I was sequestered in Jennifer’s office with the night security guard waiting at the door while Hendrix grumbled around the studio. He was in a real mood and I felt bad for anyone who crossed his path that morning. Even Jennifer, who could be scary herself, shied away from saying anything to him.
“That man of yours is in a foul mood.”
“Not my man. Or my problem right now.” I sat down across from her at her desk and tried to let Hendrix’s bad mood fade away.
“What’d you do to him? He’s always quiet, but he’s burning holes in people with his eyes today.”
I shrugged and then glanced back over my shoulder. “Okay, can you listen as a friend as not as the woman who hired him to watch out for me?”
She furrowed her eyebrows but nodded. “Sure.”
“There’s a little bit of sexual tension between us.” When she just stared at me, I continued. “Okay, there’s a lot. We keep toeing the line and then backing off. This morning we were running across that line when he said he wanted to just do it and get it out of his system. What the fuck does that mean?”
Maybe Jennifer was just what I needed. I needed girl talk and then I’d feel better. Surely.
She leaned forward. “Get it out of your system? Like that’s really going to seduce you right off your feet.”
“Exactly! It put the brakes on for me. I don’t want to be something he just wants to fuck and forget. I know it’s stupid, but I’d kind of like to be wanted. So I stopped it and told him to go away. Thus, his shitty mood.”
“You like him.”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. “No.”
She laughed and leaned back in her seat, obviously feeling as if she’d figured me out. “Yes. You like him and it hurt your feelings that he could possibly just be feeling nothing but lust.”
I reached across the desk and slapped her hand. It wasn’t hard at all and she just laughed at me. “Stop it. I don’t like him. I just… I don’t want to sleep with him.”
Jennifer threw her head back and laughed like I’d told the funniest joke. She even went as far as slapping her knee. “You’re too much.”
I shook my head at myself. I was acting like a child. I was way past the pre-teen bullshit. “Fine. I like him. Enough. I want to have sex with him, but not to get it out of our systems. I want it to be a little more romantic than that. I’m not asking for a wedding, but is a chance at something beyond rutting together and then moving on so much to ask for?”
“Tell him that.”
“Yeah, right.” I stood up and paced her office. “I’m just going to forget it. I have too much going on right now, anyway. Plus, the last time I got involved with a guy, my brothers strung him up on a flag pole like they were high school bullies.”
“I’d like to see them try that with Hendrix.” She grinned. “No, really. Can you get them here? All parties involved are so hot to look at. Throw some oil of them and let them go at each other.”
I watched as she gazed off in the distance and made a face at the fact that the distance she was staring off into involved my oiled-up brothers.
“I think I’m making the wrong kind of movies.”
“That’s gross, Jen. Those are my brothers you’re thinking of.”
“So I shouldn’t be imagining them in just Ellen underwear, washing my car while I sit on a front porch, barefoot and eager?”
“I think I’m going to be sick. Also, why barefoot? Are you stereotyping Kansas again?”
She winked at me and then looked up as the door opened. “Well, maybe Hendrix can give me some advice about the new movie I’m thinking of.”
He looked just as surly as he did when he left. “I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me anything. You need to tell the asshole in charge of the security out there that he’s putting cameras in useless places. Here’s a list of places he should put them. Also, I don’t know who sent him, but I just watched him reteach himself how to use a screwdriver. If he’s the one in charge of keeping this place safe, we may as well just drop a light on Darby’s head now.”
“Hey! Could you not say shit like that?” I grabbed my bag and looked at Jennifer. “You hired him.”
“And you made him the monster he is today. We should both be so proud.”
Hendrix growled and caught my elbow. “Come on. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have you two together anymore.”
I pulled away from him and made a show of rolling my eyes. I was on a roll with my maturity. “Stop thinking about my brothers, Jen.”
She waited until Hendrix was closing her office door to reply. “I couldn’t if I tried. Give them my number, would you?”
Hendrix ushered me out to his SUV, eyes constantly roaming over everything and everyone around. He kept his body in front of mine, blocking me from any potential threat.
It made me nauseous to think that someone would try to attack me in public, in the middle of the day. And that Hendrix could be a victim of that, with the way he shoved his body into the danger zones.
He didn’t seem bothered by it. Once he got me in the car and buckled me in, he got in and looked over at me like it was business as usual, which I guessed it was for him. “Where to now?”
I shook off the awful feeling that was threatening to overtake me and rubbed my hands down my thighs. “I was hoping we could park at some of the old places I used to sit at and do some people watching.”
“You’re hoping we’ll just happen upon the girl?”
I nodded. “I don’t know what else to do right now. I have more footage to go through, but I think I’ll lose my mind if I have to sit at home any longer.”
“Yeah, it’s probably best.” He looked over at me and there was something playing across his face that I couldn’t identify. “Anyway, where to?”
I closed my eyes and pictured her face again. I could see Tabatha clearly and a pang of guilt and remorse was nearly too much to focus through.
“Focus on the girl, Darby.” He said it like he knew what I was thinking.
