer to finding Zoey. The pressure, the burden of Zoey’s life weighed on Rae. She shouldn’t be wasting time kissing Liam.
Her father would have done much more in this situation. He’d pushed so hard in his work that he’d gotten himself killed. She’d chosen to think of him as a hero. A martyr even, for the sake of all that was unjust in the world.
Was it time for Rae to step up to the task?
The fire in the fireplace had been stoked since they’d left. Rae paused at the fire and took in the flames, the glowing red embers morphing and crackling and popping, and yet dying at the same time.
“Tomorrow, Enzo Astor. Tomorrow, I’m going to ask you about Zoey.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
2:23 a.m.
Denver, Colorado
Callie slept soundly.
For the first time since Mom’s arrival, Alan was grateful for her presence. Initially, he assumed her presence would require energy he didn’t think he had. But now that she was here, he realized how grateful he was. She could help with Callie in ways he hadn’t known he needed.
And Mom had forced him to look at the package that had arrived.
His throat narrowing, Alan could hardly swallow as he eyed the old paperback—a Zane Williams adventure novel. A cryptic message? Had Zoey been stalked? How long had someone been stalking her? Why hadn’t she ever told him?
Except he should have known. He’d guess that her disappearance before, the bruises, had to do with a stalker who’d finally gotten his hands on her. Alan had guessed that was what had happened, but he’d never known for sure. He’d been a coward not to ask her when he thought he was simply loving her the only way he knew how.
But this strange package—this could mean something. It could mean everything. Or it could mean nothing.
What do I do with this?
His better judgment told him to give it to the police. This was new evidence. Or was it? Would they see it the same way and ultimately block his efforts to learn more? He had to work while he had the opportunity.
He’d have to do more research. Maybe she’d requested the book. Bought it used online, for all he knew. He had no idea, and he was jumping to conclusions. He couldn’t present this to the police until he knew more, otherwise he could end up looking the fool.
A husband who didn’t know enough about his wife.
Detective Mansfield already thought Alan had something to do with Zoey’s disappearance, or he was a clueless husband.
But this book. He recognized it. He’d seen a box of books by the same author in her belongings they’d cleared out of the room she’d shared with Rae in college. He could swear Zoey had gotten rid of those books. How strange that the day Zoey disappeared again, one of the same thriller novels had been mailed to her.