“What
if I can find a clue or something?”
It went against her better judgement. Getting involved
in an open FBI investigation was the last thing she needed if she wanted to
remain unseen in Goosemont, but it didn’t seem to matter as much with Courtney
missing. All that mattered was getting her friend back.
Before she could finish her own internal debate over
whether her idea was a wise one, the agent cut off her train of thought. “Do
not,” he said, his voice so stern that he almost sounded like an angry teacher,
“even think about doing something that stupid. You have no idea if this man is
really behind your friend’s disappearance and what he might be capable of.”
“I can handle myself,” Dawn said, turning indignant.
Now that she was finally free, the idea of someone else telling her how to live
her life sent spikes of resentment coursing through her.
“No, you can’t,” Agent Nash said, cutting off her
indignant attitude with only a few words. “You have no idea what might be
lurking outside of town, and if you go looking for danger, I guarantee it will
find you. I can’t have another pretty young woman go missing.”
“Excuse me?” Dawn balked at that. Sure, patrons at the
bar called her pretty. They often slurred it after slapping her ass. But having
an actual FBI agent say something so unprofessional, yet weirdly flattering,
cut the last of her protests to ribbons.
“You heard me,” the agent said, though there was
something uncomfortable settling in the room. “Though I’ve wondered why you
wear colored contacts. The dyed hair I can get behind, but who in this hick
town are you trying to impress with the contacts?”
The discomfort turned to panic in Dawn’s chest. No
one, not once, had called her out on her contacts before. The hair was bound to
get noticed, but the contacts were subtle. So easily did they change her brown
eyes to a shade somewhere between hazel and green. Even she had trouble telling
they weren’t real.
“It’s aesthetic,” she finally stumbled on as she tried
to decide what to tell the agent. “I thought it would be exciting to have a bit
of a change.”
“Don’t be afraid to show their real color,” Agent Nash
said as his eyes locked on hers. “I’m sure the real you is plenty exciting.”
“Only so long as I don’t go trying to find my friend,
right?” she shot back at him. His compliments were making her fidget in her
seat and she didn’t know how to accept them, so instead she went with defiance.
“You know as well as I do that it’s a bad idea,” Agent
Nash reminded her. “Please, just stay in town. Hopefully we’ll get lucky and
she just took off for the day and will call you soon enough.”
“I doubt it,” Dawn sighed. “I just... God, I shouldn’t
have let her go off with that guy.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Agent Nash told her. “You
had no way of knowing this would happen.”
“I guess,” was all Dawn could say. She was exhausted
from worry, the beer wasn’t even touching the panic still roiling in her belly,
and she blamed herself for what happened to her friend. All she wanted was to
rewind the world by twenty-four hours and stop Courtney from leaving with that
stupid guy.
It was him, it had to be, yet no one seemed to
understand that.
“Here,” Agent Nash said as he fished a card out of his
pocket and handed it to her. The paper it was printed on was thin and flimsy,
and it was creased from being in his pocket. There was a slightly blurred FBI
insignia on it with his name and a number, nothing more.
“What’s this for?” Dawn asked as she eyed the
cheap-looking card.
“If you hear anything, anything at all,” Agent Nash
said as he pushed himself up from Jim’s desk, “I want you to call me. That’s my
direct number, and it’s always on.”
“Thanks,” Dawn said as she ran her thumb over the thin
embossing of the letters. “Listen, do you, uh, think I’m nuts for insisting
it’s
if I can find a clue or something?”
It went against her better judgement. Getting involved
in an open FBI investigation was the last thing she needed if she wanted to
remain unseen in Goosemont, but it didn’t seem to matter as much with Courtney
missing. All that mattered was getting her friend back.
Before she could finish her own internal debate over
whether her idea was a wise one, the agent cut off her train of thought. “Do
not,” he said, his voice so stern that he almost sounded like an angry teacher,
“even think about doing something that stupid. You have no idea if this man is
really behind your friend’s disappearance and what he might be capable of.”
“I can handle myself,” Dawn said, turning indignant.
Now that she was finally free, the idea of someone else telling her how to live
her life sent spikes of resentment coursing through her.
“No, you can’t,” Agent Nash said, cutting off her
indignant attitude with only a few words. “You have no idea what might be
lurking outside of town, and if you go looking for danger, I guarantee it will
find you. I can’t have another pretty young woman go missing.”
“Excuse me?” Dawn balked at that. Sure, patrons at the
bar called her pretty. They often slurred it after slapping her ass. But having
an actual FBI agent say something so unprofessional, yet weirdly flattering,
cut the last of her protests to ribbons.
“You heard me,” the agent said, though there was
something uncomfortable settling in the room. “Though I’ve wondered why you
wear colored contacts. The dyed hair I can get behind, but who in this hick
town are you trying to impress with the contacts?”
The discomfort turned to panic in Dawn’s chest. No
one, not once, had called her out on her contacts before. The hair was bound to
get noticed, but the contacts were subtle. So easily did they change her brown
eyes to a shade somewhere between hazel and green. Even she had trouble telling
they weren’t real.
“It’s aesthetic,” she finally stumbled on as she tried
to decide what to tell the agent. “I thought it would be exciting to have a bit
of a change.”
“Don’t be afraid to show their real color,” Agent Nash
said as his eyes locked on hers. “I’m sure the real you is plenty exciting.”
“Only so long as I don’t go trying to find my friend,
right?” she shot back at him. His compliments were making her fidget in her
seat and she didn’t know how to accept them, so instead she went with defiance.
“You know as well as I do that it’s a bad idea,” Agent
Nash reminded her. “Please, just stay in town. Hopefully we’ll get lucky and
she just took off for the day and will call you soon enough.”
“I doubt it,” Dawn sighed. “I just... God, I shouldn’t
have let her go off with that guy.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Agent Nash told her. “You
had no way of knowing this would happen.”
“I guess,” was all Dawn could say. She was exhausted
from worry, the beer wasn’t even touching the panic still roiling in her belly,
and she blamed herself for what happened to her friend. All she wanted was to
rewind the world by twenty-four hours and stop Courtney from leaving with that
stupid guy.
It was him, it had to be, yet no one seemed to
understand that.
“Here,” Agent Nash said as he fished a card out of his
pocket and handed it to her. The paper it was printed on was thin and flimsy,
and it was creased from being in his pocket. There was a slightly blurred FBI
insignia on it with his name and a number, nothing more.
“What’s this for?” Dawn asked as she eyed the
cheap-looking card.
“If you hear anything, anything at all,” Agent Nash
said as he pushed himself up from Jim’s desk, “I want you to call me. That’s my
direct number, and it’s always on.”
“Thanks,” Dawn said as she ran her thumb over the thin
embossing of the letters. “Listen, do you, uh, think I’m nuts for insisting
it’s
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