Page 6 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

Alex sighed. “Maybe. It’s happened before. Too many times.”

“You’re right about that. I don’t know Chief Dixon well. Met him a few times, but he doesn’t seem like someone who would be concerned without good reason.”

Chief Dixon’s heightened concern bothered Logan. The chief wasn’t naïve, nor was he an amateur. Although a large number of missing people were found with a girlfriend or boyfriend, others disappeared for sinister reasons. In those cases, most of the time they never made it home.

Maggie brought their drinks, and then Logan noticed Tony coming their way, a big smile on his face. “I’m so glad to see you, my friends. Have you ordered?”

“Hi, Tony,” Alex said. “Yes, we did.”

They weren’t really friends with Tony, but they’d been among his first customers. When they went back to the office and spread the word about how good the food was, lots of coworkers came—and they brought even more people. Tony credited Logan and Alex with making his business a success. Logan had told him more than once that his awesome food had made his restaurant prosper, not their recommendations. But Tony still felt he and Alex had been instrumental in building his clientele.

“Your lunch is on me,” he said with a wide smile.

When Logan started to object, Tony waved his comment away. “No, my friend. Once in a while I want to thank you by buying your meal. What is it the Bible says? Give and it will be given to you?” His loud, hearty laugh filled the room. “You must let me do this so the Lord will bless me. Right?”

Logan could see that any argument would end in defeat, so he finally nodded. “Okay, Tony. I wouldn’t want you to lose a blessing. We accept.”

“That’s wonderful, my friend. You’ve made me very happy.”

Then, just as quickly as he’d arrived, he was gone. A few minutes later their waitress showed up with their sandwiches and chips. “Tony says no charge,” she said with a smile.

They thanked her, and she left to take care of other customers.

“At least we can leave her a nice tip,” Alex said.

“Absolutely.” He picked up his sandwich. “Tony’s a nice man. I really like him.” Then he took a bite, and the flavors exploded in his mouth.

“I like him too. And I think I’m addicted to these sandwiches. Do they have rehab for sandwich addictions?”

Logan laughed. “I have no idea, but if they do, I’ll be in the room next to yours.”

A few minutes later they’d settled into a comfortable silence. Logan knew Alex was thinking about the case just like he was, trying to pull the few threads they had into some kind of pattern. Although this was perfectly normal for them, he’d noticed that Alex had grown significantly quieter lately. And sometimes she seemed so far away. She always came around, yet it happened enough now that he’d begun to worry about her.

A few months ago she’d been tormented by a truly evil psychopath. A man whose goal had been to kill her ... and make her suffer horribly before she could welcome death. Although she’d come out of it thanking God for rescuing her, over the past month or so he’d noticed a haunted look in her eyes. He’d tried to draw her out, find out what was going on, but Alex had put up emotional walls to protect herself. This was a pattern he thought she’d broken.

Would it always be this way? He knew she trusted him—to a degree. He was pretty certain she felt more secure with him than she did with any other human being on the planet. But she was still keeping her pain and fear inside as if protecting an old friend. Someone she was comfortable with. Not that anyone but him would notice, but it was there. And by now he knew her well enough to feel sure if whatever this was lingered untreated, it could eat her up inside.

She’d come so far trying to overcome her past. Just after she’d turned her life over to God, he saw such a change in her. A spark of optimism. A willingness to allow others inside. Although she still came to church with him and their friend Monty every Sunday, it was as if what was said from the pulpit just bounced off her.

“Dessert?” he asked after they’d finished eating.

She shook her head and smiled. “Completely full. No place to put it.”

“Not even some bread pudding? When we get back, you’ll regret it.”

“Well, if you get an order to go, I might be influenced to share it with you later.”

He smiled and signaled Maggie, who came over. “One order of your incredible bread pudding to go,” he said. “And we want to pay for it, please.”

“Okay.” She grinned. “Just couldn’t leave without it, could you?”

He laughed. “I guess not. It’s awesome.”

Maggie patted her flat stomach. “Yeah, but it’s murder on diets.”

“Doesn’t look like you need to worry about it,” he said, realizing she was hoping he’d say it.

She tossed him a shy smile and took off. A few minutes later they’d paid their bill, left a generous tip, and had their bread pudding in hand. Logan noticed Maggie had given them a substantial serving.

“I think you have an admirer,” Alex said as they got back into his car.

He chuckled but didn’t respond. That might be true, but he wasn’t interested. The only woman on earth he wanted to look at him with more than casual interest was this woman who so often seemed to look right through him.

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