"There's still Josie and Grace. You family is here."
"They have Kyle. And he might actually appreciate not having Josie's big brother looking over his shoulder."
"He might need you looking over his shoulder."
"I can still do that. And I can still see my sister and my niece. There are plenty of flights to Chicago from all over the world. I've never lived in New York. It might be fun."
"I can't believe you'd move for me," she said in wonder. "I feel selfish."
"No. You're not being selfish; you're being honest. I think it would be difficult for you to be here with Hayley nearby, at least for the foreseeable future. I still hope that will change, because I think you'd both be better off if you were in each other's lives. But everything is fresh and raw and needs time to settle out."
"I can work out of other cities besides New York," she said. "I went there because I had a mentor there, but he died last summer, and while I love my team, I could do something else somewhere else. Maybe we start over someplace new."
"I like the sound of that. We could always go west, find a house by the beach."
"With a view of a beautiful harbor and lots of sailboats," she said.
"When we dreamed that as kids, I always saw you in the picture."
"I saw you, too. I actually saw you on a surfboard."
He grinned. "I have never been on a surfboard."
"You'd look so good on one. I can see you now in a pair of sexy board shorts." She took her hands in his, her expression turning serious. "I do love you, Nathan. I loved you when I was a scared girl and you were my sweet, protective friend. I loved you when I was a reckless, rebellious teenager making stupid decisions and not sure how to handle the weird feelings I sometimes got when I was around you."
"You did not."
"I did. I just didn't realize it. And then I stupidly chose to get involved with a mobster." She gave him a helpless smile. "But I loved you when you helped me get away, when you kept my secret, when you supported my choice." She took a breath, gazing deep into his eyes. "Most importantly, I love you now. I love who I am with you. I love how we are together. It feels so honest. I feel so connected to you. I can't imagine even going back to New York for one day without you."
His heart swelled as he read the absolute truth in her eyes. "I feel the same way. We know each other's hearts. So, let's find a way to be together."
"Okay, let's do it."
"It as in…"
She laughed. "Yes, but maybe not tonight. You should sleep. You're so bruised; you must be in pain."
"The only thing I feel right now is happy. I will sleep later—after I show you how much I love you."
"You already did that a thousand times over today. So, let me show you." She gave him a tender kiss and led him into the bedroom.
Twenty-One
Happiness was pretty simple, Bree thought, as she and Nathan ate breakfast late Monday morning. They'd had a wonderful Sunday—making love, sleeping, talking, and watching a stupidly funny movie at one point, because they just needed to laugh. They didn't talk about anything that had happened, giving themselves a twenty-four-hour hiatus on all dark and serious subjects. But that hiatus was coming to an end.
The call from Nathan's doorman confirmed that Agent Tracy Cox was on her way up.
Bree got to her feet, taking their empty plates to the sink.
"Does it feel like bad news if she's coming here to talk to you?" Nathan asked.
"It doesn't feel like good news. But I guess we'll find out."
Nathan moved down the hall to open the door.
"Sorry to bother you," Tracy said. "But I wanted to touch base before you go back to New York. Or are you going back to New York?" she asked, her speculative gaze encompassing both of them.
Bree smiled at Nathan, then looked back at Tracy. "My long-term plans are up in the air, but I will be heading back to New York in a few days. I just need to catch my breath."
"That's completely understandable."
"So, what have you learned?" she asked.
"We found the woman who was taking care of Hayley. It was Stanley Tix's older sister, Carla. She said her brother rented her a house in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for two weeks and told her he needed her to take care of a little girl who was in trouble. He claimed that Johnny was going to kill the child if Stan didn't hide her away, and that Johnny had already killed the girl's parents. Carla didn't have internet or cable at the house, so she claims she was unaware that the girl she was taking care of had been kidnapped."
"And local newspapers in Wisconsin might not have covered the kidnapping," Bree said. "He was smart to take her out of Illinois."
"Carla is still facing serious charges, but on first glance, it doesn't appear she did anything except take care of Hayley."
"I'm glad there was someone there to do that. What about the girl on the train? Emma and her sister, Tasha? Any word on who they were tied to?"
"Yes. Tasha is an actress. She and her sister, Emma, were standing in line at an open-call audition when a man approached them. He gave them $5000 cash to stay in the shelter for two nights and then hang in a car with him one day. She said they were outside the FBI office and they watched you walk to the train. Emma and her sister followed, Emma talked to you, then went to the café where she met up with Tasha. They left the flyer at the café and the photo in the shelter."
"Such an elaborate scheme," she murmured.
"Very complicated," Tracy agreed. "Not something most people would think of."
"I didn't know Stix was that clever," Nathan put in.
"The girls must have been able to give a description of their contact," Bree suggested.
"Yes, and we have a sketch of him." Tracy reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. "Do you recognize him? He's apparently on the shorter side—five-five, Tasha thought. He's probably late twenties, brown hair, beard, bad skin."
Bree stared at the photo, but the face didn't seem at all familiar. "I don't know this guy."
She glanced at Nathan.
He shook his head. "I don't, either."
"That's too bad," Tracy said. "We don't have anything else to go on. He paid the girls in cash. He didn't tell them his name. They said they were in a gray car, but they didn't know the make or the license plate. The man didn't speak much beyond giving them instructions of what to do."
"I'm sure he was a minor level player," Bree commented, handing Tracy the sketch.
"That would be my guess," Tracy agreed. "We'll pass this on to organized crime. As they go through the members associated with Johnny and/or Stanley Tix, they may be able to identify him."
"I'd sure like to tie him up as a loose end. Stix did tell me that someone fed him the information about Hayley's birth and adoption, and I still don't know who that is."
"Neither do we, but I can tell you this—someone provided Stix with a great deal of information about you, not just about Hayley's birth. We found pages from your FBI file at the house in Wisconsin."
Her jaw dropped in shock. "What?"
"All the details from the investigations you've been conducting since you got to New York, reports and reviews dating back to your training at Quantico. We also found personal handwritten notes that refer to the adoption agency used by the Jansens and the name of a woman—Diane Miller. I'm assuming that's the same Diane you told us about, the one who had set you up in Detroit"
"Her last name was Brady when I knew her."
"They both could be aliases."
"What does this mean?" Nathan interrupted. "Are you saying that Stix had help from someone in the FBI? Who else could get an FBI file?"
"It sure looks that way," Tracy said. "And there's something else. Detective Charles Benedict was found dead of an overdose in his home last night."
Bree had almost thought she'd lost the ability to be shocked, but the hits just kept on coming. "Suicide?"