Page 57 of In Her Sights
With a laugh, John caught up to her, so he was right behind her. Because he was so much taller than she was, he still managed to loom over her, even though he was a whole step down. “He’s done. I’ll take you and Norah on a tour of the system, and then she can tell us what she knows.”
Stopping on the top step, Molly turned abruptly. It was only when she came eyes-to-neck with John that she realized what an awkward situation she’d just created. If she tilted her head up, she’d be in the ideal position for a kiss, and that knowledge completely scoured her brain clear of what she’d been about to say. It might’ve been her imagination, but it seemed as if heat was radiating off him, warming her muscles and bones until she was about to melt into a puddle of goo at his feet.
Frantically, her eyes fixed firmly on the divot at the base of his throat, she rewound their earlier conversation until she remembered what had been so urgent that she needed to tell him right this second. “Thank you.” Her voice came out sounding husky, and her gaze darted to his eyes automatically, just in time to see his pupils react. Clearing her throat, she tore her gaze away, this time focusing on a spot just below the collar of his T-shirt, right where the seam was starting to pull apart. Crazily, that tiny hole made her feel protective of him. She felt a sudden need to wrap him up in soft blankets and tuck him away somewhere safe, somewhere he wouldn’t get blown up or punched in that too-pretty face of his or shot or—
“For what?” The question ripped her attention away from the small tear in his T-shirt and her thoughts off the weird and unsettling path they’d traveled down.
“What?”
The creases in his cheeks were back. “Why are you thanking me? I mean, I know that I’m an all-around thankable person, but if there’s a specific reason why you wanted to tell me what a magnificent specimen of perfection I am, then please share.”
Suddenly, Molly regained her ability to think…and to roll her eyes. “You know, you’d be so pretty if you just stayed quiet, but no… You have to open your mouth and ruin the picture.” As soon as the words were out, she felt a little guilty, even though he looked extremely—and aggravatingly—amused. “Sorry. That was probably rude. I was thanking you for arranging things with Desmond. I really appreciate having a security system, and I’ll pay you back with interest as soon as possible.”
“Never apologize, Molls. Your rudeness is one of my favorite parts of you. And you’re welcome. Now let’s get Norah, and I’ll show you how this alarm works.” He stepped past her, his body just barely brushing against hers, and walked toward Norah’s bedroom door. Molly blinked, confused about why he liked it when she gave him a hard time and weak-kneed from the full-body contact.
With an almost silent growl, she shook off all her conflicting emotions and stalked after him toward Norah’s room. She’d figure out her feelings later. Right now, they had a brand-new security system to learn and a bail jumper to catch.
* * *
“Okay, so you think it’s going to be at the Denver address Sonny had in the notes on his phone?” Molly asked once John had shown them how the security system worked and then Norah had given them the rundown on what she’d found. There’d been a disappointing lack of information that she’d been able to retrieve. It seemed that Sonny had used the phone for calls to another burner phone—the mystery caller who’d talked to John earlier—and not much else, except for the random address on a note-taking app.
“Like I said, it’s a possibility.” Norah tapped her laptop keys a little harder than necessary in obvious frustration. “It’s a vacant building in a commercial area that’s been on the market for over a year. Seems like a handy place to have a meeting of supervillains. At eleven at night, there won’t be many people around to see whatever goes down.”
Molly yanked on a strand of hair hard enough to sting. “Why do things always have to be hard? Why couldn’t Sonny have put the location on the calendar app?”
“He could’ve at least put up a meeting agenda,” John said. Despite his joking words, his fingers were careful as he extricated her hair from her grip and gently tucked the strand behind her ear. Once again, Molly didn’t know whether to poke him or thank him for being sweet.
Flapping her hands in an effort to clear her thoughts, she asked, “Wait. What was the address that you found in Tick’s room? Do they match?”
“No,” John said, even before he pulled out the crumpled bit of paper to check. “It’s a Langston address.” He held it out so she could see, and her shoulders collapsed forward in defeat.
No. Not defeat. We have two excellent leads. “Okay.” She sat up as straight as possible while being perched on the edge of Norah’s bed between her sister and John. “This is easy. Two possible addresses, and there are two of us.”
“Three, actually,” Norah said dryly. “Did you know that five out of four people find math to be hard?”
Since that didn’t deserve a laugh, she just gave Norah an exasperated look. John, on the other hand, snickered, which would only encourage her. “You’re research,” Molly said firmly. “You stay in the van.”
“What van?” Norah and John chorused, making Molly sigh.
“The figurative van.” Molly pushed to her feet. “We need you here, not bumbling around with the two of us, trying to get ourselves blown up.”
“Hey!” John protested, getting up as well. “I’m not bumbling. I’m a sleek, efficient machine.”
“Right.” Molly used her driest voice and felt a surge of triumph when he narrowed his eyes at her. “Anyway, Norah, you keep working. Carmondy, let’s go check these two places out. We should have enough time before the meeting.”
“Let’s go bumble around, then,” he said.
She turned to Norah. “Text if you need anything. My phone’ll be on silent.”
“Got it.” Norah had already dived back into her research.
“Let’s start at my house,” John said as they made their way to the door. “I need to reload my pockets.”
The mention reminded her that she needed to stock up on a few things as well. “Good idea. I’m going to make a stop at my room, too.” She turned down the hall in that direction. John followed her into her bedroom as he pulled out his notepad.
“Really?” she asked, her hands settling on her hips. “Do you actually need to be in here, or are you just following me around like a hungry stray?”
“It’s my bedroom now, too.” His voice was absent as he flicked over to the next page.
