Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,22
Michael was a great friend, but their relationship had never been one of grand passion. At least not for her.
She had never looked at Michael the way she’d looked at Ben Slocum that morning. And Michael had never looked at her the way Ben had looked at her just now.
She had wondered if Ben found her attractive. Now she knew for sure. But she was smart enough to recognize lust when she felt it. It wasn’t a feeling she’d experienced often, and definitely not something she planned to act on.
Still, as she stripped off her clothes and slipped beneath the hot wet spray, her breasts felt sensitive. Faint arousal throbbed between her legs. Claire thought of Ben and wondered what it would be like to make love with a virile, hot-blooded male like him.
It wasn’t going to happen. Sam came first.
The boy’s sweet, smiling face popped into her head and her heart pinched. She should have pressed harder for custody, should have found a way to keep him with her. She should have told him how much he meant to her. She had failed him so badly.
Dear God, she prayed, keep him safe till I can bring him home.
Seven
Eddie Jeffries was in jail. Early the next morning, Ben put Sol to work trying to locate the guy, and an hour ago he’d struck pay dirt. Though Sol was still working on information on Bridger/Bennett, he’d found Melvin Edward Jeffries in the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station jail. Arrested for drunk driving—third offense.
“Santa Clarita’s less than an hour away,” Claire said excitedly as Ben used the inmate locator on the website to verify Jeffries hadn’t been moved to another prison.
Finding Jeffries still there, he checked out the visitor information. “Visiting hours 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Plenty of time. You might not be able to go in with me—only one adult per visit. But I’m a P.I., and sometimes they’ll bend the rules a little if there’s a good reason.”
“I’d like to give it a try. If I can’t get in, I’ll wait in the car.”
He helped her clear the empty orange-juice glasses and the plates that had held the bagels and cream cheese she had made them for breakfast.
Ben raised his coffee mug and downed the last few drops. “Let’s get going.”
Claire grabbed her purse and they started for the door when his cell phone rang. He recognized the number. “Brodie,” he said to Claire.
“What have you got?” he said into the phone.
“Got a lead on a kid, blue-eyed, black-haired, about nine or ten,” Ty said. “He’s working for an ex-con named Rueben Gonzales, got him making drug deliveries. Word is he’s a fairly new addition to Gonzales’s crew.”
Ben’s adrenaline started pumping, his pulse pounding. “How do we get to him?”
“I’ve set up a meet, told him the kid was worth a couple of grand if he’s the one we’re looking for. I figured you’d be willing to pay if it’s him.”
“I’ll pay whatever it takes.” In the underworld, a runaway like Sam could be a valuable commodity—depending what Gonzales had in mind for him. His hand unconsciously fisted. “What time’s the meet?”
“Noon. A bar called La Fiesta, five thousand block of Whittier Boulevard, east of the I-5. I’ll meet you there.”
Ben closed the phone, looked up to see Claire’s eyes locked on his face. “Is it... Is it Sam?”
“I won’t know till we get a look at him. Guy named Gonzales is using him as a drug mule.”
Her legs seemed to give way, and she sat down hard in one of the kitchen chairs. “Oh, my God, Ben.”
“Take it easy. We don’t know if anything bad has happened to him. Hell, we don’t know for sure it’s him.”
She swallowed, shook her head. “If he’s... If he’s been hurt or...or abused...I’ll never forgive myself.” She started crying, her long hair falling forward around her face.
Ben eased her up out of the chair and turned her into his arms. Her body shook as she sobbed against his shoulder. “Take it easy, baby. There’s no use crying until we know what’s going on.”
She hung on a moment more, took a shuddering breath and moved away, her green eyes glistening with tears. “I should have come to you. I should have found out for myself what you were like.”
He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. “So now you’re sure I’m a good guy?”
Claire’s chin went up as he had known it would. “Well, so far you’ve been great, but technically it’s