“What did the doc say about Selena’s injury?”
“The doctor checked her again and gave her instructions about what to watch for, but he thinks the concussion is a mild one.”
“When this is over with, I’m escorting Selena home.” Nicholas stopped in front of Dan. “I want to make sure everything is all right. With her head injury and the fact someone has her keys, I won’t rest well if I don’t see for myself that she’ll be okay and safe at her house.”
“And that’s a great opportunity for you to get closer to her. I can see why you’ve been with her today. I still think she could lead you to her cousin. They’re about the same age. They’re related and friends. The things we do for an investi...” Dan’s voice trailed off into silence, his eyes growing round as he stared behind Nicholas.
He swung around and found Selena glowering at them, her face pale, her hands trembling.
She charged across the office. “I need to get back to work.”
“Wait up.” Nicholas gripped Max’s leash and hurried after her, the sound of Dan’s chuckles irking him.
Selena kept going, her free hand fisted at her side.
Outside the ground-floor entrance, Nicholas caught up with her. “I’m sorry about what Dan said.”
She whirled toward him, fire shooting out of her eyes, her jaw set in a fierce line. “Is it true? You’ve talked to me more in the past couple of months than the whole year before. You can tell your team I don’t know where my cousin is, but Erin is innocent. She could be dead or kidnapped and all you think is she murdered her boyfriend. She cared for Michael and wouldn’t have hurt him. She wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”
He let her storm away because what she’d said had a ring of truth to it. He had started talking to her more because of the case. Although there was no evidence to support that she was helping her cousin, he and other members had to follow all leads. He’d learned in this profession to be distrusting and question everything. At this moment, as Selena vanished in the crowd near the Easter Egg Roll, he regretted that aspect of his job.
* * *
By the end of the event in the early evening, anger still roiled in Selena’s stomach whenever she glimpsed Nicholas in the crowd or thought about him. She liked him—a lot—but overhearing him and Dan talking about her concerning Erin’s disappearance, all the feelings she’d been fighting since her cousin went missing had surged to the foreground.
She’d caught a couple of Dan’s earlier remarks—his voice a little louder than Nicholas’s—before they’d gone in to see Tara Wilkins and then again later. She hated being the topic of conversation and especially the fact that the Capitol K-9 Unit had suspected her of assisting a fugitive—still did. Not that she wasn’t trying to help Erin. She was. But by trying to prove she couldn’t have killed Michael. If Selena could gather evidence her cousin hadn’t shot anyone, then if Erin was alive and in hiding, she could return. But her greatest fear was that Erin wasn’t alive. All she knew—via the Capitol K-9 Unit—was that back in February, an elderly couple in rural Virginia had taken in an injured young woman matching Erin’s description, but she’d left a few days later, her appearance dramatically altered. Weeks later, two thugs had terrorized the couple for information on Erin’s whereabouts. Who were they? The killers? Bounty hunters?
And where was Erin? Reports had come in last month that someone in rural Virginia was using public computers to research bills introduced by Congressman Jeffries. Could that be Erin? If so, what was she looking for?
One angle Selena was following involved a case Michael Jeffries had been very passionate about. Michael had been working pro bono on a murder case for convicted killer Greg Littleton, a man who Michael believed was innocent. Perhaps the real killer wanted Michael off the case permanently and killed him. Maybe the killer had trailed Michael to his father’s house, murdered him there, and when his father, the congressman, appeared, the killer shot him, too.
Lots of maybes and not a lot of answers. Selena hadn’t had the time in the past few weeks to work on anything except the Easter Egg Roll, but she had managed to interview Greg Littleton in prison, convicted of murdering Saul Rather. Michael had been fervently working to prove Littleton was innocent. Those who believed in his guilt weren’t happy about that. As a crusading attorney, Michael had made himself some enemies.
Now that the Easter Egg Roll was over, Selena intended to devote more time to looking into the Littleton case and any others that appeared promising. Someone had killed Michael Jeffries and left his father for dead—and that someone wasn’t Erin Eagleton.
As Selena approached her car in the staff’s underground parking, she discovered Nicholas lounging against her white Ford Mustang with Max sitting next to him. How dare he look so innocent with those big brown eyes and cocky grin. He’d removed his ball cap and stuck it in his back pocket. His thick, dark blond hair was cut short but not military-style. Knowing his Navy SEALs background, that had surprised her when she’d first met him last year.
Her anger began to soften as she took in his casual stance, as though nothing was wrong. She quickly shored it up. She would not be used. Her mother had tried to get back in her big brother’s graces by using Selena. It hadn’t worked. Her uncle had recognized that his sister wasn’t serious about not drinking, that all she needed his money for was to support her while she drowned herself in alcohol, leaving her daughter to fend for herself.
Selena had learned one thing growing up. She was the only one who would look out for herself. She ignored Nicholas as she unlocked her car and tossed her purse on the passenger seat.
“Max, what do you do when you’re in hot water?” Nicholas said to his K-9.
The sound of the dog’s bark echoed through the underground garage.
Selena pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. He was going to charm her. She’d seen him charming the women at the White House, and she wasn’t going to buy into it. She’d watched her mother fall for one man after another, thinking he would take care of her.
But her current man had never stayed around long.
He tapped the side of his head with his palm. “Max, what a brilliant idea. I’ll try that.”
Nicholas sidled along the body of the car until he was half a foot from her right arm. The hairs on it tingled.
“I’m sorry. Nothing I did today had to do with your cousin. I was trying to point out to Dan the error of his suggestion with sarcasm.”
Selena squeezed her eyes closed, her heartbeat accelerating at Nicholas’s nearness. Finally she turned slowly toward him, backing away a step. “Be honest. Have you ever considered I might have been helping Erin stay hidden?”
“Honestly—yes. I’m not going to lie to you. My team has looked into all the possibilities while searching for Erin, so being a friend and a family member, you would obviously be on that list. And if I was perfectly honest, at first that is why I initiated several conversations with you lately.”
She tensed, flexing her hands. “I knew it. At least I appreciate your honesty. Now I need to leave. I’m tired, and I pray I don’t fall asleep driving home.”
“Then let me drive you to your house.”
“I was trying to point out the extent of my exhaustion with exaggeration. I’m perfectly fine to drive myself. I’m not going to fall asleep at the wheel. In fact, with all that has been going on today, it may take hours for me to go to sleep.”
He chuckled. “I know that feeling. My body is exhausted but my mind is racing a mile a minute.”
She had to fight the urge to respond to his charm. Life lessons from her childhood taunted her. She would never be like her mother, depending on others, depending on alcohol to make it through the day. “This is not