He moved his head ever so slightly back and forth, holding her gaze. His eyes were bottomless, deep and probing. “I don’t think so.”
She broke eye contact, unsettled by the exchange, and pulled her arm from his grasp. She opened the car door. “I don’t care what you think,” she snapped and jumped out, slamming the door behind her, desperate to put distance between them and regain control.
Zack watched Olivia stride to the mailbox and stop. She wasn’t looking at him, but she was most certainly thinking about him. And he was thinking about her. He’d been so close to kissing her. Kissing? Hell, he would have devoured her. The way she looked at him, it wasn’t simple lust. There was a complexity of feelings buried beneath the controlled posture. He wanted to unwrap her and find out why she was so uptight, why she didn’t share anything about herself, why she didn’t like being touched. He wanted to hold her, thaw her. The cold personality was a façade; he’d seen her wrestle with her emotions. He sensed she burned from within but kept her feelings locked up tight.
He wondered what would happen if he found the key.
He got out of the car and kicked the door shut. Olivia St. Martin was hiding something, and while he found her sexy as hell, his number-one concern was the investigation. What could she possibly be hiding? She’d seemed so forthcoming at the lab, working with him and the evidence, her methodical notes on the white board-not at all like the woman who’d just vacated the car.
When he’d first met Superagent yesterday in Pierson’s office, he thought he had her all figured out. Now he had to admit he didn’t know what was going on with her. He remembered her reaction outside the coroner’s office. At the time he thought it was a personal issue, but while they worked together in the conference room she was all professional.
She was hiding something-but was it personal or professional? Or both?
He caught up with her at the mailbox at the end of the path leading to the house.
“If you’re hiding something about this investigation, I will find out,” he said, his voice low. “I won’t let anyone play games with my cases, especially this one. Take all the glory; I couldn’t give a shit about the press or recognition or credit. But don’t mess with the case.”
A flash of anger reddened her cheeks. “Glory?” Her voice was a mere whisper. “You think I care about glory? You bastard.”
She brushed past him, her jaw tight.
He’d made her angry, and he wondered what secrets she would spill if he really pushed her. Secrets. Yes, she had secrets. And he was damn well going to find out what they were.
They walked to the door in tense silence. The house belonged to Will and Dina Adams. Their daughter, Laura, had been Jenny’s best friend and a witness to her abduction.
Mr. Adams opened the door before Zack could knock. “Detective Travis,” he said solemnly as he opened the door for them to enter.
Zack introduced Olivia and Adams led them down a wide, tiled floor to the family room in the back of the house.
Laura Adams was a pretty girl of ten with a short brunette bob and large blue eyes that now teared. She smiled and blinked. “Hi,” she said shyly.
“Hello, Laura,” Zack said. He smiled at the other girl, who sat with her back straight and hands clasped tightly between her knees. “Hello, Tanya. You doing okay?”
“Yes,” Laura said while Tanya shrugged.
Tanya’s mother sat across the room next to Dina Adams. “How long is this going to take? Hasn’t my daughter been through enough? Why do you have to talk to her again?”
“Ms. Burgess?” Olivia inquired.
“Who are you?” Ms. Burgess said, wringing her hands.
“I’m Olivia St. Martin with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I know this is difficult for you and your daughter, and I promise we’ll be done soon.”
Olivia’s voice was both professional and soothing, with the cadence of a psychologist. She sat next to Tanya and smiled at Laura, who sat on her friend’s other side. “You can call me Olivia,” she said to the girls.
Zack would have questioned the girls, but a glance from Olivia told him she wanted to take a stab at this. He gave her the opportunity, curious. The anger she’d displayed toward him was gone or buried; her entire disposition and demeanor seemed softer, but confident.
Her quick turnaround intrigued him.
“Detective Travis told me that you saw the man who took Jenny,” Olivia said, her voice calm. “That must be hard for you to think about.”
“I’ll never forget,” Laura said, her large eyes watering. “I-I keep thinking he’ll come back.”
Olivia knew that feeling all too well. For years, she’d feared the exact same thing. That the mean man with the tattoo would crawl up the rose trellis outside her bedroom window and carry her away, just like he’d done with Missy.
She’d broken the trellis on Halloween, three years after Missy was killed. Her father thought it was the teenagers up the street who were known to engage in petty vandalism. She’d never told him the truth.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Laura’s father said, his voice rough with emotion. Olivia realized everyone was looking at her. How long had she been thinking about the past?
She cleared her throat. “It’s normal to be scared,” she told the girls. “No one blames you for being scared about what happened to Jenny. But you have parents who love you and will do everything they can to protect you.”
Mr. Adams sat on the arm of the couch next to his daughter and squeezed her hand, his mouth firm and his eyes moist.
“Laura, Tanya, I know you both already told Detective Travis and the other policemen what you saw. But sometimes, you might remember a little detail that didn’t seem important at the time, or you forgot because of all the scary stuff that was going on. If you think you can, I would like you to tell me what happened. In your own words. And anything you remember, no matter how little or unimportant or dumb you think it is, please share.”
Laura nodded, almost eager to tell her story, but kept glancing at her father for reassurance. She’d picked up on his discomfort at having her recite the tragedy. Will Adams probably thought how easily it could have been her-and how relieved he was that it hadn’t been. Then came guilt at that relief.
Olivia understood those feelings as well.
“We were playing at Brown Park, the one around the corner. We usually ride our bikes, but mine had a flat tire and I didn’t want to get out the bike pump and get all dirty, so we walked. We always go there.”
“The neighborhood was so safe,” Mrs. Adams said. “I always thought it was safe.”
Having her mother break down wouldn’t do Laura any good, so Olivia said, “This is a beautiful neighborhood. Of course you felt it was safe.” She turned back to Laura before a conversation could develop. “So you walked. How long did it take?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. A few minutes. I don’t have a watch, and we weren’t rushing to get there. We only go there because it’s something to do, you know?”
“What did you see when you got there? Were there other kids there?”
“There were some older kids sitting by the pond smoking. We didn’t go over there, though we’d brought bread for the ducks. But my mom always says stay away from the older kids.”
Laura glanced at her mother, and Olivia instantly knew she was lying. Her heart sped up.
“Did you know these older kids?” she asked cautiously.
Laura shrugged again. “No.”
“Never saw them at the park?”
“Well, sure, we saw them around. They live in the neighborhood.”
“Ever talk to them?”
“No. I mean, maybe a ‘hi’ or something, but not talk.”
Olivia raised her eyebrow and looked at Laura directly in the eye.
It was Tanya who burst into tears.
“It’s my fault!” she cried.
Olivia reached out and squeezed the girl’s hand. “Nothing is your fault,” she said firmly. “Tell me what happened.”