Jase turned to Lucky. “Do you remember driving yourself home?”
She shook her head.
Desiree walked past Lincoln to her shoulder and dropped the overnight bag she carried on the floor at her feet. “Of course you don’t. I drove you home because you were snockered. Tucked you into bed myself.”
That doesn’t feel right.
“What time was that?” Jase asked.
“We got to the bar early and left early. So maybe nine. Nine-thirty.” Desiree shrugged. “I left her place before ten and got home a little later. My dad, your boss,”—Desiree unsubtly reminded Jase her father was the sheriff—“was asleep in front of the TV when I got home.”
“What was he watching?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Probably the news. I wasn’t paying attention. I went to check on Krystal, then went to bed myself.” Desiree turned to Lucky. “She wants to bake cookies with you again.”
Lucky loved Desiree’s little girl. Krystal called her auntie because she and Desiree were close as sisters.
So why did she have this odd feeling all of a sudden around Desiree? Why was her heart beating a mile a minute, like she needed to run away?
“I’m not up for having her at my place just yet. But soon. I need some time to recover.”
“From what? What happened? All I know is they found you in the woods. No one will tell me anything more.” Desiree waited for an answer.
No one filled her in.
Lucky didn’t have an explanation. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember. I think I was drugged.”
Jase asked her a question, but kept his gaze on Desiree. “You were found naked, except for a pair of pink and white polka dot panties that Hawk cut off you. Do you remember what you were wearing before your missing time?”
Her gaze shot to Hawk and she blushed again. “Uh. I guess you got an eyeful.”
“I was more focused on keeping you alive.” His fingers swept up and down her forearm. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She tried to focus on what happened. “I wore those panties that night, along with a blue maxi dress.”
“Which is still on the floor in your room.” Desiree volunteered. “I went by your place on the way here and picked up some clothes and things I thought you’d need when you leave here.” That was really nice of her friend. And maybe a little out of character for her to do anything without being asked.
“How did you know I was here?”
Lincoln raised his hand. “I called your company to let them know Hawk had found you and that you were here. A few of the ladies stopped by last night, but Hawk told them to come back later, that you needed your rest more than anything. One of theladies—Joellen, I think was her name—said she’d call Desiree and let her know you’d been found.”
She put her hand over his on the bed. “Thank you.”
Desiree noticed that she’d touched Lincoln and frowned, then stared hard at Lucky.
Lucky took her hand off Lincoln and stared at the sheet.
“They tried to file a missing person report for you,” Jase explained.
“But there was some rule or whatever that you had to follow, so you didn’t take the report,” Lucky groused, knowing how these things went. She’d had nothing but trouble trying to get justice for all the things that happened to her. “You left me to fend for myself like always, because you could give a shit about me.”
Jase folded his arms over his wide chest. “For all I knew, you’d decided to take a vacation and leave town for a few days.”
“Yeah. Without telling anyone and ditching work. Because that sounds like me!”
Jase tensed, then sucked in a breath and reined in whatever argument he wanted to make. “Just because I didn’t file the report doesn’t mean I didn’t look for you, because I was worried.”
That caught her off guard. “Well…um…that’s surprising.”
