Wanting (2 page)

He still didn’t understand
why Hellbrook, her team leader, didn’t keep her confined to the
police stations they visited. It was where she belonged, safe
behind her computer screens. And that’s where her strengths were.
Carrie was phenomenal with computers, but she had certification by
Quantico to be in the field, having gone through the Academy with
honors. He’d checked her file the first week he’d been in St.
Louis. He’d been curious about her from the moment he’d first seen
her.

Hellbrook required every
member of his teams to be investigative agents, as well as any
specialist position they may be qualified for. The CCU had former
police investigators, two psychologists, a media specialist, the
top pathologist in the nation, and a former ATF agent. Plus Carrie,
with her computer skills.

She continued speaking. “In
my experience, these kids always leave hints, or trails. They very
rarely keep it entirely to themselves.”

“
Your experience?” How much
experience could this beautiful neophyte agent possibly
have?

“
Yes, in my
experience...Ten years ago, I was one of them.”

Chapter 3

*****

“
I’ve worked with runaways
in the St. Louis area for the last two years. Since I transferred
in.” Carrie looked at him and he was struck by her eyes once again.
This time they were frank and honest. And, as always, beautiful. “I
used to be one. Kansas City, Dallas, Nashville, Houston, Chicago
and other places.”

“
You ran away?” Sebastian
knew his face reflected his surprise.

“
Yes.”

“
How old?” Sebastian
couldn’t imagine it; this woman sleeping in alleys, subsisting off
the radar the way street kids did. “How long?”

“
Fifteen. Three years.
Until I could get my GED and go to college.” Carrie shrugged,
looked away from him. Was she ashamed of her history? She shouldn’t
be. Sebastian wrapped one hand around her much smaller
one.

She looked back at him, and
his breath caught seeing the memories in those eyes. “I did ok, and
was lucky enough to meet Paige less than a week after I ran away.
We stuck together for three years. But so many of these kids aren’t
so lucky.”

Paige. One of the agents
from his team. He’d known Paige and Carrie were friends, but this?
This surprised him. There was nothing in Paige’s personnel files
that indicated she’d been a runaway. And she’d never indicated
anything about it. “So you do what with them now?”

She tried to pull her hand
free but he wouldn’t let her. She didn’t look away. “Help them when
I can. Find them places to sleep. Help those go home who have
places to go home. Help those that don’t realize they have options
they might not know about. I am on the board of two shelters here
in St. Louis.”

“
Who helped you?” He hated
the thought of it, her and Paige as young girls, lost on the city
streets. So vulnerable. Both of them.

“
There wasn’t anyone to
help us. No one we would have trusted.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
I’m not. If I hadn’t ran
away, I wouldn’t have ended up here. With Paige or my team, the FBI
in general. My team would look for me now; I know they would.”
Carrie nodded, sending that red hair swinging. It was down, and
Sebastian decided he preferred it that way. She had the most
beautiful red hair. Like fire.

“
Thank you, Carrie. For
helping me.”

“
I’m not helping you, I’m
helping her.” She pointed at the little girl’s blog as it appeared
on three of her monitors. “If she’s on my streets, Unit Chief
Lorcan, I will find her.”

“
I hope it’s soon,”
Sebastian said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“
You can read. She has two
blogs, and several other social media accounts. Take your pick.”
She motioned to the monitor farthest away from her position and
Sebastian moved the desk chair closer.

They spent the next two
hours going over Ashleigh’s web presence. Sebastian grew even more
frustrated; the entire content was generic, teenaged girl angst
mingled with childish euphoria. Exactly what he’d have expected to
find from a fourteen-year-old girl.

His concentration was
broken by Carrie’s home phone ringing. And ringing, with no
movement from his companion. He looked up at her. “You going to get
that?”

“
No. Anyone who matters
knows to call my cell. I just have the home number because it was
bundled with the internet service.” She didn’t look up from the
screen. Her voice filled the silence as it issued from the voice
mail, followed by the male caller’s.

“
Hey, Carrie, sweetheart. I
know you told me not to call anymore, and I hope you’ve changed
your mind. I know I was an ass. I shouldn’t have just shown up like
that, not without an invitation. How about dinner one day this week
as an apology? No strings, I promise! Call me when you get
this.”

Sebastian watched her as
the message sounded, not missing the stark annoyance that crossed
her face. “Boyfriend?”

“
Not anymore. Never really
was.” Her tone was biting, then she sighed.

“
He giving you problems?”
Sebastian felt his hackles rise at the idea of some unknown male
pressuring Carrie into something she didn’t want.

“
Just showed up one day
last week. Nobody comes here. Nobody. Paige. Just Hell or Georgia
or Dan. And now you, once.” Her tapping was staccato against the
tabletop, the beat showing her agitation and annoyance. “He was not
invited. I don’t like that; I didn’t even give him my address. I’ve
been very careful to avoid that very thing. I don’t want people in
my home. Even the men I date.”

He knew all too well how
vulnerable single women living alone were. And even if her building
had some pretty decent security measures installed, she was still
at risk. Hadn’t he made it all the way to her place on the top
floor nearly unhindered? He’d flashed his ID at one of Carrie’s
neighbors, and the woman had let him right in the building. No
problems. “You feel threatened by this guy?”

“
No. Just
annoyed.”

“
So this has happened
before, someone just showing up here?”

“
Other than you?” He
couldn’t miss the sarcasm this time. “Well, no. Usually just phone
calls. Which are annoying; I don’t like the phone, unless it’s the
team. I like my privacy.” She looked at the screen pointedly. “We
should get back to work. Have you found anything?”

“
Nothing that I think
contains even the vaguest hint of a child on the verge of running
away.”

