Page 51 of Forbidden Wish

She swooped out of the way of the arm he tried to put around her. “Cleavage is the price,” she said, tugging down her top, which he didn’t miss. “Cleavage doesn’t work so well when I bring a brooding boyfriend.”

“You expect me to sit outside while you go in and play with another guy?”

“He won’t touch me. Trust me. And you can’t be jealous because you’ve seen me naked.” She hooked a hand around the back of his neck to pull him down. “Come here.”

Maybe it wasn’t smart to be kissing on public streets, but Jagg didn’t resist.

“You’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming in. And I don’t know how to ask nicely.”

“Ten minutes,” she said, snagging the thumb drive from her pocket. “It’ll take time to copy the files.”

Another quick kiss and she retreated slowly, half expecting him to follow. Thankfully, he just stood there, not all that happy, but respecting her wishes.

A sense of achievement joined her on the way into the convenience store. Hopefully, that could be the theme of the day.

The store wasn’t that busy, and it was the same guy as last time behind the register. Young, not all that bright, but enthusiastic, which worked for her. On her previous visit, she hadn’t considered how the situation could play out with a chaperone like Jagg. If a man like him stood at her shoulder, the clerk would probably wet himself before he’d think about so much as making eye contact with her.

On getting out of there, she expected Jagg to be waiting, though not in the exact same spot she’d left him in. The guy was ready to move, given the potential for injury and death, she wasn’t too sorry about that.

She held up the thumb drive. “See, piece of cake.”

Without a word, he opened her door, and she slipped back into her seat. Patience wasn’t exactly her most exercised muscle. So before Jagg was even next to her, she had her laptop open to pull up the footage from the store.

“The screen’s too small to pick up much,” he said.

Yes, her laptop wasn’t the best viewer. “It’s what I’ve got right now, and I have to know.”

Jagg drove. She didn’t know where they were going and didn’t even bother to look. Tracking to the day and the time, her breath stalled as she watched, waiting. People on the sidewalk, cars went this way and that.

Stephanie’s apartment stoop had ten stairs from the communal door to the street. The convenience store was at street level. She didn’t know the exact time and wanted to be aware of anything suspicious.

Nothing looked strange, out of place, yet she zeroed in on every cab that went by.

“Maybe it was an app.”

If it was, the connection could be traced. At least that way, it could be discounted or absorbed into the timeline.

“I don’t have access to their cell data, but if we find—”

Stephanie.

Straightening up, she zoomed in. Yes, that was Stephanie, emerging from the apartment building, descending the stairs, wearing her new glasses. Raising the screen to eye level, her heart thumped, waiting, watching for…

Stephanie stepped off the curb and raised her hand at the traffic and—yes, a cab! It pulled up and she slipped inside.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, tracking back the footage to scrutinize the car.

“What is it?”

“She’s in a cab. She gets into a cab.”

“Is it waiting for her?”

“No, she flags it down and…” A random pickup would be impossible to trace. Though this wasn’t definitive proof. For that, they’d need to match the cabs to each other. Prove that the same one picked up every victim. “Is that it? Is that how they get them?”

“Depends who you believe.”

Details of the cab weren’t easy to pick out and the single frame angle didn’t help. It was almost exactly perpendicular to the opposite building. When the cab drove into view, the license plate wasn’t visible and with other traffic in the way… No, she couldn’t see it at all.

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