Her eyes softened as she stared into space. “Go out for drinks with my friends. Walk through the park near my apartment. Window shop downtown even though I have no money to actually buy anything.” She shrugged, making her words smaller than he knew it must feel. “Normal things people do.”
He didn’t say anything right away, but his mind was already turning over an idea. He swung his legs out of bed. “Stay here. I need to talk to Cannon.”
“Rome—”
“Stay.”
The look she gave him, eyelids drooping and that flush of desire climbing her cheeks told him she got just as turned on by their brand of foreplay.
Unable to stop himself, he launched back into bed. He kissed her long and deep while plucking at her hard nipples. Whenshe pushed him down her body where she wanted him, thighs parting in invitation, he dipped his tongue into her slippery folds.
But only for a minute.
He lifted his head. “Be right back.”
Her groan followed him as he climbed out of bed and she threw a pillow at his head as he hurriedly dressed. When he walked out of his bedroom, he caught the sound of her giggle through the closed door and grinned to himself.
Though the base was still quiet, Cannon didn’t sleep more than a few hours at a time. Rome located him in his office, just as he expected. He sat behind his desk, going through the reports that came in overnight, coffee steaming at his elbow.
He looked up at Rome and arched a brow.
“I was about to call you in here,” Cannon said.
Tension thickened in the space.
“What’s going on?”
“Sit down.”
Great. Cannon only said those words when things were about to go sideways.
He dropped into the seat across the desk.
Cannon eyed him. “What do you know about Stina’s parents?”
That threw him enough to make his back snap straighter. “Only that her parents planned to come visit her in Chicago. What’s going on, Cannon?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Velez contacted police early this morning.”
“Tell me they’re okay.” The thought of breaking tragic news to Stina made his blood run cold.
Cannon dipped his head. “Physically, yes. Unharmed. They were leaving for work and a strange man drove up and asked if they knew where Stina was.”
“Fuck. Any read on who it was?”
“They didn’t recognize him, but they were concerned about their daughter and called her several times. When she didn’t answer, they called the police. The news reached the appropriate people, who contacted me this morning.”
“Camera footage of his face? License plate?”
“That’s what tipped off the police that they might be dealing with something beyond their jurisdiction. The plate was a fake and registered to a false ID.”
“Dammit.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did they talk to her parents?”
“No. But you just volunteered.”
“I think you mean I was voluntold.”
Cannon’s mouth twitched. He pushed a slip of paper and the secure satellite phone across the desk. “Their number. Just tell them anything you need to in order to make them feel better.”
