Part 12 (2/2)

For the next fifteen minutes, Robbie launched into a dissertation on collectible cars and the Chevy Chevelle in particular. ”The day Molly was taken is burned into my brain...everyone crying, and talking to the cops and all the stuff that happened after. I can still close my eyes and see that car. That's how I recognized it when I saw one like it at the car show. A Super Sport like that...it's a real cla.s.sic, worth some money even in poor condition.”

Ben squeezed his shoulder. ”Thanks, Robbie. You've really been a big help.”

Robbie walked beside them out to Ben's Mercedes. ”I think of her sometimes, you know. I guess I always will.”

Ben nodded. ”Yeah.”

They climbed into the car and Ben started the engine. Autumn noticed the way his hands gripped the wheel and when she turned she saw that Robbie watched them until the car disappeared out of sight.

”Well, it's a lead,” Autumn said into the quiet that had settled inside the car.

”Yes, it is. And if Robbie Hines is right, Gerald Meeks had nothing at all to do with Molly's disappearance.”

Autumn's gaze snagged his in the mirror. ”Which means my dreams might be real. If they are, Molly could still be alive.”

Twelve.

”All right, girlfriend-you are dating the hunk! You have got to tell all!”

Autumn and Terri perched on stools at a tall round table in their usual spot at the back of O'Shaunessy's. It was Tuesday, six o'clock. Terri had just gotten off work, as had most of the patrons chatting noisily in the pub.

”We aren't dating,” Autumn told her. ”We're working together to find his daughter.”

”But you said you went out with him Sat.u.r.day night. The man took you to the Olympic Hotel, for G.o.d's sake.”

Autumn had mentioned the evening with Ben and told her friend that she had agreed to give Ben time to get to know her, to hopefully come to trust her. And it seemed to have worked.

She hadn't told Terri that Ben had spent the night. Her friend would never believe that nothing had happened...well, almost nothing. There was, after all, that mind-shattering kiss.

”You're blus.h.i.+ng. Oh, my G.o.d-what happened after the benefit? Don't tell me you slept with him!”

”Don't be ridiculous. You know why Ben and I are spending time together. It was your idea for me to talk to him in the first place.”

Terri eyed her shrewdly. ”You'd tell me, wouldn't you-if you had s.e.x with him?”

”No. But I didn't. All he did was kiss me good night.” There, it was out in the open. She hated to lie to her best friend.

Terri's eyes widened. ”Well, come on-what was it like? A long, slow, dreamy, kiss, or a hot, burning, tongue-sucking orgy of a kiss?”

The color deepened in Autumn's cheeks. ”It was just a kiss, that's all. Nothing out of the ordinary.” You liar! It was the hottest, wettest, s.e.xiest kiss you've ever had and you will probably never forget it. ”Ben isn't my type and in case you haven't read the society pages lately, I am definitely not his. But right now we need each other. There's a chance his daughter is alive and if she is we need to find her.”

”You're getting pretty involved in this,” Terri said.

”I know I am. But I think Molly's reaching out to me. I can't turn my back on her. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Ben. I dragged him into this. You can't imagine how painful this whole thing is for him. I'm not about to abandon him now.”

Terri swirled the swizzle stick through the Cosmo she was drinking. ”Just be careful. I have read the papers and we both know the guy is a heartbreaker. You can tell that much just by looking at him.”

It was true and it was something Autumn didn't intend to forget.

”So what's the latest with Todd?” she asked, trying for a change of subject.

”Todd is a jerk. I never should have gone out with him.”

Sooner or later, they all became jerks, at least in Terri's opinion. Autumn wondered if her friend would ever figure out what she actually wanted in a man. Then again, maybe she and Terri weren't really so different. For one reason or another, neither of them wanted to get into a serious relations.h.i.+p. They just approached the problem in an opposite manner. Terri slept with them and dumped them. Autumn rarely went out at all.

Across the table, Terri glanced up as a lanky, familiar figure walked through the front door of the bar. ”Look, here comes Josh.” Her blue eyes rounded. ”Oh, my G.o.d, the hunk is with him.”

Autumn's head jerked toward the men crossing the bar in their direction, one of whom was Ben. ”For heaven's sake, stop calling him that,” she whispered to Terri.

Josh smiled as they reached the table. ”Hey, Autumn...Terri.”

”Hi, Josh,” Autumn said. Terri smiled briefly at Josh then her predatory gaze fixed on Ben and a lump of ice settled in Autumn's stomach. She worked to keep the smile on her face. ”Ben, this is my friend, Terri Markham.”

”Nice to meet you, Terri,” Ben said casually.

”You, too,” said Terri and to Autumn's utter amazement she didn't ooze a single drop of her abundant female charm in Ben's direction.

”I tried to call you on your cell,” Ben said, ”but you didn't pick up. Then I saw Josh coming out of the gym as I was leaving the office. He thought you might be down here with Terri.”

Autumn dug into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. ”It's so loud in here I guess I didn't hear it ring.” She stuck the phone back into her bag, suddenly realizing that if Ben was looking for her, it must have something to do with Molly.

”What is it? Did you find out something?”

He caught her elbow, urging her up off the stool. ”Excuse us a minute, will you?”

”Sure,” said Josh, who looked at Terri as if he had just received a gift.

Ben led Autumn out the front door and a little ways down the block. She hadn't realized he was carrying something in his hand until he held out a rolled-up sheet of paper.

”My guys got this for me. Take a look and see what you think.”

Autumn carefully unrolled the paper. For several long moments, she just stared. It was the computer-aged photo of Molly. ”It looks like her, I mean the way she is now, but...”

”But what?”

”But in my dream, her hair's longer, almost to her waist, and her lips don't seem as full, or maybe it's just that in the dream she isn't smiling, the way she is here.” She studied the photo. ”And there's something different about her eyes...In my dream, they don't seem as sparkly as they look here.”

”She was happy the day the photo was taken. Joanne had bought her a pretty new dress and she was excited to have her picture taken in it.”

There was something in his tone that made her look up at him. There was an odd glitter in his eyes and she saw that his jaw looked tight.

”You say she looks different,” he said. ”But this is the girl in your dreams? You still think it's Molly?”

”It's her, Ben.”

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