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“That’s not all I found. See?” She holds up her phone again, but I can hardly take my eyes off a couple of freckles on the tip of her nose. I’d like to put my lips on them, they’re so danged cute.
I barely catch a glimpse at the screen before she whips it away. “It’s a pic and a team roster. Apparently his high school basketball team went to state his senior year. The guy’s six-six. I think, if he’s there, we’ll find him.”
Time is short after my attorney’s message last night. “What if he’s sitting on a bench?”
She flashes the phone again. “Look at that curly hair.”
“And if he’s wearing a cap?”
“We’ll look for a really tall guy.”
My head spins at her logic. “And if—”
She rolls her eyes. “Such a pessimist. You’re just like—”
Annalise snaps off her own words. Yeah, not a good time for that. But what catches my attention is the wordpessimist. Guess I’ve crossed over to the dark side. Amongst all my agent buds, I’m the cool one when they’re all taking everything so seriously. I’m usually the glass-half-full guy.
Lately, it’s as if someone knocked my glass off the table altogether.
But it’s one thing to see the world through rose-colored glasses and quite another to see it through steel bars. I’d like to avoid the latter if at all possible.
I dry my soggy palms, running them down the tops of my thighs. That’s new. Maybe I’m losing it here.
I pull from the curb and head to the main street. Face in her phone, Annalise chimes in with more directions, not merely to the campus, but to the engineering building the kid mentioned. The drive is short, but I spend ten minutes looking for a parking spot where I won’t be towed.
I’m out first, waiting at the front of the truck while she messes with something in the back seat. My backpack is slung over her shoulder when she emerges. “What are you doing with that?”
“Blending in.”
I feel my lips pulling. Doggone, she’s something else.
“Are you laughing at me?”
I shake my head. Too adamantly, perhaps.
She punches my arm.
I chuckle. So help me, she makes me laugh, quite a feat today. “This isn’t exactly a top-secret mission, you know?”
“Well, that’s good, because you stick out like a sore thumb,you know?” Her eyes make an unflattering sweep of my person. I’d let my hair grow for my last assignment, leaving the shaved-head, gang banger look I’ve been known to sport behind and it’s grown even since then. And yes, even on a university campus, my artwork stands out.
Nothing to do about it now.
I follow her lead across the sprawling, flat campus. The school is pretty—but this is Lubbock. There isn’t an elevation change in sight. The sun is shining, but a few clouds are beginning to overlay it, and the breeze is turning into actual wind—not unusual in this part of the state. I only hope we’re not in for a dust storm—I am done with sand in my teeth.
There are students here and there, but classes are in session. My hope is that, during the ten-minute break period, we’ll find our man. Talk about longshots.
Somehow Annalise takes us straight to the school of engineering and scans her surroundings like a ranger on reconnaissance.
I take her hand. “Let’s wait on that bench over there. If we’re living right, we’ll catch a break during the passing period.”
She does indeed look quite collegiate with my backpack on her shoulder. Lucky for her it’s only filled with toiletries and not heavy textbooks.
“They don’t call them passing periods in college.”
“Who says?”
“Me. Remember, I just graduated a month ago.”
