Page 84 of Girl in the Water

As he walked up the stairs to his and Daniela’s room, he decided to visit Essie’s neighbor again the next day and see if Essie had left a forwarding address or a phone number where she could be reached.

Daniela was back in their room already, sitting on her bed, organizing her notes.

“Anything?” he asked.

“The girls insist that they were all at the game. Nobody snuck off. They never sneak off. They’re all perfect angels.” She shoved an escaped tendril of black hair behind her ear. “They’re probably worried that if they betray any bad behavior, they’ll be kicked out. They just don’t want to risk it.” She stacked the papers into a pile and put it on her nightstand. “I’ll keep trying. Every time we talk, they trust me a little more.”

Something was off in her voice, something more than frustration.

“What is it?” Ian asked. “What’s wrong?”

She dropped her gaze. “I told them I grew up around here, upriver, grew up poor like them.” She picked at the bedspread. “But I didn’t tell them what I’ve been. They might trust me more if I do. If I talk about that. If they don’t see me as an investigator so much, but something else.”

“You are an investigator,” he said, because he knew how hard she’d worked to create a new identity for herself, because she deserved to be respected for what she’d achieved. “But you have nothing to be ashamed about your past either. You survived it. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a survivor, an incredibly strong woman who could overcome extraordinary hardship.”

She looked up with a half smile. “Calm down, mother hen. No need to have the talk again. I know, I know.”

“Good.” But even so, he knew that a break line existed between her past and present, a fault line between continents. And when those continents rubbed together, there was friction and earthquakes.

She stopped picking at the bedspread. “Found out anything new by walking around?”

“Not much. I talked to the neighbors out back. Nobody’s seen anything.” He had nothing but some unformed half thoughts, too vague to articulate. Instead of trying, he asked, “Want to go out for dinner?”

The food at See-Love-Aid was okay, but they were obviously on a budget and leaning toward vegetarian. He needed a damn steak.

Daniela was already on her feet, her melancholy shaken off. “Do I ever not want to go out to dinner? Do you even know me?”

Good question.Did he?Because that kiss…

He turned and strode out the door. No way was he thinking about that kiss while they were in a bedroom together.

Since there was a fried food place at the end of the street, they walked. Neither of them felt like taking a bus deeper into the city.

They bumped into Carol, coming out of a small convenience store.

She wasn’t shopping for the girls at See-Love-Aid this time. She was carrying a bag of diapers.

“Getting ready for the baby?” Daniela asked.

Carol laughed. “Two weeks left, but you know how these things go. The baby could be early.”

“Want me to take that back for you?” Ian offered and surreptitiously checked her ankles, relieved that they weren’t swollen.

Carol waved him off. “Doesn’t weigh anything. You two have fun out on the town.” She winked at them as if they were going on a date.

Ian paused.

Was that what everybody thought?

He scowled as Carol moved on, and he and Daniela resumed their walk. Did the other aid workers think he and Daniela were a couple? Did they think he was some fricking old lecher who’d take advantage of a young woman?

All right, they were sharing a room. But they were partners!

And he’d never even…

All right, except for that one kiss.

He filled his lungs. He wanted this op to be over. Hell, he wanted to run for the hills.