I shook off the feelings and focused on her face. I had an exceptional memory. I just had to focus on her and then figure out what was playing out around her. She was holding a brown bag, the bottom greasy. A dark red brick storefront was behind her, the glass cracked in front of metal bars.
“I know where I saw her last. Go downtown and then I’ll give you directions from there.”
He broke from his moodiness for a few seconds to grin at me. “Impressive.”
I told myself to ignore his praise, but it was like feeling his hand stroked over my shoulder. I warmed to it and couldn’t help but grin back at him. Which was stupid. I was stupid. I barely bit back a groan and let my head drop back against the seat.
We drove in silence and it was not a comfortable one. It felt like we were each about to say something to the other, constantly. I even opened my mouth a few times to ask him what he wanted to say, but I knew that was hypocritical because I was holding my own cards close to my chest.
By the time we were parked in an alley across from a rundown Chinese restaurant, I was more than a little itchy. I wasn’t great at awkward situations. I wanted to fill the space between us with something, anything. Obviously Hendrix didn’t feel the same way. He seemed content in letting the weirdness grow between us as he stretched out as much as his large body could in any vehicle.
I frowned and tapped my finger on my thigh. I stared across the street so hard I felt like my eyes would burn right out of my head. Finally, I snapped. “You know, stake outs are a lot more fun when I’m alone. This is painful, Hendrix. If I have to listen to myself breathe for one more second, I am going to absolutely lose it. Say something, you big ass!”
He stared at me for a few seconds before we both started laughing, the tension broken. “Yeah, that was torture.”
I adjusted my seat and curled into my it. “Can we talk or something? Who knows if she’ll show up? I can’t sit here in the silence, waiting for something to happen. Tell me about your brother.”
His eyes shuttered for a moment before he sighed and nodded. “Okay. That’s not much better in the way of torture, but I already told you part of it. Why not finish? As much as it can be finished, anyway.”
I frowned. “What’s going on?”
“My older brother, Cash, spent a while in the SEALs, too.”
“His name is Cash?”
“That’s not the point of the story, Darby.”
I bit back a laugh. “Sorry. I just… Hendrix, Cash, and, let me guess, you have another brother named Presley?”
He kept his eyes straight forward as he sighed. “Jagger. My younger brother’s name is Jagger.”
The laughter came out as more of a bark but I couldn’t help it. “Your mother must be a fun lady.”
“Shut up.” He sat forward and pointed across the street. “That your girl?”
I looked at her face and shook my head. “No.”
“Sorry. I guess I still don’t understand what odd looking means.”
I leaned against the door and groaned. “You’re a real ray of sunshine today.”
“Your fault.”
“Now you shut up.”
“Is that her?”
“That’s a man.”
“Well, he was odd looking.”
“Hendrix! Just tell me about your brother.”
He glanced over at me and shrugged. “Fine. Keep your eyes open, though. The sooner we find this girl, the sooner we can get one of your attackers out of the picture.”
I nodded. “Sure, sure.”
“Before Cash went into the Navy, he married his high school sweetheart and had a baby with her. After five years in, she divorced him. Couldn’t handle the life, I guess. She took off with Helena, their daughter. He looked for them every time he was home but he never could find them. We tried, too, but we were all serving, so none of us could find her.
“When he got out later, he poured all of his money and energy into finding them. Only, when he did manage to find his ex-wife, she told him that Helena had been killed in a car wreck.”
I gasped and touched his arm before I could stop myself. “That’s horrible!”
He nodded. “Yeah. Cash was a wreck. I’ve never seen him so bad off. He stayed at the bottom of a bottle for a while but then came out of it. He opened the security firm and tried to get his life back on track.”
“You said someone is leaving him cryptic messages about his daughter not being dead?”
Hendrix nodded. “He called, breaking down. Whoever left the message suggested he look up Helena’s death certificate. He can’t find one, though. Now, he’s trying to find his ex. It’s got him a little bit messed up.”
I squeezed his arm and blew out a breath. “That’s understandable. It’s your niece, Hendrix. If you need to go home, I’d understand.”
He met my stare and shook his head. “You need me. I wouldn’t be any use there, anyway. Cash is raging around the offices, furious and hurting. Everyone else is just trying to stay out of his way. There’s nothing we can do. If Cash can’t find his ex, then none of us can. He’s the best in the business.”
I nodded and looked back across the street. Just in time to see a big, burly man come out of the Chinese place and glance curiously at our hiding spot. “We’ve got potential company.”
Hendrix looked up and swore. “Yep. He’s coming. The windows are tinted, so he won’t be able to see you move. Get to the back and cover up with the blanket back there.”
I glanced back there but shook my head. Instead, I hurriedly jerked my hair out of its braid and then tied my t-shirt up around my breasts. “If it’s one of Ricky’s men, he’s never going to believe that you’re just sitting here, minding your own business. They would believe that you were getting your rocks off with a hooker, though. Just try to look like you’re enjoying this.”