Julia.
Not that he was thinking about her, exactly. She kept showing up uninvited. Her gentle laugh surfacing at inconvenient moments. A flash of blue eyes when he was trying to concentrate. The memory of her sighing softly into his mouth when he kissed her.
Not thinking about her?
“Yeah, buddy,” he muttered under his breath. “Keep telling yourself that.”
This was precisely the problem. He’d spent years cultivating self-discipline, iron-fisted control, and laser focus. Now, all of that was being undermined by a sweet little blonde submissive who had moved into his head without permission and was living there rent-free.
The hum of conversation carried from the conference room ahead. The message Dev had sent referenced a new high-priority case.
That was exactly what he needed. A problem to solve. Something in his head besides his own thoughts.
He slowed at the open door. The team had already gathered.
Dev stood at the front near the smart screen. Alec sat at the table with a file open in front of him. Rhys and Gaby occupied their usual seats.
Callan was halfway through a muffin with his face in his laptop.
Jesse sipped from a ceramic coffee mug, his second, judging from the empty Starbucks cup beside him.
Business as usual.
The last to arrive, Leland pulled out the only remaining chair and sat down. For the first time all morning, his mind settled.
“Morning,” Dev said as he closed the conference room door. He wasn’t one to waste time and got right to it. “We’ve got a referral. Came in through a PI I know in South Miami. Missing person.”
Alec straightened slightly. “Why isn’t it with MPD?”
“They had it. Ran the initial canvass. None of the leads panned out. No known enemies. No meaningful follow-up. Then it went cold.”
“Typical,” Alec muttered.
“Why am I not surprised,” Gaby added, not looking up.
They’d both worked for Miami PD. Alec left after ten years, done with the politics and corruption. Gaby’s tenure had been much shorter. Her reasons for leaving stemmed from the same issues, except hers turned personal when her sister went missing and they handed the case to the feds with barely a glance.
Evidently, things hadn’t changed.
Dev opened the file and pushed a photo toward the center. A young woman. Pretty, not flashy or overdone, with clear eyes and an easy smile. It was the kind of face that blended into a crowd unless you were looking for it. A face forgotten too easily.
Leland glanced at it. She was someone’s daughter, a sister, a friend. Now vanished. These cases were always emotionally draining. Especially cold ones that rarely had a happy ending. They seemed to be their bread and butter these days. What he wouldn’t give for a straightforward celebrity protection case. Even if they were all entitled pains in his ass.
“Anna Bellamy, twenty-nine. Lived alone, worked two jobs,” Dev began. “No steady boyfriend. Small social circle. Her parents had her late in life. They’re retired and are her only family. They drained their retirement accounts to hire someoneto find her.” He paused, letting that sink in, knowing it would get a reaction, and it did.
Leland leaned back slightly. “Let me guess. They’re bankrupting themselves because the professionals paid to find her gave up?”
Dev’s gaze cut to him. “That’s the working theory.”
Alec’s mouth tightened.
“Why do I feel like I’ve lived this recently?” Gaby asked dryly, but the slight quiver in her voice gave her away. Rhys shifted. Leland saw him squeeze her knee under the table. Her trauma was still fresh.
“We’ll understand if you need to bow out of this one,” Leland suggested.
Gaby shook her head. “I’m okay. Knowing what Anna’s parents are going through makes me want to find her even more.”
She was tough. Leland admired that. Their only female operative, Gaby was still green, and as soon as she came on board, had been through a trial by fire. He was damn glad she had Rhys’s support and the entire D&A team behind her.
