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Jessica smiled smugly. “Serves you right.”
“Guys should be back any moment.” And just like that, Kelsey was all business. “You packed?”
Jessica glanced at her duffle. “And ready to go.”
Kelsey’s words played back in Jessica’s head.
She made him human.
It wasn’t hard to understand what Kelsey meant. Samuel’s personality was the type that would make work his life. Just like her. The only difference was she hadn’t been born like this. She’d nurtured this in herself. Whereas Samuel didn’t always know how to step back from work and be himself apart from expectations.
She wanted to show him how to relax and enjoy himself. She wanted that for him, because no one should live only for work. Everyone needed something for themselves.
The beep of a door made both Jessica and Kelsey freeze and stare at the adjoining doors, straining to listen. A rhythmic knock sounded from the other side and both women exhaled.
They were all a little on edge after last night.
Jessica let Kelsey unlock their side and admit the two men. Jessica glanced at the window, acutely aware of Samuel crossing to sit next to her.
“I got that sweet mint gum you like,” he said quietly.
It was a simple gesture, and yet it made her grin. It also meant he’d been paying attention to her a lot longer than she realized. He’d only know she liked that gum if he’d been paying attention back when they were in Colorado. At least once a week she’d ask someone to pick her up a pack.
“How long have you filed that bit of information away?” she asked and glanced up at him.
His dark eyes felt as though they were going to suck her in. “I don’t know… The beginning, I guess.”
“Okay, break it up you two love birds,” Kelsey said. “What’s our next move?”
Right.
Back to business.
“Did we get intel on the Oliver guy?” Jessica asked.
“We did.” Baruti pulled out his phone. “His name really is Oliver Taylor, and he has a colorful record. But nothing that sticks out.”
“Damn,” she muttered.
Kelsey waved a fry around. “No red flags that say, I work for an asshole?”
Baruti shook his head as he chewed.
“I still think we should give up on this and go home,” Samuel said.
“Oliver knew things about Edwards. Things Robin confirmed with her uncle.” Jessica tipped her head up and stared at the ceiling. “If only we could get Oliver to just sit down and talk. Tell us what he really knows. Was he going to shake me down? Or did he have another plan?”
“I mean, we could do that,” Kelsey said.
“What?”
She nodded. “Snatch him, convince him to talk, then we know things.”
Jessica could see it playing out in her head like an action movie. “It’s not really that easy…”
Kelsey lifted a shoulder. “It can be, but not always.”
“Tracking Oliver might be the hard part,” Samuel chimed in. “Without working with local police, we don’t have a way to find him. Not without CCTV, bank records, or something.”