Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,35

left Colorado Springs three weeks ago," Hannah continued, "and she showed up at our family cabin yesterday, where has she been in between?"

"She was in Denver two days ago," Adam said. "That's where she rented the car—with Kim Slater's credit card. We've sent out an alert on the license plate."

"That's good. Do you think Brett is in danger?" Hannah's gaze moved back toward the carnival.

"I don't know," Adam said. "But my gut tells me that your sister is the one in trouble, and we need to find her as soon as possible."

Jake's stomach twisted at the somber tone in Adam's voice. And he could feel Hannah's tension as her fingers curled around his once more. She probably didn't even realize she was holding his hand. But he liked the fact that her instinct was to rely on him, to trust him to be there for her.

"What can I do?" Hannah asked.

"What you're doing," Adam said. "You're taking care of Brett."

"I will do that, but I also want to do more."

"Everything that needs to be done is being done," Adam assured her. "And I'm sorry, Hannah, but this investigation is now on the books. I need the resources of the department and the manpower. I've read Brodie in, and he'll be my right-hand guy on this. There's nothing we want to do more than bring your sister home for Christmas."

"I would really like that, too," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "Thanks for getting on this so fast, Adam, and working on the weekend."

"No problem. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything else. And if you hear from Kelly…"

"I will get in touch with you immediately," she promised.

Adam smiled and tipped his head. "Exactly the answer I was looking for. Take it easy."

As Adam walked away, Hannah let out a breath and then suddenly started. She let go of his hand with an awkward look, as if she'd just realized she'd been holding hands with him.

Clearing her throat, she said, "What do you think, Jake? I don't know what to make of everything Adam just told me. My head is spinning. My sister's life sounds complicated and sad and worrisome. She lost Brett's father. She's moved a couple of times. Now she's apparently on the run, maybe from her boyfriend. And she stole someone's credit card number. What kind of person is Kelly? Who has she turned into?"

"She sounds desperate to me, Hannah. And if she stole the credit card to get out of a bad situation and protect her kid…"

"I know I shouldn't judge her without knowing all the facts, but what I know so far is disturbing. It's also frustrating to have to just wait."

"I completely understand. But you are doing everything you can to help your sister."

Hannah frowned, doubt in her eyes. "I feel like I should be looking for her."

"The police can do that far better than you. And you're doing the most important thing for Kelly. You're taking care of her son."

"He cannot lose his mother, not after having lost his father. That little boy needs at least one of his parents."

"Kelly will make it back to him." He tried to infuse as much confidence as he could into his words. "And you can tell me again that I don't actually know that, but I'm still going to keep the faith that that will happen."

"I want to believe it, too. But sometimes bad things happen, and I need to prepare myself for that."

She'd been through far worse things in her life than he had, but he also knew there was nothing she could do to prepare. "You can't control the future, Hannah, or even the present. But you can focus on the positive, what Kelly has done right so far. She was smart enough to get Brett to safety. She left him food. She was on top of all that. She's working some plan in her head. Maybe it's a good one, maybe it's not, but she's trying to handle her problem the best way she knows how."

"That's true," she said slowly. "It's hard to trust in someone I haven't seen in fifteen years. And in my experience, Kelly didn't always make the best decisions. But I will try to think positive, because I have to. Now, I should get back to Brett."

He fell into step with her as they walked back to the booth. Brett was now not only playing with the dog, but also Chloe's toddler son, Leo, and Gianna's