They needed a way to draw Megan out of hiding and take her down for good.
At the far end of the table, Lindsey spotted the paper and pen Todd had been doodling with earlier. A list would help. She needed to get the whirl of thoughts out of her mind and organize them, capture all of her ideas and then judge them later.
Snatching up the notepad, she flipped back to the first page and sucked in a breath.
Surrounded by tiny drawings of spirals and leaves and stars was a sketch of her face. It was an unmistakable rendering that somehow captured her with a minimum of strokes and made her look…luminous, otherworldly. As if the artist were in awe.
Or in love.
Lindsey’s heart tripped. As a rule, she didn’tdorisk, but as Todd had pointed out, she had faced down murderers and lived to tell the tale. She’d risked her life for Todd and Megan. Did it make sense that she wasn’t willing to face heartbreak—again—for a chance to be with him?
She set her shaky hands on the table and took a deep breath.
Tearing the portrait from the notepad, she carefully folded it and slid it into her back pocket.
The determined look in Lindsey’s eyes when she opened the door an hour later made Todd nervous. He entered the conference room at her gesture and let her close the door behind them.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, his stomach jumping. “How are you feeling?”
She gave him a weak smile. “Better, thank you. Still tired, but less overwhelmed.”
“Good.” He didn’t want to push, so he just stood there.
Warm air flowed from a vent overhead, the muffled murmur of voices from the cubicles outside the door infiltrated the room, the trees outside the window rocked back and forth in the wind.
Apparently in no freaking hurry to enlighten him, she took a sip of water from a paper cup and cleared her throat, studying her hands before finally meeting his gaze again. “I’m not going to shut you out, and I’ll let you be my bodyguard for a little while, but emotionally I can’t jump right back in where we left off.”
He nodded solemnly, holding back the urge to whoop. It wasn’t a declaration of love, but all he needed was a foot in the door with her. He’d take whatever he could get.
“That means slowing things between us way down,” she said. “And I know that’s not really fair to you, but—”
“I’ll go whatever speed you want.” Slow was better than no. “I’ll be a goddamned tortoise if that’s what it takes.”
Amusement lit her face, warming his chest. “Is that faster or slower than a sloth?”
“Which one would get to kiss you first?”
“A sloth, definitely.”
“Sloth it is.” He mimed moving toward her at a glacial pace.
Rolling her eyes with an indulgent smile, she put her hands on his shoulders, leaned in, and gave him a quick peck on the lips before stepping out of reach. This sloth seemed destined for many, many cold showers.
“What did you find out about travel?” she asked.
If this was her attempt at a distraction, it failed. He handed over the burner phone Marti had given her yesterday. “Wendy returned these, so I didn’t have to borrow a computer. I haven’t booked anything yet, but there are no flights out to either coast until tomorrow morning, so we’ll need to find accommodations for tonight.”
“Call Marti?” Lindsey asked.
Todd nodded and dropped into a rolling chair at the table facing the bank of windows. The afternoon sun bathed the plain conference room in gold, a beam of light turning dust motes into glitter.
He stared at the sight for a minute, his sleep-starved brain mesmerized, then rubbed his eyes.
“I’ll do it.” She sat across from him and tapped the screen.
While she lined up another night at the house, he pulled up the list of flights he’d found earlier. When she was done and had confirmed they had somewhere to stay, he said, “So, DC or LA?”
“DC.” She reached across the table and took his hand. “You need to visit your friend.”
