Find Liza Probz
Chapter 1
Jamie Cohen strode into the elevator on the 8thfloor of NASA headquarters, hit the button for the lobby, and leaned back against the elevator wall. A large exhale blew her carefully coiffed bangs above her forehead, joining the scowl in throwing her usually pristine appearance into disarray.
She crossed her arms over her chest and muttered to herself. “I can’t believe they still haven’t found her.”
A moment before the elevator doors finally got around to closing, a hand appeared in the gap, causing them to spring back open. A tall, well-dressed man joined her against the elevator wall, his expression the definition of patience.
“Don’t start, Lance,” Jamie said, holding her hand up. “It’s been nearly six months! If those eggheads were going to do something, they’d have done it already.”
Lance shook his head. Every lock of hair stayed perfectly in place on his handsome head. “As one of those eggheads, I promise you we’re doing everything we can.”
Jamie sighed. Her fiancé looked like the opposite of “egghead.” He was fit, muscular, and had a charming smile and pleasant demeanor. They’d met the first time she’d stomped into the NASA offices, demanding that they bring her sister Sylvie home. He’d escorted her to coffee after she’d yelled at most of his superiors, hoping to calm her down and explain that they were working hard to bring Dr. Cohen home.
Still, no sign of Sylvie had been found. She’d been shot into space looking for extraterrestrial life, and her shuttle had crashed on an alien world. No one had heard from her in all this time. Were they even looking?
Jamie eyed her companion. Dr. Lance Cargraves had a degree in mathematics and was one of NASA’s most decorated astronauts. His warm brown eyes, wide smile, and excellent bone structure made him stand out among the other glasses-wearing, lab-coat sporting eggheads.
Of course, she’d accepted when he’d asked her out to dinner after that first fateful coffee.
Jamie had rushed to Washington D.C. after she’d heard the reports that NASA’s first solo long distance mission had resulted in a crash-landing. If it hadn’t been her sister, Dr. Sylvia Cohen, on the rocket, she would have had no idea that the mission even existed. Current events in space travel weren’t her strong suit.
She didn’t know anyone in this town, and Lance had been her first friendly face. So it had made sense to accept his proposal after they’d been dating for a few months. Still…she had a few niggling doubts she hadn’t been able to lay to rest.
“Look,” Lance said, his smooth voice hauling her out of her restless thoughts. “Why don’t you go home, take a nice hot bath and try to relax. I’ll take you out to dinner tonight at that bistro you mentioned, the one where all the celebrities eat.”
Jamie gave him a half-hearted smile. The elevator stopped, the doors opening onto gray carpets and displays of outer-space memorabilia. Lance took her arm, steering her towards the double doors and then out onto the street. He leaned down, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll make the reservations. You pick out your prettiest dress, and I’ll pick you up at eight.”
Then he was gone, back into NASA headquarters. And Jamie stood alone on the sidewalk, feeling lost as passersby surrounded her.
She shook her head, wondering how she’d once again been blown off by the eggheads upstairs and distracted by her own fiancé.I will find you, Sylvie, even if I have to climb into a rocket myself!
