"I'll meet you in front of the building."
"Stay inside until I get there. I'll text you." Getting up, he took a ten out of his wallet and put it on the bar. "I'll see you soon, Alan."
"That's way too much."
"It's cheap for the therapy session you just gave me."
Alan laughed. "Good luck."
"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it."
Seven
Despite Nathan's suggestion that she stay in the office until he arrived, Bree packed up her things and walked quickly to the elevator.
The Chicago team was even less happy with her now than they had been earlier. When she'd returned to the office, she'd had a rather heated discussion with both Tracy and the ASAIC. They didn't like that the kidnapper had called her or that she'd gone down to Park Station on her own. They were happy that she'd recorded the call, but that analysis was still going ongoing and the trace had led to a café that was miles away from Park Station. No phone had been found dumped in the trash or anywhere else in the café. So, once again the kidnapper had played his hand very well.
One thing she had omitted from her story was what had happened on the train with the little girl. When she'd requested access to security cameras around the train station, everyone had assumed she was looking for Hayley. And, of course, she had looked for Hayley, but she had also looked for the brown-haired, green-eyed girl in the ragged gray sweatshirt and ripped jeans.
Maybe it was wrong not to have come completely clean with them, but she hadn't been able to summon the will to confess her personal secret to people she barely knew. Plus, she had as much experience, if not more, than anyone on the Chicago team, and the second she thought her secret would save Hayley's life, she would tell it, but right now she needed to play things out on her own and try to find the girl on the train. If she could get to her, she would be one step closer to the kidnapper.
When she got downstairs, she waited in the lobby for Nathan, her thoughts turning to the man who had played such a pivotal role in her life at various times. She probably shouldn't have gone to him this afternoon, but he had seemed the perfect person to turn to.
It wasn't just that he knew about the baby; it was because he knew her—the real her, the person that no one else knew.
And it had felt so damn good to lean on him. Even now, she could feel his arms around her, and the memory made her nerves tingle. She and Nathan had had odd moments of attraction over the years, but they'd never acted on them. They certainly couldn't act on them now.
She really shouldn't have called him. She was pulling him into a dangerous situation.
Was that fair? Hadn't she already put him through hell once before when Johnny had almost killed him because of her?
But it was too late now. She could see his truck pulling up in the loading zone, and her phone buzzed with his text. She typed in a quick ok and headed out the door.
When she hopped into the truck, she gave him a nervous smile, and felt another jolt of attraction as his brown-eyed gaze met hers. This was not good.
She looked away and fumbled with her seat belt, reminding herself that she needed to focus on finding the girl and nothing else.
"Are you okay?" Nathan asked her.
She forced a neutral expression onto her face. "I'm fine."
"Did you tell the other FBI agents about your experience?"
"I shared the call with them, but not the rest. I will tell my secret if it will help Hayley."
"I know you will," he said evenly.
"You do?" she asked with a bit of surprise. "You haven't always liked my decisions."
"That's true, but I'm okay with this one. I know you won't jeopardize Hayley's life for any reason, not even to protect your secret."
"Thank you. The one good thing about this sick game is that I'm pretty certain Hayley is alive, and that gives us a chance to find her."
"I hope you're right. What's the name of the café we're going to?"
"It's called the Hummingbird Café. I looked it up, and it's open til nine; they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's owned by Viola and Jonas Montclair, a middle-aged, African-American couple, who opened the restaurant five years ago."
"You did your research. Is that important to know?"
"I have no idea. But I'm trying to find a way to get ahead. Since the girl went into the café and never left, she's either still there or there's a back door."
"If that's the case, she could have gone through the place in two minutes, and it's possible no one saw her."
"That would be depressing, but I'm hoping that's not the case. The girl was no more than ten or eleven, and she was alone, so I'm thinking she lives nearby, knows the area. She walked with confidence."
"Interesting that you said earlier that she spoke with purpose and now you say she walked with confidence. It doesn't really sound like she's scared or in trouble."
"No, it doesn't, but maybe she's too young to know she's being used."
"True." He paused. "By the way, I saw Alan Craig earlier. Do you remember him?"
"I do, but I thought you said you didn't see anyone from our past."
"Actually, I do see Alan now; I ran into him last year after not having seen him since we were teenagers. He runs a bar in River North. He named it Craig's after the one his grandfather used to run in the old neighborhood. He has a girlfriend he lives with. Beth is a sweetheart."
"You were good friends with Alan. How come you let that end?"
"Because once Johnny beat the crap out of me, I didn't want to hang out with anyone who might get hurt in my wake. Alan knew what had happened to me. I actually stayed at his house for a night before I was able to get Josie and move out of that neighborhood."
As Nathan was telling the story, she sensed there was a reason behind it that she wasn't going to like. "Where are you going with this?" she asked, pretty sure she knew.
Nathan gave her a quick look. "I wanted to find out if Alan knew anything about Johnny's current activities. I know he has a few friends who still live in the neighborhood."
"Did you tell him why you were asking about Johnny?"
"Not really."
She didn't like his answer. "You told him I was in town, didn't you?"
"I told him you were looking for the missing girl."
"And then you asked about Johnny. Dammit, Nathan, he's going to start putting things together. You said he knew you got beat up. Did he know why?"
"No. I told you I didn't tell anyone. He did say earlier tonight that he figured it had something to do with you, because you disappeared, and Johnny was going crazy trying to find you."
She shook her head. "I wish you hadn't brought him into this."
"He's not into anything, and aren't you a little curious as to what he said?"
She really didn't want to be, but if it could help the case… "Fine. What did he say?"
"Johnny has taken over for his dad. He's grown the family business of criminal activities. He's very powerful now."
"Awesome."
"He's with Sierra Littman."
"Well, things really haven't changed all that much, have they? She was always trying to get Johnny's attention. Are they married? Do they have kids?"
"I think they're just living together. But Alan said there are a lot of kids around. Could be Johnny's or they could belong to his brothers."
"Johnny always talked about having sons, carrying on the family legacy. I tried to tell him that he could be better than his family. I thought there was more good in him than there was in his brothers. He used to say I was crazy; there was nothing better than power, and that's what his family had."