Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,27
grow up. You’re as hot as she is. Someone stole her cute ass, and you could be next.”
“Yeah, right.” Dani seemed to have lost the fight in her. She turned noticeably pale and didn’t say anything else, nor did she move.
“Man, sorry, Dani,” Jimmy said, and backed up down the sidewalk. “I’ve got your back, though.”
“That’s what we all have to do,” Dani decided, her spunky, confident tone returning. “If someone stole her and he wants to steal one of us, we’ve got to stop him.”
Jimmy looked at Kylie, and Dani did, too. “I’ll see you at school,” she said, backing away from the door.
Kylie closed the door and turned to look at Dani. The teenager scowled as she walked over to the boxes of pizza with her sisters and Perry. Kylie followed, her mind spinning with the conversation she’d just been privileged to hear.
“Do you know someone who is missing?” Kylie asked.
Kylie shrugged. “We were in the same grade. She was my ride home. Mom threw a fit until Uncle Perry vouched that she’d disappeared.”
“Who are we talking about?” Perry asked.
“You said her name was Olivia?” Kylie focused on Dani. “She didn’t get along with her mom?”
“God, no!” Dani shoved half a slice of pizza in her mouth and then spoke with her mouth full. “Everyone knew she hated her mother. But her mom was as uncool as they came, demanding to know everything her daughter did and reading her text messages and just smothering her, you know?”
“Do you have other girlfriends like that?” Kylie asked.
“Like what?” Dani frowned.
“Whose mothers, or parents, are smothering them.” Kylie was very aware of Perry watching her but kept her attention on Dani.
“Like everyone, dude. Most adults don’t have a clue.”
“If her mother read all her messages, though, she probably wouldn’t complain to her friends in chat messages about it, though, would she?”
“Why not? It wasn’t her fault her mother was a prude. Might do her mom good to read that she needs to back off.”
“Okay. So she would.” Kylie didn’t like the picture forming in her mind. “And a sympathetic guy, like Jimmy out there, would offer to protect and help her out of her misery when her world is caving in on her.”
“Jimmy’s harmless. Besides, he works two jobs. He’ll be a millionaire by the time he’s twenty.” Dani stuffed more pizza in her mouth and waved her hand dismissively toward the door.
“That is the kind of guy you want,” Diane pointed out.
“You can have him.” Dani snorted and reached for more pizza.
Kylie walked into her kitchen. The profile of her victims was the same as it always was. Her online predator hunted teenage girls who weren’t happy with their home lives, and who were pretty, and who somehow had the ability to get out of their houses on their own. The girls who’d disappeared so far were sexy, had an independent nature, drove their own cars, and were intelligent and leaders among their peers.
Her stomach twisted painfully and the smell of the pizza was nauseating. She’d only known Dani a short time, but the girl was very easy to like. She didn’t have her own transportation, but that didn’t stop her from getting around town without the help of an adult. Other than that, she fit the MO perfectly. Kylie needed to narrow down her list of suspects quickly. The thought of Dani being lured in by a sexual predator wasn’t a thought Kylie wanted to dwell on.
Chapter 5
Kylie finished putting dishes in the dishwasher and started it. The instant humming sound it made was rather comforting. Made the place feel like home. It was the first time she’d started it, and she took a moment to soak the new sponge behind the sink and then wipe down the countertops and then the coffee table. She might have run a vacuum, gotten all the little pizza crumbs off the floor, but she didn’t have one. The temporary housing provided for her compliments of the Bureau was designed only to make her rental appear like a college student’s home. She wasn’t here to play domestic goddess.
“Lord,” she groaned out loud. God forbid she ever felt a strong craving for that role.
Although as she dried her hands on the sides of her dress and headed down the hallway to the middle bedroom, she admitted to herself it was nice having all the girls here, even with Perry in the background, his brooding expression dark and distracting.