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Gabe waved them into the squad room. “Let me introduce you to the team.”
After everyone greeted Amelia, they filled her in regarding what they had so far. Gabe wanted to be frustrated with the rehash, especially since it proved how little they had, but it was more beneficial than he had expected. All the details were fresh in his mind now, and that could do nothing but help, right?
Chloe woke up shivering. As tired as her body was, it didn’t like that they went to sleep at eight o’clock. She checked her watch. Two a.m. It wouldn’t be light for at least four or five more hours. And she was so cold.
She rolled to face the fire. It was out. That explained why she was so cold.
With a gentle breath, she blew on the sticks to see if there was an ember left. Nothing.
Shoot. How had they managed to let the fire go out?
She couldn’t see well enough to find the final match, but she didn’t want to wake Josh.
He stirred anyway and clicked on his flashlight, filling the small space with light. Wordlessly, they worked to rebuild the fire, but the wood was all damp.
Josh struck the match, and it lit on the first try. But the wood wouldn’t light before the match burned down to Josh’s fingers.
“Guess you’ll have to pull out your Eagle Scout skills.”
His eyebrows danced. “I’m afraid they’ve gotten a little rusty. But you better believe I’ll try.”
And he did, but it was unsuccessful. He twisted one stick in the other, but it didn’t spark, not like it should. “It’s too wet.” After fifteen minutes of trying, he laid the sticks down. “My hands hurt.”
“I’ll try.” But she didn’t have any more luck.
They stared at one another. It was cold and getting colder. They needed to stay warm until daylight.
With no fire, body heat was the next best option, but her nerves darted around like a bunch of manic butterflies. Yet she was frozen, almost literally, in place.
Josh scooted around to her. “Snuggle?” The trepidation in his voice almost made her laugh.
Her nerves had nothing to do withnotwanting to cuddle. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She wanted the closeness so much that it made her more nervous.
“This goes against everything . . .”
“Survival outweighs prudence at this point.” He chuckled. “I promise to not take advantage of the situation.”
Her cheeks grew warm. She hadn’t even thought of that!
His chuckle grew to laughter. “Get over here.” He unzipped his coat.
She sighed and did the same. Body heat meant bodies, not coats, needed to be close.
Josh laid his coat on the ground and settled himself on top. She laid down in front of him and draped her coat on top of them. He wrapped his arm around her. And pulled her against his body.
She forced herself to relax in his grasp. As she did, she found more comfort and strength than she’d ever expected. Safe in Josh’s arms, she was able to fall back to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Gabeliftedhisheadoff the table and looked out the window of the police station. The sky in the east had a slight glow, but you couldn’t even call it dawn yet. He hadn’t left the station.
Buck brought him a cup of coffee. “Mornin’ sunshine. Did you find anything worth noting in Chloe’s phone records?”
“Not really. The alleged client she was supposed to meet used a burner phone. The only number that doesn’t match up is a call right before the burner from some random guy. Call didn’t even last ten seconds, so logic says it was a wrong number. Phone records are a dead end.”
“I’m guessing we’re just minutes away from a break in the case.” Buck took a sip of his coffee.
“I appreciate your optimism, but I’m not feeling it, Buck.”
