“Are you guys, okay?” she asked eagerly.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “We’re all right. It’s late and your sister is resting.”
“I’ll call her tomorrow. Tell me she’s okay,” she said.
“She’s all right.” Brock sighed. “No thanks to me. She had to rescue herself.”
“She’s strong.” Jade smiled. “There will be plenty of times she will need you in the future to get over what has happened, and I know you’ll be there for her.”
“I will,” he said firmly. “Now that things here are tied up, we’ll be planning that trip to see you soon.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “I’ll call her tomorrow.”
“I’ll let her know that you called. Goodnight.”
Just then Wyatt rushed into her room. “What’s up?”
While they filled him in on what had happened to Amber, they retreated into the living room and opened a bottle of wine.
She didn’t even know what time it was until she saw the time on her phone.
“My god, it’s past four in the morning,” she said with a yawn.
“So? What are you, a hundred?” Josie joked with a yawn. “Okay, I’m just going to go take a nap.” She stretched and then made her way down the dark hallway. “I only bumped into the wall twice,” she called back. “That’s a new record.”
They heard her bedroom door shut.
Wyatt turned to her. “Bed?”
She nodded and took his hand and tugged him down to her own bedroom. When she shut the door behind them, she stepped into his arms and kissed him.
She needed him. Needed to show him how much she felt for him. More than anything, she needed to convince herself that no matter what happened, that this was real. This was the moment in her life she would always look back to when someone asked her to describe her happiest moments.
“What?” he asked against her lips.
“I’m just… happy,” she said with a sigh. “My sister is safe once again. It appears we’ve caught the people taking the kids.”
He stiffened, then leaned back. “What makes you say that?”
She frowned and shrugged. “Didn’t we?”
“So far we haven’t gotten enough information out of the Reeds to tie them to any of the teens’ kidnappings.”
“What does that mean?” she asked as he stepped back.
“It means, I still have a job to do.” He ran his hands through his hair as he paced the floor.
She stopped him by wrapping her arms around him. “That’s a good thing. It means we’ll be able to spend more time together.” He sighed and then nodded. “What about after?” she asked and felt him stiffen again. “Will we be able to see one another?”
His hands dropped by his side. “I…” He shook his head. “I should probably let you get some sleep.”
“No.” She took his hand. “Don’t go.” She lifted to her toes and kissed him. “For tonight, let’s just… be.” She poured everything she felt for him into the kiss. Her heart did a little jump when she felt him relax next to her.
Then he was pulling her to the bed and once more making her feel everything all at once.
She woke alone in the bed when her alarm went off. Showering and dressing, she felt less herself than she had in a long time.
Why was Wyatt pulling away from her now? Did he know something she didn’t? Was he closer to solving the case than he led on?