Page 14 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee

Quinn smiled, her earlier displeasure gone. “Fishing? And I’d cook the fish.”

“All organic,” he teased.

She caught his right hand, kissed his palm, her mouth moving over the old scar tissue. Quinn rubbed her cheek against it. “You never did tell me about howyou got this. Was it on a field assignment?”

“It was a long time ago. I’ll tell you, someday.”

West thought about her sister. Relationships that failed, bonds never formed. At least he’d shared that with his sisters, much as he missed them.

Memories helped ease the grief on days when it hurt.

“I always longed for a brother. Do guy stuff with, like camping, football, basketball,but my sisters were...special to me. I never regretted any of the time I spent with them. They could be pests, like little sisters are, but they were great kids.”

He paused in brushing her hair, the acid creeping up his throat. His sisters deserved a chance to live, a chance to have boyfriends, share a first kiss, marriage, babies. They never had it.

“I love children.” Her gaze met hisin the mirror. “I want a family, West.”

Damn.Let’s not go there tonight.West’s circle was tight and small. He thought of it as he thought of investigating crime scenes.Work it from the perimeter out.On the outer fringes were coworkers and casual acquaintances. On the inside were those close to him.

There weren’t many of those relationships. He kept it that way.

Once, it had beenexpanded to include his family, a flock of friends and relatives. After the bomb, he shut down most of those relationships.

Kids meant having innocent, fragile babies who couldn’t defend themselves. What if he failed to keep them safe, the way his own father had failed his daughters?

Including Quinn in his circle? Yeah. Kids? No.

“I don’t want children.” There. He stated it. Wouldthis provoke a fight? But Quinn only looked away, her mouth tight.

“It’s late. Let’s discuss this later,” he told her. As in ten years. Or twenty.

“I would have loved having a little sister when I grew up. I always wanted to have a close relationship with Demi.” Quinn sighed.

Okay, let’s try for subtle.He placed the brush on the table.

“When you last saw your sister, did she havea gold compact? Heart-shaped?”

Yeah, subtle, alight, Brand. Subtle as a locomotive.

Quinn picked up the brush he’d set down and began to toy with it. “Funny you should mention it. A few years ago, when I met her for lunch, I brought her a gift like that. I saw them in a store in Sioux Falls and bought two.”

West’s heart skipped a beat. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his Dockers.

“Does she still have it?”

She leaned her elbows on the table and looked at him in the mirror. “Why are you asking about the compact? And Demi? Does this have to do with her disappearance?”

West knew he had to tread lightly. Offer information, but no details. “Maybe. It could be a clue to where she went.”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t in the habit of checking her purse.” Quinn’s voicewas sharp.

He pressed on, because he suspected the gold compact now was definitely a sign that Demi had been in the abandoned building. Maybe she’d dropped it while mixing the chemicals to blow up the place, cover her tracks before she went to her next destination.

“What does your compact look like? Was it like hers?”

Her full mouth flattened. “West, why all these questions?”

He squatted down by the table and took her hand into his, brushing a kiss against her knuckles. “We need to find her, Quinn. But I promise you this, when we find her, I will let you know.”