Free Trapped (Private Justice Book #2): A Novel by Irene Hannon Page B

subzero wind and fought his way around the car. She opened her door as he approached, surveying her lawn in dismay.
    “I shoveled the walkway before you came, but now I can’t even tell where it is.”
    “Let’s stick to the driveway.” He took her arm and steadied her as she exited the car. “We know that’s level.”
    They didn’t talk as they plowed through the snow. The fierce wind would only snatch their words away.
    The drifts on her small front porch weren’t too deep, thanks to a sheltering overhang. Once they stepped onto it and sidled past the snow-covered porch swing, a lattice privacy arbor offered a modicum of protection from the storm.
    Laura rummaged through her purse for the key, fitting it in the lock before she turned to him. “Thanks for tonight. And for taking the case.”
    He read the discouragement and worry in her eyes—and in her voice. “We’ll find her, you know.”
    “I know.” Her gaze was steady . . . and trusting. “When I talked to your office manager last night, she said you were the best. After meeting with you earlier today at your office and watching you in action tonight, I know that’s true.”
    Nikki had complimented him to Laura?
    That was a first.
    Assuming she didn’t do something to annoy him first, he might have to buy her one of those Starbucks soy, no-whip lattes she liked. The ones he plied her with whenever the pile of files in the corner of his office began to totter.
    “I don’t know about being the best, but I can promise you we’ll all do everything possible to bring Darcy home safe and sound.”
    A snowflake landed on one of Laura’s absurdly long eyelashes, and she blinked it away as a gust of wind whipped a swirl of crystalline snow toward the porch. More icy flakes settled on her gold-streaked brown hair. In the glow of the light she’d left on beside her front door, they sparkled like diamonds.
    A lady with diamonds in her hair and eyes the color of a summer sky.
    Way too tempting.
    He was out of here.
    Retreating a step toward the driveway, he gestured to the door. “Go on in before we both freeze to death. I’ll be in touch sometime tomorrow. Shall I call you here or on your cell?”
    “I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I doubt the library will be open for a day or two. My home phone is fine.”
    “Okay. I’ll be in touch.” With a brief wave, he bolted for the Explorer.
    Only after he climbed behind the wheel and put the SUV in gear did he look back. Laura had disappeared inside, and a soft, warm, welcoming glow shone behind the shades of her front window.
    Nice.
    Really nice.
    Could he think up some excuse to linger in her cozy bungalow for a while before returning to his dark, empty apartment? Maybe he could ask some more questions about Darcy or . . .
    Get out of here, Devlin.
    Right.
    He jerked his attention back to the road and twisted the key in the ignition. If he wanted to live up to Nikki’s accolade as well as the trust his new client had placed in him, he needed to focus on the job he’d been hired to do.
    Pressing on the gas, he plunged back into the storm and forced himself to think about the task at hand. Competent as he was, the odds of success diminished with each hour that passed. Life on the street was rough—and rougher still if Darcy had picked up with a homeless girl who knew her way around. At the very least, the teen was being exposed to a gritty reality far outside her realm of experience and learning some of life’s harsher lessons.
    He hoped that was the worst thing that happened to her.
    But he wasn’t getting positive vibes about this whole situation—and that was never an encouraging sign.
    Taking the descent at a prudent speed, he slowed as he approached the intersection at the end of Laura’s street and flipped on his blinker. Not that it mattered on this desolate night. Funnyhow force of habit and ingrained training took over when the mind was otherwise occupied. That had happened to him