Page 43 of One Forbidden Moment

Chapter 17

Moe

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Sunlight crept acrossthe bedroom floor in thin, warm stripes, catching on the edges of Jillian's laptop on the desk.The storm from the night before had blown itself out, leaving the air washed clean and the pavement outside steaming as it dried.Moe stood behind her, one hand braced on the back of the chair she sat in, the other resting loosely at his side.His body remained heavy and satisfied in a way he hadn't experienced in years.

But away from Everstill, his mind was anything but calm.

Jillian tapped something on the keyboard, her brows drawn together in concentration.Moe watched the screen like it was some kind of magic trick he wasn't sure he trusted.The glow of it reflected off her face, softening the shadows under her eyes, making her look younger, almost peaceful.

He didn't understand any of it.

Back when he'd lived here, before Everstill had swallowed him whole, computers were things rich people had.He'd heard people talk about them, but he'd never touched one.Never had the opportunity.

And now Jillian had one sitting in front of her like it was nothing.A thin, silver thing that folded in half and lit up with a touch.She'd told him it was basically the same as her phone, and that made even less sense.How could something so small do the same thing as something so big?

Apparently, the computer was no longer something that stored data.It connected to the world.Anything she wanted to find out was on there.She just needed to know what to look for.

"There has to be something," she murmured, scrolling through a page full of text."Some mention of Everstill.Some clue.Anything."

Moe shifted his weight, the floorboard creaking under his heel."You really think someone wrote about Everstill?Put it on that...internet thing?"

She glanced back at him, a faint smile tugging at her mouth."People put everything on the internet."

He didn't say it out loud, but the idea unsettled him.A world where anyone could find answers to anything just by typing?A world where secrets didn't stay buried?It carried the same danger as Everstill.

Jillian kept scrolling, her fingers moving fast.Moe watched her hands, the way they danced over the keys with confidence.She belonged in this world.She understood it.He didn't.He wasn't sure he ever would.

"What if we can't find anything?"he asked quietly.

She paused, her shoulders tensing."Then we look another way."

He nodded, though the knot in his stomach tightened.He didn't know Finn's last name.Didn't know Kallie's.Didn't know where they were staying now or who they knew.All he had was the memory of following Finn here, then the mad scramble to stay one step ahead of the cops until he spotted Jillian, and he made the choice to kidnap her to get back to Everstill.

"They have to be around," he said, more to himself than to her."Finn came through.I followed him.He couldn't have gone far.He had no car."

"Unless Kallie had a car here."Jillian glanced over her shoulder at him."We don't know what kind of life she led.Just like I walk to work, but I could drive.My mom's car is in the garage."

Jillian closed the laptop gently, turning in her chair to face him.The blanket slipped from her shoulder, and he reached out automatically, pulling it back up before she could shiver.

Her eyes softened."We'll find him."

He wanted to believe that.Wanted to believe they could track down a man with no last name in a world he barely understood.Wanted to believe he hadn't dragged her into something she couldn't escape.

But when she reached for his hand, lacing her fingers through his, the knot in his chest loosened a little.