Hot & Bothered. Susan Andersen

talked to Jared’s friends Dan Coulter and Dave Hemsley. Unfortunately he hasn’t contacted them.”

      Her disappointment deepened. “Could they be lying? Perhaps they think they’re protecting him, or that telling you where he is would break that unwritten adolescent code not to rat out your fellow teen.”

      “It’s possible, Tori, but I’ve interviewed a lot of teenagers over the years, and it’s taught me to pay attention to their body language and the nuance in their conversations. Kids are my specialty and these two struck me as a couple of straight shooters whose biggest secret was having attended a rave and a few beer blasts.”

      She wanted to be stoic. She meant to be stoic. But she couldn’t prevent the low moan that slipped past her compressed lips.

      “Heeey,” he crooned, leaning forward. “This is not the end of the world. It eliminates the easiest possibility, but it also gives us more eyes and ears around town. I stressed the seriousness of Jared’s situation to his friends, as well as the danger he could be in, and asked them to put out the word. Jared doesn’t have a girlfriend, which is unfortunate, since teenage boys often tell their girls things they’d never say to their buddies. But kids talk, and Dan and Dave swore they’d call me if he gets in touch with anyone they know.”

      “So if he isn’t hiding out at a friend’s house here in town, what now?”

      “I go talk to the cops. I generally do that right off the bat, but decided to talk to his friends first this time instead.”

      “The police seemed pretty determined to make Jared their prime suspect when I talked to them.” Her stomach flip-flopped at the memory of that conversation.

      John merely shrugged. “If they don’t feel like sharing, I’ll go talk to the cab companies and see if any fares were picked up in this neighborhood on the night of your father’s death. If I get a hit, I’ll talk to the cab driver and show him Jared’s picture. And if that doesn’t produce anything, I’ll take his photo to the airport and bus station to see if anyone remembers selling him a ticket.” He reached across and stroked gentle fingertips atop the hands she hadn’t even realized she’d clasped tightly on the smooth cherrywood surface of the desk in front of her. “I will find him, Victoria.”

      She appreciated the reassurance, but his touch registered clear down to her toes, and she sat back in her chair, easing her hands out from beneath his long fingers. Looking around the office to avoid meeting his eyes, she found the distraction she sought and frowned in puzzlement. “There’s something wrong with this room. I can’t quite put my finger on it—whether it’s a dimension or a spatial aberration, or maybe it’s just the color scheme, which isn’t my cup of tea. But something about the office is off. It bugs me that I can’t figure out what.”

      He leaned back, his dark eyes bright with interest. “That’s right—you’re an architect. As I recall, you were on the fast track at some hotshot firm when I knew you. You were in line to become…an associate, wasn’t it? Did that happen for you?”

      “No. Well, they offered me the position, but I had to turn it down.”

      “You’re kidding me!” Straightening, he stared at her. “I remember you being totally psyched about that promotion—wasn’t it your design or something that landed a big contract?”

      “Yes.” She smiled at the memory.

      “So, why the hell would you turn down something you’d been working so hard to attain?”

      “Esme.”

      “You walked away because you had a kid? That’s kind of a fifties attitude, don’t you think? News flash, darlin’, lots of women actually handle both.”

      “Well, thank you for the tip, Miglionni.” Anger erupted and for once it didn’t occur to her to try to contain it. “You think it was an easy decision? I loved that job and I was damn proud of my work. But it also required putting in more than sixty hours a week and I’ve got a little news flash of my own, darlin’. I know what it’s like to have a parent whose work is more important than his kids. I wanted better for my child.”

      Feeling agitated and restless, she climbed to her feet. She had to get out of here. Somehow Rocket pulled a multitude of feelings and sensations out of her without even trying, and she wanted no part of them. The last time she’d felt this way had also been with him, and in the end it had nearly broken her heart. So she was so gone. But first…

      She stared down the length of her nose at him. “I have a suggestion for you. Go talk to those women who do it all. Ask them if they’d stay home with their children if they could afford it. You might be surprised at how many would leap at the chance. I know I’m fortunate to have the resources that gave me a choice, so guess just how much your input means to me? You’re the last person I’d ever solicit an opinion from on parenting. My God, you bullied your way into moving in here with unfounded accusations that I never in a million years would have thought to do. Not to mention that subtle threat to make things ugly for everyone involved if you weren’t given the opportunity to get to know your daughter.” She ignored the fact that she was using him in return for protection.

      “What subtle threat? I haven’t said one freaking word that could remotely be construed as a threa—”

      “But now that you’ve gotten what you wanted,” she said right over the top of him, surprised to find she was all but quivering with fury, “funny thing. I haven’t seen you make any effort to spend so much as five minutes with Esme since I introduced the two of you.”

      John stared at the passion in Victoria’s face and felt his heart pound in his chest. This was the woman he remembered, with her electric eyes and intense fervency. The cool and reserved socialite he’d been dealing with since entering the Hamilton mansion annoyed the hell out of him, but he almost wished she’d come back. At least she didn’t confuse him so much, and God knew she was a whole lot easier to hold at arm’s length. This woman he wanted to throw down on the desk and have the kind of red-hot head-banging sex he remembered from six years ago.

      She made a sound of disgust deep in her throat and he realized he’d been staring at her too long without responding to her accusation. Before he could say a word she’d whipped around on her expensively shod heels and he watched her hair bell out then settle back into place as she stalked from the room. The door closed behind her and he threw himself back into his chair. Swearing, he rammed his fingers through his hair and ground the heels of both hands into his scorched eyes.

      What the hell was he doing here? He knew nothing about being a parent. Less than nothing. The truth was, just the thought of it scared the bejesus out of him.

      And wasn’t that one for the books? In the ordinary run of events he wasn’t a man prone to fears. The day after graduating high school he’d forged his old man’s signature so he could join the Marines and he’d spent the next fifteen years in every hellhole and hot spot in the world. It wasn’t that he’d never been afraid, of course—only a fool went up against trigger-happy terrorists armed with the latest in automatic weaponry without a healthy dose of fear to keep him cautious. But he’d learned to take in stride the kind of things that would probably start the average guy’s bowels to churning.

      Wasn’t it a hell of a note, then, that a tiny peanut of a girl with a mess of hair and big dark eyes should be the one to strike terror in his soul?

      He’d deliberately stayed out late last night and had left before breakfast this morning in order to avoid running into Esme. Not that curiosity wasn’t gnawing at him like a rat on cheese. He wanted to know everything about her—what kind of toys did she like, which vegetables did she hate, did she like to be read to? Or maybe five-year-olds read for themselves—what did he know about such matters? He’d like to discover the answer to that, too. But the voice in his head that had kept him one step ahead of his father’s fists, one dodge away from bullets sprayed by captors of the political hostages he’d been sent to retrieve over the years, whispered warnings to keep his distance.

      He should probably