Part 13 (1/2)
He nodded. ”I've got Pete Rossi working on finding the car. I looked up the make and model on the Internet and Robbie was right-it's a cla.s.sic, pretty hard to find. The DMV has very good records. I'm thinking we start with Was.h.i.+ngton State, check the records six years back and compare them with those today. Rossi's an ex-cop. He's got connections with the force. He says he can get what we need.”
Autumn nodded. ”Starting in this area sounds good, though if I'd stolen someone's child, I might take her out of state, just to keep anyone from finding her.”
”Even so, odds are good the guy was from somewhere around here. He must have seen Molly someplace, then found out where she lived.”
”So we track down the car and-if we're lucky-maybe the guy still owns it.”
”There's always a chance.”
”But if he does,” Autumn said, ”I'm the only one who knows what he looks like. I've been thinking about this, Ben, and I think we need to do a sketch. You know, one of those composite-type drawings. They do it all the time on TV. That way we'll all know who we're looking for.”
”Not a bad idea. Maybe the guy will turn out to be someone I saw in the neighborhood or somewhere else. If not, we can use it when we canvas car owners. I'll get Pete to find us a sketch artist, someone the cops have used.”
”Maybe we should talk to the police ourselves.”
”We don't have anything to give them. A dream and a thirteen-year-old kid who thinks he might have figured out what kind of car the kidnapper was driving six years ago.”
”And the fact Gerald Meeks says he didn't kill Molly.”
”Which Meeks told you but refused to tell anyone else.” He sighed. ”We need something concrete. When we find it, I'll talk to Doug Watkins. He was the lead detective on the case when Molly was first abducted.”
”I thought the FBI handled kidnapping cases.”
”They were involved. The guy who worked the case has since left the bureau and the two of us mostly b.u.t.ted heads anyway.”
”But you think this detective might help?”
”Maybe...if we have something new to give him. But Watkins is a realist. He's not going to buy into this dream theory without any proof and the department's not going to want to spend money on an old case with no new evidence.”
His gaze locked with hers. ”You were with me yesterday morning. Did you dream about Molly last night?”
She moistened her lips, a little intimidated by that iron-hard stare. ”Yes.”
”Did you notice anything new? Anything different?”
”It was a long day and I was tired. The dream was kind of fuzzy.”
”I want to stay at your house tonight. If you dream, I want to be there when you wake up.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he held up his hand. ”It helped the last time. I want to try it again.”
Autumn shook her head. ”We can't do that, Ben.”
He knew she was thinking about the kiss and the edge of his mouth faintly curved. ”I promise I won't attack you. I won't even kiss you goodnight...not unless you want me to.”
She fought not to tremble. A memory of his mouth moving over hers sent a curl of heat into her belly. Of course she wanted him to kiss her-at least the insane part of her that still thought of s.e.x craved it like a flower craved rain. The rational part of her pea-sized brain was terrified that it would happen.
”I'm not your type, Ben. You know it and so do I. And frankly, you're not my type either.”
Ben looked amused. ”I didn't know you had a type. The few guys you've dated all seemed pretty different.”
Her hackles went up. Was there anything about her private life he hadn't read in his d.a.m.n report? ”Who I date is none of your business and you can bet that any man I might be interested in would not be one who specializes in cover models and one-night stands.”
”Wait a minute! First-you're just as beautiful as any of the women I've dated, whether you see yourself that way or not, and second-I don't specialize in one-night stands.”
”Just women who aren't interested in anything remotely resembling a relations.h.i.+p.”
”Are you saying you are interested?”
She bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was to get involved with a man and especially not a heartbreaker like Ben. ”No, but-”
”I want to stay the night. No strings, no s.e.x, strictly business. You talked me into looking for Molly. Now I'm committed to doing everything in my power to find her. I thought that's the way you felt, too.”
”I do, I just...” She took a deep breath. Ben was a man who rarely took no for an answer. It was the reason he was so successful in business-and with women. In this case, he also had right on his side. Molly was his daughter and he would do anything to find her. Autumn could hardly fault him for that.
Still, she was already on dangerously thin ice where Ben was concerned. She would have to be extremely careful.
She released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. ”All right. You win. But bring something to sleep in this time.”
He grinned. ”I sleep naked. In deference to you, I left on my boxers last time.”
Her face heated up. ”I'm trying to forget.”
He reached out and touched her cheek. ”Are you? Because I'm trying like h.e.l.l to forget how s.e.xy you looked in that ridiculous over-sized T-s.h.i.+rt. So far it hasn't worked.”
Autumn's jaw dropped. The nights.h.i.+rt was the least s.e.xy thing she owned. Her stomach fluttered as if it were full of feathers and her mouth went dry. ”You're scaring me, Ben.”
”Yeah, well, you're scaring me too. Let's just keep focused on Molly.”
She was scaring him? She thought of Dolores Delgato, the beautiful, exotic model. Now there was a woman who could frighten a man, though Ben didn't seem the least bit threatened.
She cast him a glance but couldn't read his expression and returned her thoughts to Molly. Maybe if Ben was there when she dreamed, another clue would surface.
”Okay. Then I'll see you tonight. What time?”
”I've got plenty of work to do at the office. How 'bout I show up around nine?”
She nodded. She almost weakened and suggested she cook him dinner-before sanity returned like a flas.h.i.+ng neon sign, pointing out what a bad idea that was.
”See you then,” she said.
”Yeah,” he said softly. ”See you then.”
Ben worked late, then went home, stuffed his shaving kit and a change of clothes into a small canvas satchel and walked down Second Avenue to Autumn's condo. The air was warm and damp, the first days of summer were beginning to settle in. He inhaled the salty sea air and caught a glimpse here and there of the lights along the waterfront reflecting against the sea. A blue and gold taxi honked at the car in front of him but Ben barely noticed, preoccupied as he was with his earlier conversation with Autumn.
You're scaring me, Ben.
Yeah, well, you're scaring me too.
The words had just popped out, but as soon as he'd said them, he realized they were true. Intriguing little Autumn Sommers scared the holy bejeezus out of him. He wasn't quite sure why.
He only knew that when he had checked his calendar this afternoon and discovered he had a date Friday night with Beverly Styles, a woman he spent time with on occasion, the notion seemed so repugnant he had actually picked up the phone to call and cancel.