Knowing she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, Craig rose, and taking her hand, led her out to the couch. He sat and pulled her into the vee of his legs and turned the television on. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her, rubbing his hands over her body, trying to calm her.
Rachel leaned back against him, trying to relax, but her mind was going a hundred miles a minute. They had to find Tina. What was Mike Hawkins doing at Tina’s office? Was it all a coincidence? How could it be? She knew the man had seen her there. If she recognized him, he had to have seen her. What was his reasoning for being there? On and on she went, the thoughts r
unning rampant in her head.
Minutes passed like hours. Why did it have to be the middle of the night and why was no one calling them back? Looking at Craig, she asked, “Did you text or call Evan?”
“Honey, it’s the middle of the night. I sent him a text. He’ll start working on finding Tina as soon as he gets the message.”
“Oh, I…okay,” she answered disappointedly. She knew that they couldn’t wake everybody up, but she hated waiting. “Do you think he’ll check his messages if he gets up with the baby?” Sadie had just had the baby, and she knew they would be up during the night with the child.
“I don’t know what his routine is. He may not check messages until morning. I know he’ll get on it as fast as he can. We need to give people time. We’ll go to Tina’s office as soon as it opens, then you can talk to Margaret as soon as she gets there.” Margaret was Tina’s secretary and had been with her for years. If anyone knew what was going on, Margaret would.
“Thank you, that will help. I’ll go get dressed so I’m ready,” Rachel said, jumping up, glad for something to do.
Even though they had hours before Margaret would be at the office, Craig let her go and went to get dressed himself. Might as well. They were not getting any more sleep tonight.
Chapter Thirteen
The time seemed to drag. To help it pass faster, Craig took Rachel for breakfast. They still arrived at Tina’s office before Margaret and had to sit and wait for several long minutes.
When the woman pulled up, Rachel jumped out of the truck and ran to her. Craig followed a little slower and got there in time to hear Rachel ask, “Do you know where Tina is?”
“Hi, Miss Greene, she’s out of town.”
“Where? For how long? How can I reach her?” Rachel demanded.
“I can’t really say. Dr. Music is handling all her emergencies, do you want his number?” Margaret asked, thinking that Rachel needed help.
Craig slipped an arm around Rachel and said, “Let’s go in, and you can explain everything to Margaret, love. She needs more information to be able to help us.” He guided the two women to the door.
When they got into Tina’s office, Rachel was frantic. Craig sat her down and explained the situation to Margaret. Margaret quickly understood the severity of the situation. She explained that Tina had had a family emergency and had gone back to her hometown. She would be out of touch for several days, and there was no cell service in the small town. She further explained that Tina should call in for messages in a few days, and she would convey all the information to her then. She promised to give her Rachel’s numbers and encourage her to call.
Rachel felt much better, but still wanted to check out Tina’s house and make sure there was no foul play. Craig convinced Margaret to give them Tina’s home address, and they went there next.
From the outside, everything looked normal, and peeking in the windows, all looked good. While they were looking around the house, a patrol car drove by and then came back and talked to them. Craig explained the situation. The officer promised to have patrols watch the house and sent them on their way.
When they got back to the club, Craig called Evan to let him know they had Tina’s address and what they had found out. Evan had identified the cleaner that had been in Craig’s room, but the woman seemed to have disappeared. No one could reach her, and there was no answer at her door.
He did discover that she had recently acquired a new boyfriend and wondered if that had anything to do with the situation. He promised to let Craig know when he found more out.
Chapter Fourteen
Rachel was exhausted from stress and not sleeping, so while Craig was on the phone, she went to the bedroom to lie down. Stripping off her clothes, she sat on the side of the bed and thought about all they had discovered. She still felt something was wrong, but didn’t know what. While she was sitting there thinking, Craig came in and sat beside her. He told her what Evan had discovered and what the plan was.
What he didn’t tell her was that Evan was going to try and find Tina’s hometown and check out the story they were given. Not that he didn’t believe Margaret, but something didn’t feel right.
Wrapping her in his arms, he pressed his lips to hers, slowly deepening the kiss until they were both out of breath and panting. He lay back on the bed and pulled her on top of him, enjoying the feeling of her body on his.
“You have too many clothes on,” she said against the skin at the neck of his shirt and started undoing buttons.
“I agree with you, but I don’t want to move, and I don’t want you to move, you feel so good, love,” he told her as he pulled her up for another kiss and ran his hands down her back to her ass.
Parting her cheeks, he ran his fingers down her slit, rimming the small puckered hole there. “I want to take you here, are you ready?” he asked her as he pressed one thumb to the small pucker.
“Aaahhh!” She let out a little scream, not quite ready for his intrusion. “Please.” She pleaded, not sure if she wanted him to stop or continue.
“Please what, lamb? What does my love want?” Since he had told her he loved her, he couldn’t stop saying the word. What a sap he was becoming.