Mosley?”
“You have reasonable cause,” Agent Nash said. “But we
need more than that. Go home, get some sleep, and if you think of anything,
call me.”
“Okay.” Dawn nodded as she rose from the old chair.
She had to leave the closet of an office to make room for the agent to leave,
but once they got back out into the bar, she saw Gabe and the agents were
having it out.
“You can’t just interrogate us with no reason,” he was
telling the senior agent. “She’s been in there for twenty minutes!”
“It’s not an interrogation,” Agent Hart was insisted.
“It’s just to talk.”
“Bullshit!” Gabe argued. “If you want to question us,
I need a warrant, or an arrest, or something!”
“Gabe,” Dawn tried to cut in to stop the argument, but
it was no use. The agents and her coworker were too involved in their pissing
contest to notice her pleas for peace.
From beside her, a sharp whistle broke through the
ever-escalating argument and silenced everyone in the room.
“Hey!” Agent Nash bellowed once he took his fingers
from between his lips. “That’s enough!”
“Please,” Dawn tried again once everyone was looking
at them. “Everything’s fine, I swear. He didn’t interrogate me or anything. We
just talked.”
“You sure?” Jim asked as his eyes narrowed at Agent
Nash.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she insisted. “So stop arguing, please.”
“It’s getting late,” the senior agent said as he
shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We should start seeing if
anyone else saw anything before people start going to bed.”
“Good,” Gabe said, but a look from Jim shut him up.
The agents made their way to the door as they offered
weak promises of letting the staff know if they heard anything. Dawn knew it
was a half-hearted lie, but she appreciated it anyway. The only one who seemed
genuine was Agent Nash, but there was just something about him that made Dawn
look twice. He wasn’t like any other cop she’d ever known, and that wasn’t
necessarily a bad thing.
“God, I wish they spent more time looking for the poor
girl instead of flapping their gums at us,” Jim sighed as he collapsed into a
chair.
“You okay?” Gabe asked Dawn as he grabbed her a refill
of her beer. “Was that cop telling the truth?”
“He’s FBI,” she corrected him. “But yeah, no lies. We
just talked. He helped talk me off the ledge, so to speak. He’s... he’s okay.”
“Well, I hope he’s as good as he seems to think he
is,” Jim said. “Because those other two are useless sons of bitches.”
“I hope so too,” Dawn nodded as she let the memory of
how Agent Nash looked at her wash over her. He saw her, he really did, and that
scared and excited her. No one else in the rinky-dink town seemed to really see
her except for him.
As she sipped her beer, her mind started to move into
more forbidden territory. For a flash, she was thinking about the agent’s lips
on her own, about his rough hands moving over her body, and pulling her close.
Then, as quickly as the fantasy had begun, she shook it from her mind. Courtney
was missing. This was no time for her to be fantasizing about being intimate
with an FBI agent.
“I’m going to get back to work,” Dawn said as she set
down her beer.
“There’s no one here,” Jim insisted. “The feds closed
the bar.”
Dawn didn’t hear him though. She wasn’t letting
herself think at all. Thinking was too painful, and she let herself slip into that
secret place where she used to hide so many years ago.
Chapter
Six
Dawn’s mind was on autopilot as she tidied up the
empty bar. She washed and put away the few mugs that had been used, cleaned the
beer taps for the night, shut the oven off, and mopped the floors. Still, Dawn
continued to tidy until Jim’s hand on her shoulder broke the spell.
“Go home, sweetie,” he told her. “That floor isn’t
getting any cleaner.”
She hadn’t realized it until then, but when she
glanced up at
“You have reasonable cause,” Agent Nash said. “But we
need more than that. Go home, get some sleep, and if you think of anything,
call me.”
“Okay.” Dawn nodded as she rose from the old chair.
She had to leave the closet of an office to make room for the agent to leave,
but once they got back out into the bar, she saw Gabe and the agents were
having it out.
“You can’t just interrogate us with no reason,” he was
telling the senior agent. “She’s been in there for twenty minutes!”
“It’s not an interrogation,” Agent Hart was insisted.
“It’s just to talk.”
“Bullshit!” Gabe argued. “If you want to question us,
I need a warrant, or an arrest, or something!”
“Gabe,” Dawn tried to cut in to stop the argument, but
it was no use. The agents and her coworker were too involved in their pissing
contest to notice her pleas for peace.
From beside her, a sharp whistle broke through the
ever-escalating argument and silenced everyone in the room.
“Hey!” Agent Nash bellowed once he took his fingers
from between his lips. “That’s enough!”
“Please,” Dawn tried again once everyone was looking
at them. “Everything’s fine, I swear. He didn’t interrogate me or anything. We
just talked.”
“You sure?” Jim asked as his eyes narrowed at Agent
Nash.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she insisted. “So stop arguing, please.”
“It’s getting late,” the senior agent said as he
shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We should start seeing if
anyone else saw anything before people start going to bed.”
“Good,” Gabe said, but a look from Jim shut him up.
The agents made their way to the door as they offered
weak promises of letting the staff know if they heard anything. Dawn knew it
was a half-hearted lie, but she appreciated it anyway. The only one who seemed
genuine was Agent Nash, but there was just something about him that made Dawn
look twice. He wasn’t like any other cop she’d ever known, and that wasn’t
necessarily a bad thing.
“God, I wish they spent more time looking for the poor
girl instead of flapping their gums at us,” Jim sighed as he collapsed into a
chair.
“You okay?” Gabe asked Dawn as he grabbed her a refill
of her beer. “Was that cop telling the truth?”
“He’s FBI,” she corrected him. “But yeah, no lies. We
just talked. He helped talk me off the ledge, so to speak. He’s... he’s okay.”
“Well, I hope he’s as good as he seems to think he
is,” Jim said. “Because those other two are useless sons of bitches.”
“I hope so too,” Dawn nodded as she let the memory of
how Agent Nash looked at her wash over her. He saw her, he really did, and that
scared and excited her. No one else in the rinky-dink town seemed to really see
her except for him.
As she sipped her beer, her mind started to move into
more forbidden territory. For a flash, she was thinking about the agent’s lips
on her own, about his rough hands moving over her body, and pulling her close.
Then, as quickly as the fantasy had begun, she shook it from her mind. Courtney
was missing. This was no time for her to be fantasizing about being intimate
with an FBI agent.
“I’m going to get back to work,” Dawn said as she set
down her beer.
“There’s no one here,” Jim insisted. “The feds closed
the bar.”
Dawn didn’t hear him though. She wasn’t letting
herself think at all. Thinking was too painful, and she let herself slip into that
secret place where she used to hide so many years ago.
Chapter
Six
Dawn’s mind was on autopilot as she tidied up the
empty bar. She washed and put away the few mugs that had been used, cleaned the
beer taps for the night, shut the oven off, and mopped the floors. Still, Dawn
continued to tidy until Jim’s hand on her shoulder broke the spell.
“Go home, sweetie,” he told her. “That floor isn’t
getting any cleaner.”
She hadn’t realized it until then, but when she
glanced up at
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