Page 14 of Lost and Found

He grumbled and tipped his head back. Staring daggers at the office ceiling wouldn’t help, but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt. Some days Vivian rocked. Today wasn’t one of those days. “You should have told me the cold case was her sister.”

“You wouldn’t have gone up there if you had a heads-up.”

“Bullshit. And you know I wouldn’t say no to anyone who has gone through what I did.”

Vivian let him stew in aggravation for an uncomfortably long moment. “I think you should help her.”

“I am.” He wasn’t happy about it. Now that he wasn’t staring at the door and there was more distance between them, it became clearer. “But only because it’s her sister.” And not because he’d inexplicably wanted to grab onto Bailey Cosgrove’s ass. “You used my past to get what you wanted.”

“She contacted us. She asked for you. End of story.”

That jolted through him. Of all the people, he was her guy. Wes liked it. And hated it. And didn’t know how to ignore it.

“Are you really going to see this through?” Viv demanded. “If not, I’ll send up Decker to take Bailey off your hands.”

Decker Shaw wasn’t getting anywhere near Bailey Cosgrove. “Since when do I not see my assignments through?”

“How about that time you were shot?”

“Hardy-har, Viv. Give me a break. You know I’m good for whatever you tell me to do.”

“I did know that. Until I asked you to work with Bailey Cosgrove. Now I don’t know what I don’t know.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m catching up to speed on the cold case now.”

“Good.”

“If you send me her phone number, I’ll take care of everything she needs.”

“Even better. I’ll send you her phone number, address, and email now. Don’t screw this up.”

He wouldn’t.

But when Bailey’s information showed up on his cell phone, Wes knew himself well enough not to reach out tonight. Bailey Cosgrove, the woman he’d blamed for his life imploding years ago, was hot as fuck, feisty as ever, and furious that he wasn’t listening to her assumptions. God, he liked that about her.

Which meant he wasn’t calling her tonight. He needed to get a grip—and besides, he had nothing to share yet, since he’d done nothing but think about Bailey after she slammed the door.

Chapter Four

After a night sifting through boxes, Wes woke up with a crick in his neck and a single person of interest. Nothing he’d read removed Ryan Cosgrove from Wes’s short list. Bailey wouldn’t like it, but liking anything Wes had to say wasn’t part of the job description. Not that he planned to start their day off with accusations.

He’d also woken up with the same-but-different person-of-interest problem as yesterday afternoon. Not Ryan Cosgrove as a suspect, but Bailey as the star of his dream last night. Fuck. He was hard as steel, and jerking off to her had to be some sacrilege. Wes didn’t have time for this, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to get himself off to her.

Not doing so was killing him.

Wes hit the hotel gym, and only when he was completely depleted did he drag himself back to his hotel room to shower and start his day.

He ordered room service and powered up his laptop, planning to dig more into Ryan. Work was the only thing that Wes needed to do. If that didn’t refocus his attention, he’d work harder, smarter, longer. He’d work until he couldn’t stay awake. Until he wouldn’t notice a beautiful woman walked into a room, even if she were naked and crawling to him on her knees.

Unless that woman was Bailey.

Fuck.

Wes glared at himself in the mirror. “Get to work.”

He worked, but a half hour later, Wes had coffee, pancakes, and not much else. Ryan had no criminal history. No suspicions lingered around his memory, and Bailey was correct: Ryan didn’t fit well into his family.

Why did Bailey still visit Angus and Kimbra? Six years was a long time to remain in contact with a dead partner’s parents, especially if she disliked them. Maybe they controlled any inheritance Bailey received from Ryan, or maybe they had a financial stake in her podcast company. She could always like them more than she let on, though everything he knew of the Cosgroves sucked. He had no answers and would dig more into that later.