Read Online Cold Pursuit (Cold Justice) (Volume 2) by Toni Anderson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Toni Anderson
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A five o’clock shadow darkened his jaw. He shrugged out of the coat and sat on the lounger opposite. Their knees brushed. Vivi jumped.
“How did you know where to find us?”
He slanted her a look. “FBI, remember?”
“But here ,” she insisted, “at the pool?”
“Reception rang your room. When you didn’t answer I decided to search the public areas. Michael’s eight so I figured this was a good place to start.” Agent Brennan nodded toward the viewing window. “I saw you through the window from the lobby. That hair of yours is hard to miss.”
She smoothed it self-consciously, but he wasn’t here to talk about her hair. He held her gaze, those eyes of his so dark brown that she couldn’t tell where pupil met iris. But there was something in his gaze that made her uneasy, some unspoken tension. A shiver of fear moved over her. “What is it?”
He pressed his lips together as if considering what to tell her.
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she warned.
The light in his eyes dimmed. “I’d like to know which guy treated you so badly that your first thought is always that someone is going to lie to you.” He leaned forward. “Right now I’ll tell you why I’m here—which is probably because I’m a paranoid, federal officer who’s seen too much of the bad stuff, and this is probably a massive overreaction on my part.”
She gripped her knees. She’d thought this was over but from the tight cast of Brennan’s mouth she was wrong. “Tell me.”
“Did you see the news on the TV?”
She shook her head.
“They showed a clip of Michael drawing a likeness of some TV reporter from memory?”
“We filmed the piece this morning.” She didn’t understand. “They showed that? Even with everything that happened in the mall today?”
“Yeah.” Brennan nodded. “Then they linked his photographic drawing ability to the fact he was trapped inside that store with those terrorists today.”
The blood leeched from her brain. Oh, God . She turned toward where she’d last seen her son. Stood. Started scanning the pool, searching the slides, but didn’t see any trace of him. Where the hell was her son? Where was Michael?
***
Jed touched Vivi’s arm. “Hey, he’s probably at the top of a slide waiting his turn.” But he couldn’t see the kid and after everything that had happened today he was starting to worry. “Stay here.”
He strode around the poolside. He may as well have told the sun not to shine because Vivi ignored his order and started jogging around the other side of the pool. It was a big area, lots of little alcoves and interlocking slides. He looked around for a lifeguard and noticed three of them bending over a guy wearing a red t-shirt. He jogged over. One of the girls was crying, another was calling for an ambulance.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I found Ray unconscious.”
“Blow the whistle,” Jed ordered. He had a bad feeling about this. When they hesitated, he flashed his badge. “Empty the god damned pool!”
One of the young women blew the whistle about a second before he was about to grab it out of her hands and do it himself. They started getting the kids out. But he still didn’t see Michael. A horrible feeling descended. That he’d messed up. He’d been so busy chatting up the pretty mother he’d forgot to protect the kid. Amateur. Asshole. He spotted a flash of green at the bottom of the pool and his heart stopped. But it was too big to be the body of a kid. Then he realized exactly what he was looking at. He threw off his suit jacket and handed the nearest lifeguard his weapon, toeing off his shoes and socks at the same time. He took a running dive into the water, cold flashing over his skin as he arrowed into the deep end of the pool.
It took an eternity to reach the man holding the little boy beneath the water. Jed punched the man in the head and then grabbed him around the neck and yanked him off Michael. The kid
“How did you know where to find us?”
He slanted her a look. “FBI, remember?”
“But here ,” she insisted, “at the pool?”
“Reception rang your room. When you didn’t answer I decided to search the public areas. Michael’s eight so I figured this was a good place to start.” Agent Brennan nodded toward the viewing window. “I saw you through the window from the lobby. That hair of yours is hard to miss.”
She smoothed it self-consciously, but he wasn’t here to talk about her hair. He held her gaze, those eyes of his so dark brown that she couldn’t tell where pupil met iris. But there was something in his gaze that made her uneasy, some unspoken tension. A shiver of fear moved over her. “What is it?”
He pressed his lips together as if considering what to tell her.
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she warned.
The light in his eyes dimmed. “I’d like to know which guy treated you so badly that your first thought is always that someone is going to lie to you.” He leaned forward. “Right now I’ll tell you why I’m here—which is probably because I’m a paranoid, federal officer who’s seen too much of the bad stuff, and this is probably a massive overreaction on my part.”
She gripped her knees. She’d thought this was over but from the tight cast of Brennan’s mouth she was wrong. “Tell me.”
“Did you see the news on the TV?”
She shook her head.
“They showed a clip of Michael drawing a likeness of some TV reporter from memory?”
“We filmed the piece this morning.” She didn’t understand. “They showed that? Even with everything that happened in the mall today?”
“Yeah.” Brennan nodded. “Then they linked his photographic drawing ability to the fact he was trapped inside that store with those terrorists today.”
The blood leeched from her brain. Oh, God . She turned toward where she’d last seen her son. Stood. Started scanning the pool, searching the slides, but didn’t see any trace of him. Where the hell was her son? Where was Michael?
***
Jed touched Vivi’s arm. “Hey, he’s probably at the top of a slide waiting his turn.” But he couldn’t see the kid and after everything that had happened today he was starting to worry. “Stay here.”
He strode around the poolside. He may as well have told the sun not to shine because Vivi ignored his order and started jogging around the other side of the pool. It was a big area, lots of little alcoves and interlocking slides. He looked around for a lifeguard and noticed three of them bending over a guy wearing a red t-shirt. He jogged over. One of the girls was crying, another was calling for an ambulance.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I found Ray unconscious.”
“Blow the whistle,” Jed ordered. He had a bad feeling about this. When they hesitated, he flashed his badge. “Empty the god damned pool!”
One of the young women blew the whistle about a second before he was about to grab it out of her hands and do it himself. They started getting the kids out. But he still didn’t see Michael. A horrible feeling descended. That he’d messed up. He’d been so busy chatting up the pretty mother he’d forgot to protect the kid. Amateur. Asshole. He spotted a flash of green at the bottom of the pool and his heart stopped. But it was too big to be the body of a kid. Then he realized exactly what he was looking at. He threw off his suit jacket and handed the nearest lifeguard his weapon, toeing off his shoes and socks at the same time. He took a running dive into the water, cold flashing over his skin as he arrowed into the deep end of the pool.
It took an eternity to reach the man holding the little boy beneath the water. Jed punched the man in the head and then grabbed him around the neck and yanked him off Michael. The kid
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