Free Colorado Bodyguard by Cindi Myers

now. She nodded. “All right. And you’ll let me know if you find out anything at all?”
    He nodded. “I’ll stop by this evening.” He handed the tracking device to Carmen, then took Sophie’s arm and guided her back to the driver’s side of the car. “I know this is hard,” he said. “But try to stay strong, for Lauren’s sake. This is a priority now. We’ll do everything we can to find her.”
    â€œYou believe me, don’t you?” She studied his face, searching for confirmation that he was on her side. “You believe that I smelled Lauren’s perfume and I recognized her handwriting?”
    â€œI believe you.”
    â€œYou’re not just saying it to be nice?”
    â€œI work with a dog who can recognize the faintest scents—ones the human nose can’t detect. Why wouldn’t you recognize a perfume your sister wore all the time? Scent is one of the most powerful senses, and even though we don’t have the ability of dogs, we associate certain smells with specific people and situations.”
    â€œAre you comparing me to a dog?” She managed a smile to show she wasn’t insulted.
    â€œHey, I meant it as a compliment. I think a lot of my dog.”
    â€œI’ll remember that.” Though dogs frightened her, she wished she had someone she could feel as close to right now.
    â€œHang in there.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll see you this evening. Maybe we can go to dinner. It will do you good to get out of the hotel for a while.”
    â€œAll right. See you then.” She slid into the driver’s seat and fit the key into the ignition. She’d do as he suggested and focus on staying strong, for Lauren’s sake. But she’d never imagined how hard that would be. Today had been like losing her sister all over again.
    * * *
    â€œW HAT   IF   WE ’ RE looking in the wrong direction, and Prentice doesn’t have anything to do with Lauren Starling’s disappearance?” Marco Cruz, his expression unreadable behind his dark sunglasses, asked the question as he and Rand and Lotte headed to the Country Inn that afternoon.
    â€œAnything’s possible,” Rand said. “Maybe it’s an incredible coincidence that everything appears to point back to him.”
    â€œPrentice knew Lauren,” Marco said. “Maybe she even came here to see him. But I don’t see any motivation for him to kidnap her.”
    â€œMaybe she found out something about his operation that he didn’t want getting out.”
    â€œIn that case, I think he’d kill her. Why keep her around for a month?”
    â€œI don’t know, but I hope Sophie’s right and Lauren really did write that letter. Wherever she is, I hope she’s still alive.”
    â€œAfter all she’s been through, the woman deserves a break,” Marco said.
    â€œYeah. She dropped everything to come down here and look for her sister—not many people would do that.”
    â€œI was talking about Lauren, but yeah, I can see it’s been hard on Sophie, too.”
    Rand hoped Sophie was able to get some rest at her hotel this afternoon, though he doubted it. She clearly felt responsible for her sister, almost the way a mother might feel about a child. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” he asked.
    â€œI’ve got six sisters.” Marco folded his arms over his chest. “I’m the youngest.”
    Rand started to make a joke about the baby of the family, but nothing about the muscular, six-foot, ex–Special Forces DEA agent said “baby.” “Do they all still try to look after you?” he asked.
    â€œThey do. When I was still in California they were always up in my business, telling me what to do, what to eat, what to wear, who to date. I told them I had one mother, I didn’t need six more, but they don’t listen.”
    â€œI guess