Page 43 of Embers of Torment

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't check on you."

"Fine. I should be home a quarter after five. I don't have any projects keeping me after hours this week."

"I'll call you at five thirty in case you get hung up. I shouldn't have to work overtime the rest of the week if I finish what I'm working on before I leave today. So, if you're up for it, I'd like to make you dinner tomorrow evening."

"Oh, so you can cook?"

"I'm not bad at it. For you, I'll give it my best effort. We can talk about it tonight. I should get back." Jace leaned down and gave me a quick but heated kiss. "Okay, off with you before I change my mind and stay." Smiling broadly, he nudged me toward the door.

A euphoria blanketed me as I walked into the lobby. I couldn't remember ever being this happy. Jace was like a dream come true—the perfect boyfriend, a protector, and a gentleman. It seemed silly that I'd been so worried, believing a romantic connection between us was doomed. Even worse was denyingmy desires because of a set of assumptions about Adam. I had to learn there was nothing wrong with putting yourself before others sometimes—as long as no one got purposely hurt or left out.

Then logic swatted my jubilance and positive thoughts away.

Come on, Della. Don't get so giddy. It's only been three days. A lot can happen.

I frowned—stupid logic.

It was mid-afternoon, and the last two hours seemed like they had flown by. Of course, that was the best part of being busy—there was no downtime. Hearing a sound, I looked up from my desk to see Sofie standing in my doorway.

"Della, can you get away for a half hour? Reid wants us to come down to his office."

"Yeah, I can. I just finished answering some emails that I had pending. So, what's up?"

"Braxton Hennessey is here, and he needs to speak with us. Well, mostly you. It has to do with the night you babysat at our house."

"But I thought Reid already talked to him?"

"Reid did, but it sounds like something came up. He wouldn't tell me what, only saying we had to come to his office."

"Okay, do I need to bring anything?"

"No, we're only going down there to talk."

Sofie and I chatted about her kids, Evie and Wyatt, on our way to the admin offices on the floor below. Once there, Sofie scanned her badge and led me to Reid's office. When we entered, he and Braxton Hennessey stood from the small four-person table in the corner. A detective with the Boston police, Braxton was dressed in a suit, his days in uniform long gone.

"Good afternoon, Braxton. Reid said you needed to talk to Della and me." Sofie hugged him and sat in the chair beside Reid.

"I do. Della in particular." Braxton extended his arm and shook my hand. "Della, it's been a while. How are you?"

"Not bad, although hearing you need to speak to me makes me nervous." I slid into the seat across from Sofie, my fingers pulling on the crease in my pants.

Braxton and Reid took their seats.

Braxton picked up the pen lying on the table in front of him. "Reid informed me that he and Sofie haven't been able to get ahold of their babysitter, Allison Wainright, and they've grown concerned. He asked me to see what I could find out, and I recently learned that Allison's daughter in Wisconsin filed a missing person report on her. According to her daughter, the last time she had contact with Allison was the day you babysat for Reid and Sofie. A check with some of Allison's neighbors confirmed their last sighting of her was around the same date. The next-door neighbor said Allison usually spent her mornings gardening, but the woman hadn't seen her outside."

Sofie's face paled, her hand going to her mouth. Reid sat there with a stoic expression, obviously aware of the situation.

My head was swimming with thoughts.What do you mean she's missing? Where the bejesus did she go? Why do you need to talk to me?I cleared my throat. "But I was only babysitting because she couldn't."

"Yes, I know. Reid told me Allison called them right before she was to show up to say something had come up, and she couldn't come over. It's the timing that makes her disappearance all the more suspect. To ensure we're not overlooking something, I'll need you to recount everything that occurred that night, no matter how insignificant you believe it might be. Can you do that?"

"Umm, sure." I gave Braxton a rundown of my evening with the kids, from feeding them dinner to reading Evie a story and putting them to bed. I included the entire scenario of hearing a sound outside and mistaking the patio chair for a human.

"I want you to think hard. Did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary when you went out on the deck to check out the noise you'd heard?"

"No. Nothing other than the dogs barking along the alley. Oh, wait. This sounds super silly, but I smelled roses on the deck, and they weren't from Sofie's garden."

"I'm confused. I need you to explain."

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