Childfinders, Inc.: An Uncommon Hero. Marie Ferrarella

on Gina.

      “For tonight,” Ben prompted. He didn’t appear annoyed that she seemed to have momentarily forgotten. “You said that you couldn’t go out after work last night, but that you probably could tonight.” He looked at her hopefully. Or was that just her imagination?

      She’d talked to Betty, who had checked with her mother last night. Since tonight was a Friday night and Betty hadn’t hit the dating circuit yet—her mother referred to Betty as a late bloomer—Gina was assured of a sitter for Jesse.

      Now all that remained was taking that final leap from self-proclaimed female hermit to socializing woman. Easier contemplated than done.

      For most of her life, she’d loved company, loved going out. She’d always been a people person, until she’d had her trust betrayed at a college fraternity party. McNair had resurrected the leeriness that had come to define and delineate her life for months after her rape, making her hold all men suspect. Looking for ulterior motives.

      She hated being that way, and yet…

      “Oh, right.” Gina beckoned forward the next customer who was about to bypass her. “I can take you here,” she told the woman, then looked at Ben. “Um, I’m not so sure that I can, after all. There’s the store, we don’t lock up until ten tonight—” As she scanned the book, the numbers popped up on the register.

      “Don’t they let you go out for dinner?” Ben dead-panned.

      “I’ll lock up for you tonight, Gina,” a deep voice on her other side rumbled.

      She glanced toward the other register, not surprised to see the slightly superior look gracing the face of the tall, thin, prematurely balding young man. The man with the improbable name of Joe Valentine had regarded her as an interloper when Jon had given her responsibility of the store over him. Joe had been working at the bookstore a total of two and a half years and considered himself not just a clerk, but Jon’s assistant. Gina had changed all that and he made no secret of the fact that he didn’t care for it.

      “After all, it’s not like I haven’t done it before,” Joe said smugly.

      There went her last excuse, she thought, secretly glad of it. She liked being divested of excuses, because part of her really wanted to see Ben again, under any pretext. Pretexts made her feel that it was all right. “Thanks, Joe, as long as you don’t mind.”

      “Hey, where else am I going to go?”

      “It looks like it’s all settled, then,” Ben said to her. “Unless you don’t want to.” He knew if he left it open like that, she wouldn’t feel he was trying to pressure her into anything.

      Oh, she wanted to, all right. Maybe a little too much. “It’s not that—”

      “Something else?”

      The cop in him rose to the fore. He peered at her, keeping his voice casual, wondering if her resistance involved Andrew in some way. Was she keeping the boy someplace accessible? Was there someone else involved? Was this not just about revenge, the way McNair thought, but a child kidnapping ring with Andrew the latest victim?

      It was a horrible thought, but one that was far from new. Ben knew that Cade’s own son had been kidnapped for just that reason. It had taken Cade three years to find the boy again. Darin Townsend was the reason ChildFinders, Inc. existed.

      She almost said something about Jesse and being reluctant to leave him, but at the last minute decided not to. She was undoubtedly being overly paranoid, but there was no harm in keeping her private life private. No harm and maybe a great deal of good.

      “No, nothing else.”

      Score one for the home team. “Well then it looks like it’s settled. How about Wellington’s?” Ben asked.

      She was familiar with the restaurant. It was a place she’d treated herself to once a month while she’d been attending college. The food was wonderful and the ambience even better. It was a place she could easily see him in, but not for the type of thing she’d thought he had in mind. Suspicions whispered in her ear again.

      “Isn’t that a little fancy? I thought you just wanted to grab a bite to eat and talk about research.”

      His smile disarmed her before he said a word.

      “Who says the bite has to be in a fast-food place? Or that we have to chew fast?”

      He saw the protest forming on her lips, saw the indecision in her eyes. He was winning her over, but he had to talk quickly to sustain his advantage. Getting her to a friendly, neutral place that might seduce her defenses was all part and parcel of his plan to get her comfortable enough to talk to him. The more she talked, the more likely she’d be to let something slip.

      “Think of it as partial payment for your time,” he told her.

      She couldn’t help smiling. “Script points and dinner?”

      “Right. And anything else you can think of, too.”

      Her eyes narrowed. Was this just an elaborate come-on after all? She didn’t want to believe it, yet… “Such as?”

      “I’m very handy with my hands.”

      Her heart sank. It was a come-on. “I’m afraid I really don’t—”

      He stopped her before she said something he was going to regret. “That didn’t come out right. What I mean is that I can fix things around the house. Cracking plaster, doors that stick, things like that.”

      The small condo she had sublet from Jon’s friend could more than use a face-lift, but not from someone she didn’t know. She knew the danger of opening her door and her life to someone.

      “I don’t need anything fixed,” she assured him.

      “All right,” he replied philosophically, “then it’ll just be dinner and research.”

      “Dinner and research,” she echoed.

      A line was beginning to form at the register again. Joe was looking toward them with a less than friendly expression on his face. Ben began to talk quickly before Gina saw the clerk and retreated to help him. “What time would you like me to pick you up?”

      It would keep things simpler if he didn’t know where she lived. “Since this is dinner and research, why don’t I just meet you at the restaurant?”

      He picked up on her reluctance to share her address. The scale tipped against her again. “You really are an independent woman, aren’t you?”

      The grin that curved her mouth nearly unraveled him. It was completely guileless and captivating. “Whenever possible.” Hearing Joe clear his throat, she realized that she’d somehow managed to drift away from the register. She began moving back toward the registers. “Now then, I’m afraid I’ve got to get back to work.”

      He wasn’t finished yet. There was one more thing he needed from her. Her prints. Ben glanced toward the section she had directed him toward yesterday. “Um, I was wondering if you could recommend any other books for me from the store?”

      She thought a moment, shaking her head. “I think we covered that last time.” Surprise flittered over her features. “You didn’t finish the one you bought yesterday already, did you?”

      He nodded. “Stayed up all night. I thought if there was something else—”

      “All right, let’s see.” Because he seemed so eager, she went to check the books listed by subject on the computer. Going over the inventory, she stopped at a particular title. “Well, there is one more that might help—”

      All he needed was one. Because the books were accessible to the public, the idea of getting her prints from the one he’d already bought hadn’t occurred to him until after he’d handled it extensively. He wasn’t about to make the same mistake again. “Take me to it.”

      She couldn’t