"You might need to look into him now."
"I really don't think he's part of this. This kidnapper has been operating out of the Northeast. Johnny is in Chicago."
"He could have expanded his operations. You don't know."
"My gut says he's not involved."
"Well, forgive me if I don’t completely trust your gut where Johnny is concerned."
"I guess I can't blame you for that. But for now, I'm going to assume he's not involved. And whether or not that girl on the train is my daughter, I am going to find her. Now, I better get back to the office."
"Will you call me if you get a lead on the girl?"
"I thought you wanted me to stay out of your life."
"Well, that doesn't seem to be working, does it?"
"I didn't know who else to go to."
"I'm glad you came here. And now I'm intensely curious as to what's going on." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Put in your number."
She punched it in and then sent herself a text, so she'd have his number as well. "I'll let you know if I find out anything," she said.
She'd barely finished speaking when his phone rang. He saw Adrienne's name flash across his screen as Bree handed him back the phone.
"You can take that if you want," she said. "I'm going to go."
"It's fine." He silenced the call and put the phone back in his pocket. "I'll walk you down."
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he took her hard hat and then walked her out to the sidewalk.
"I'm going to call for a car," she said. "I think I'll stay off trains for a while." She glanced down at her phone. "There's one only five minutes away."
"I'll wait with you."
A minute of silence followed his comment, and then she said, "Is Adrienne your girlfriend?"
"We've gone out for a few weeks; I wouldn't call her a girlfriend."
"Still noncommittal when it comes to relationships?"
"I've never liked labels."
"That's true. Have you ever come close to getting married?"
"Nope. I've been busy building my company. What about you?"
"There was someone in my life a few years back, but he died."
He thought about her words. "Was that guy at Quantico with you? The other person who knew your secret?"
"Yes. His name was Jamie Rowland. He was a military man turned FBI agent, and we clicked for a while. I don't know if it was a forever kind of thing; I certainly wasn't looking for that, and he wasn't, either. But he was funny and generous and just a really good person. His death was a tragedy. It happened during a training exercise. I almost quit after that. But I knew Jamie would have wanted me to keep going, so I did."
He found himself feeling a little jealous of this unknown man. At least when she'd been with Johnny, he'd had someone to hate for a lot of reasons, but this military hero and justice fighter seemed to have had a lot of things going for him.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"I only knew him a few weeks, but he made an impact on my life. He encouraged me to turn my painful secret into something positive. That's why I decided to get involved in finding missing kids. I know my child isn't missing, and I gave her up by choice, but I do know what it's like to lose a piece of yourself. And if I can help some other family get whole again, I will."
"I'm sure you do a lot of good. I'm sorry I was an asshole when you first showed up at Josie's house. You threw me," he said candidly.
"I was shaken, too. I was not expecting to see your face. I honestly had no idea that Grace's mother was Josie. I just had Grace's name. I don't even think I saw the names of her parents. But then everything was happening really fast. I got a call at six a.m. yesterday to get on a plane and come to Chicago. It's been a lightning blur since then."
"When did you first hear from the kidnapper?"
"Actually, I got that call right before my boss got in touch with me about Hayley's disappearance."
"That's interesting. The kidnapper knew they were going to call you in."
"Sometimes, I think this whole case is about me and my past. And that's why he picked Chicago and moved out of the Northeast. He wanted me in his game, and this is where he could make me the most vulnerable. But I'm not going to let him win. I'm going to find Hayley and this girl on the train, and I will make sure this kidnapper ends up in jail for the rest of his life."
"I believe you."
She checked her phone and groaned. "Now it says five more minutes."
"There's a lot of traffic this time of day. That's why the trains are usually faster." As he spoke, he glanced around the neighborhood, wondering if someone was watching her even now.
She followed his gaze. "I didn't see a tail," she said. "I watched on the way over here."
And he didn't see anyone sitting in a car or hanging out in the doorway of a building, but he had to admit he felt decidedly tense.
"So, what does Adrienne do?" Bree asked.
"She's an event planner."
"That sounds fun."
"She seems to like it." Standing next to Bree, he could barely remember what Adrienne looked like. How was that possible? Two days ago, he'd been thinking she might be someone he could think of as a girlfriend. Now, she seemed like a very pale comparison to Bree and all her fiery passion. Of course, that passion also came with a lot of problems. Bree was drama and pain. Adrienne was light and fun.
Hadn't he had enough darkness in his life?
"Have you told Adrienne about your childhood, your stepfather?" she asked.
"Why would I? It's not important to our relationship. And we're definitely not to the point where we're sharing secrets. Hell, I haven't even told her I don't like Brussels sprouts."
Bree raised an eyebrow. "You don't like Brussels sprouts?"
"No. I don't care if they're roasted or steamed or covered in garlic and cheese. I just don't like 'em."
"That sounds very definitive," she said with a light smile. "Why haven't you told her that?"
"Because she loves Brussels sprouts—all vegetables, in fact. She is passionate about her health. And it seems too soon to confess such a dark secret."
"How are you going to have an honest relationship, if you can't come clean about a vegetable?"
"Honesty is overrated."
"I don't agree with that."
"Really? You think telling people what they don't want to hear makes them like you more?"
"I wouldn't say that, but maybe Adrienne needs to date a guy who shares her love of Brussels sprouts."
"So, I'm depriving her of the opportunity to find her perfect vegetable match? I guess I need to break up with her."
"Or come clean. How long have you been dating?"
"Two months."
"That's a fair amount of time."
"Is it?"
"What is she like?"
"Why are you so interested?"
"Because I just am. You used to date a lot of blondes. You had a new girl every week in high school."
"Well, I always heard blondes had more fun, and I was a teenage boy."
"Do you ever think about getting married?"
"Whoa, you are getting way ahead of yourself."
"You're not getting any younger, Nathan. You're thirty years old."
"That's not that old. I'm busy with my career. What's your excuse?"
"I'm busy, too. I'm always on the go. I get called out of town on a moment's notice. Not many guys appreciate that." She paused as a silver Prius came down the street. "There's my car."
He felt both relieved and unhappy that it was time for her to go.
She gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks again for talking me off the ledge, Nathan. I feel better now."
She might feel better, but he felt very conflicted.
He didn't know what to make of the mysterious girl on the train, but one thing was clear. Bree was in trouble.
Was he going to go back to his old ways and try to protect her, rescue her? Or was he going to walk away and let her take care of herself?
She was more than capable of doing that. He just had to let her.
Yeah…it wasn't really a question…
*