“
What would trigger it?
Suddenly, I mean?” Carrie asked. “You said she’s caused trouble
before?”

“
Minor things, staying out
past curfew. Slipping grades. Sneaking out to college parties.”
Sebastian repeated what he’d been told by the girl’s mother only
that morning.

“
How long has that behavior
been going on? I’ve not seen anything that even hints at
that.”

“
I’m not sure. Wasn’t in
the police report.” Sebastian watched as she moved to another
computer and typed in a few commands. Within two minutes a copy of
the police report was visible on two of the monitors. Carrie Sparks
was damned good, he’d give her that.

“
Had she been in legal
trouble before?”

“
No. From what I know it’s
just been regular rebellion and petty behavioral issues. Nothing
that half the kids her age don’t do anyway.”

“
What about the home life?
Parents?” she asked.

“
Just her mother. Father
left six years ago. Minimal contact since then, according to her
mother,” Sebastian said.

“
Is there a chance she
went to him?” Carrie asked. A few more commands had the man’s
driver’s license photo on a screen and a variety of information
pertaining to him. Aaron Cavanaugh was forty-four years old and
living four hours away in Louisville, Kentucky. “Has anyone talked
to him?”

“
Not that’s listed. Let’s
go.”

“
Now?” Carrie asked.
“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?”

He didn’t miss the way her
face had paled. “What is it, Carrie?”

“
I don’t like car rides at
night. Especially long ones.” She practically whispered the words,
eyes wide and unconsciously pleading. He wasn’t immune to the
effect. The last woman in the Bureau he was immune to was Carrie
Sparks. “Bad things always happen.”

Sebastian reevaluated, then
looked at the watch on his right arm. “You’re right. It’d be nearly
three a.m. when we got there, anyway. Why don’t we call it for the
night, and leave first thing in the morning?”

“
Ok. I can do that.” She
started closing down the machines one by one, leaving the final one
running. “I’m going to search her IP paths, see if there are any
internet accounts we may have missed. But it will take a few
hours.”

“
I’ll pick you up at 6:30
in the morning. Be ready.”

“
I will.”

Chapter 4

*****

The redhead was waiting on
the curb when he parked his car. She clutched that black leather
computer bag in one hand and had a dark green backpack slung over
her shoulder. She wore jeans, tight and faded, with a navy shirt. A
blue bandana held her hair back from her face. She looked like a
college co-ed and absolutely nothing like the federal agent he knew
her to be. He parked the car and climbed out, crossing to her
hurriedly. “Carrie, why didn’t you wait inside?”

“
Wanted to be ready,” she
said, hand tightening on her computer bag. Sebastian didn’t even
make a move to take it from her. He didn’t want to invade her space
again. He’d given it a lot of thought and he’d decided not to do
anything to make her any more uncomfortable with him than he
already had.

“
It’s not safe standing
out here. It’s still dark out.” Sebastian put one hand casually on
her back, not missing how she stiffened. She did that every time he
touched her, but she relaxed more quickly this time than she had
the last. Sebastian hoped that meant she was getting used to him.
“Come on, let’s get moving.”

She was silent for most of
the trip. Sebastian didn’t protest, just let her have her time. He
stopped once, at a fast food place, before they continued. She
still spoke little. “You’re awfully quiet, anything
wrong?”

“
I don’t like car rides.”
He looked at her in time to catch her shrug.

“
Any particular reason
why?”

“
Seatbelts hurt, curves
make me dizzy. You know I have sensory issues.”

“
And flying?” He asked,
remembering how she’d grasped the seat between them the first time
they’d flown together. He knew how certain things bothered
her—everyone did. Bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, she
avoided all of those things when possible. “Why does it bother
you?”

“
Sometimes, planes crash.”
Carrie looked at him. “I prefer trains, or walking. I also like
running. It relaxes me.”

“
You jog?” He had a sudden
image of her in skimpy shorts, long legs pumping as she ran. It was
a good image, a great image. One he wouldn’t be forgetting any time
soon.

“
No. I run. Just get out on
the track at work, and go. Fast as I can go. I haven’t been able to
run much since South Dakota. I’m not quite finished with physical
therapy yet.”

“
So what do you like about
running?” He avoided talking about what had happened to her in
South Dakota. When they’d first met, she’d still been bruised from
Agent Stephenson’s attack. Sebastian would never forget how
vulnerable and frightened she had appeared. How each bruise visible
on her face and arms had made him angry on her behalf. If
Stephenson hadn’t been caught later that evening Sebastian couldn’t
have promised he wouldn’t have been hunting for Carrie’s attacker
himself.

The older man had suffered
a psychotic break two months earlier. He’d attacked Carrie in the
woods, thrown her over a small cliff. She’d recently had the cast
from the broken leg removed. Stephenson had completely lost it and
kidnapped her teammate Georgia Dennis. Carrie had been so
terrified. The expression that had been on her face when Georgia
had been spotted tied up in the basement on the Division’s security
monitors was one Sebastian would never forget.

Carrie had told Hellbrook
once that Sebastian and Stephenson wore the same cologne. Hellbrook
had passed that information on. Sebastian switched brands the next
day. He’d wanted nothing about himself to remind Carrie of the
older man.

“
The wind, the blood
moving, the freedom,” Carrie told him, fiddling with the small gold
pendant she wore every day. “Feet hitting the pavement, beating
against the stone. It’s beautiful.”

“
Yes, I’m sure it is.”
Sebastian’s voice came out strangled, but he doubted she heard. The
image in his head had kept up with her words, running faster and
faster across his mind. Short, tight shorts, barely-there shirt.
Yes, when she started running again, he’d make a point to go watch.
“Did you find anything else after I left last night?”