Page 71 of Baited

His hand grasped her wrist, circling it completely. “Do you know his name? Have you met him?” His breath was hot and urgent in the air between them. Her throat tightened.

“No, but I remember her giving me his card. Ugh, I have no idea what I did with it.” She pulled her hand from his and dropped her face into her fingers.

His hands closed around her waist and he pulled her to lie back down, her head dropped against his shoulder.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. We don’t know that’s our guy. But it’s a lead. Tomorrow you should ask Jean some questions.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“If you can get his name, I’ll add it to the two suspects I gave to Nate. Hopefully he’ll have information on Michael and Brian soon.”

“Okay. I’d hate to worry Jean though.” Her throat threatened to close on the words. Ethan tucked her hair behind her ear and brushed his mouth over hers. Her lips tingled, wanting more. There was no way she could give in to the pulsing in her body. Not when someone had been listening to her this whole time.

“I know but it’s important to know who could have keys to this house. I’m sure they would want to help.”

Riley nodded. Jean definitely wouldn’t want to leave any stone unturned.

“Can you sleep now?” His hand found the back of her head and his smile curved against her temple as he pressed a kiss near her hair.

She nodded and cuddled closer to him. She slept on Ethan’s chest and the gentle beat of her heart fell into rhythm with his as she sunk deep into his warm embrace.

***

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

The mattress shifted and the annoying vibrating stopped. Ethan’s warm arm slid under her shirt and over her belly. The soft prickle of his arm hair sent a shiver over her. His fingers intertwined with hers and his stubble abraded her knuckles as he kissed her hand.

She kept her eyes closed against the sunlight streaming in through the gap in the curtains. Ethan shifted beside her and she cracked her eyes open as he lay on his back, his gaze on the screen of his phone.

“I think I’m going to go into work today. I should probably get back to my usual schedule don’t you think?”

“We can’t hang around here all day waiting for him to make a move. We’ll come back tonight though. Nate just messaged me.He has some information on our guys. I’m going to meet him for coffee right now.”

“Will you let me know what he says? I’d like to know if we have a strong lead.”

He climbed out of bed and her body ached at his absence. He stepped into his shorts and then pulled his shirt on. “I’ll call as soon as I know. But I’m not leaving here until it’s time for you to go to work.”

She picked up her phone and illuminated the clock. “That’s two hours away. We can’t sit here that long and how are we going to leave together? He could be watching and spot us.”

They’d have to be careful. The kidnapper should know by now that she and Ethan had split up. If anyone saw them together, it’d throw off their plan.

Ethan scraped his fingers over the side of his jaw. “Well I’m not leaving you here alone, that’s for damn sure.”

“I can go to work early. But you’ll have to sneak out the back.”

The plains of his face hardened. “We won’t be able to get in our cars at the same time either, my truck is in the driveway. But I want to follow you to work to make sure you get there.”

She shook her head. “We can’t risk it. It will only take me a few minutes to get to work. Why don’t you leave after I do and drive by the diner in ten minutes or so?”

He nodded but his eyes turned dark and brooding.

“Ethan, we’ll be apart a few minutes. There’s no other way. We can’t chance someone spotting us together.”

He exhaled on a low sigh. “You’re right. But I don’t like it. It could take half a second for him to—”

She leaned forward, snagged his hand, and pulled him down until his lips met hers. “I know. But we have to stick to the plan. If he sees that we’re plotting, the whole thing will blow up in our faces.” She pushed herself off the bed. “I need to grab my work clothes.”

She slipped out the door and past the bathroom. Her skin tingled with the need to scrub her skin raw after learning of the bugs. This mess had to end. Like a ticking time bomb, with every passing second the kidnapper seemed to be pushing another limit.

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