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Slowly, my anxiety faded. I took a deep breath. “I’m not sure if I’m ready, but if it’s with you or one of the guys...I wouldn’t...it would be...I think I’d be okay with it,” I finally said. Marv blinked as I bent and pressed a light kiss to his lips. I pulled back with a grin. “I think we’re okay for now, though.”
“I’ll be more careful next time,” he promised. “But whenever you’re ready…” He let the sentence trail off, but the meaning was clear. I nodded and slid off of him.
“We should get showered and dressed,” I suggested. “Knix and Texas will probably be back soon with more information.”
He nodded his agreement, and I went to the bathroom. As the door clicked shut behind me, I pressed back against it and took a deep breath, releasing it on a slow exhale. A kid. With Marv or one of the others...the very thought sent butterflies dancing around in my stomach. I couldn’t deny that I wanted it—but when we were all ready.
I’d be more careful in the future,I decided,until the guys and I had a chance to talk about it more.
* * *
Alittle over an hour after Marv and I had showered, dressed, and eaten—the hotel room door beeped and clicked open. Knix stepped inside, ducking beneath the doorway a smidge as he usually did to keep from hitting the top of the doorframe. I sat up and Marv came back in from the balcony as Bellamy, Grayson, and Texas stepped in behind Knix and closed the door.
“What happened?” I asked. “Did you find out anything?” My eyes moved from Grayson to Bellamy and back to Texas and Knix, but all four of them shook their heads. My shoulders drooped.
“The owner of the car that picked up Jenna but never dropped her off is Thomas Ollison,” Knix said as everyone came in and spread out around the room. Bellamy and Texas dropped onto the opposite bed, Knix stood, and Grayson took the chair at the desk across from where I sat. “Texas and I tracked down his whereabouts—he lives in an apartment complex outside of the city limits—but he wasn’t home.”
“There was nothing more I could find in her office, and Mr. Stover finished out his work and went home without incident,” Bellamy said.
Knix looked to Grayson next. “Anything on your end?”
Grayson shook his head. “No, they wouldn’t even let me review the security tapes,” he said. “I’ve spent the last several hours arguing with branch managers.”
Knix sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“Do you want me to hack them?” Texas asked. “I know you didn’t want to resort to that, but—”
Knix shook his head. “Anything we find illegally can’t be used in court,” he said.
“Are we going to court?” Texas asked with a frown as he tilted his head and cracked his neck. “I was under the impression that our main goal was to find Jenna Wiedleman.”
“But she’s involved in a very high profile embezzling case,” Knix reminded him. “It’s likely that this is all connected to that.”
“But there’s nothing we have on the man who’s being prosecuted,” Bellamy pointed out.
Knix pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a breath, releasing it before nodding. “Yes, I know.”
“We looked at the security footage from the coffee shop,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention. “I didn’t think they’d let us take the video, but I was able to screenshot some of the images where Jenna appeared.” I turned and searched for where Marv had put them earlier, finding them across from me on the desk behind Marv. I stood up and reached for them, unfolding them and handing them over. “Maybe they’d be helpful,” I said hopefully.
“Thank you, Little Bit.” Knix bent down and kissed the top of my head as he took the images from me. “For now, I think I need to send someone over to stakeout Ollison’s apartment.” He straightened, still clutching the papers in his fist. “We don’t know when the man will return, but we want to be ready for him if or when he does.”
“How long do you want to keep watch?” Marv asked.
“At least overnight, though I’d prefer a couple of days with rotating shifts,” Knix answered.
“I can take a shift,” I offered.
“I’ll take—” Knix stopped when Marv stepped forward and put a hand on his arm.
“You need to get some rest,” Marv said. “You’ve hardly slept since we got here. Stay behind for the next six to eight hours and get some sleep. Texas and Harlow will take the first shift. Bellamy and I will take the next and when you’re rested up, you and Grayson can follow up with the third—unless Ollison shows himself before then.”
I glanced between the two of them. Knix’s face tightened in displeasure. I could tell he didn’t want to agree, but there were bags under his eyes and a strain to his features that told me Marv was right.
“I think he’s right,” I agreed. “Texas and I will take first shift. We’ll be fine.”
Tense silence followed my words and it felt like an eternity until his shoulders drooped and the pressure seemed to lift from his body. “I don’t expect Ollison will show up in the next few hours, but we need to keep a lookout for him just in case. You’re right,” he said, looking from me to Marv. “I’ll stay behind and then come out later.”
Marv clapped him on the back. “Good idea, boss.”
