Jennifer Morey - Front Page Affair

As he lowered his hand, his bold gaze went down her body and back up again, brushing her with tingles. She’d worn jean shorts and strappy red high heels, which showcased her long legs. A metallic-beaded, sleeveless pink top did the same for her breasts and small waist. Her aim wasn’t to be overly sexy, just fun. Some people didn’t take it that way. Was he one of them?

His pique polo shirt was wrinkle-free and tucked neatly into his jeans. His shoes were leather. He was clean. Smelled that way, too. He appeared a lot more conservative than her. But she’d felt what lay underneath. It was in the green fire of his eyes.

“Hi,” she said.

At her flirtatious tone, blinds shut tight over his emotions. Rigid control. Big, giant, thick wall.

What had caused his withdrawal? She hadn’t mistaken the chemistry.

“I’m here to see Lincoln Ivy.”

His deep voice melted through her.

“Braden, is that you?” Her brother appeared with a big smile on the porch. “Good to see you.” Arizona stepped aside as he reached forward and shook his hand.

“It’s been a while,” Braden said.

“Yes. Too long.”

Arizona stuck her hand out. “I’m Arizona. Ivy. Arizona Ivy. Lincoln’s sister.”

Braden reluctantly shook her hand. “Braden McCrae.”

She felt silly for being so awkward. Why was she trying so hard to get his attention? Normally, she was uncontrollably picky when a handsome man crossed her path. She looked for flaws and held back until she either found them and had an excuse to walk away, or didn’t and dated them until the threat of more sent her scurrying.

“How do you know my brother?” He had smooth skin, and yet not. Strong. Slightly calloused.

“We went to college together.” He let go of her hand.

As before, her skin tingled as though he’d caressed her intimately.

“What brings you here?” Lincoln sent her a curious look, obviously having noticed her reaction to his friend.

“I wish I could say it’s just to pay a visit. Unfortunately, it’s urgent.”

“What is it?” Lincoln was perplexed now. His college friend had come for a reason and it wasn’t to catch up.

“My sister is missing. She went to the British Virgin Islands on vacation and said she was going to call my parents but never did. The police are saying she was seen getting into a taxi in front of Frenchman’s Point Hotel.”

Arizona felt a one-two punch as Braden dropped his news. Missing. In the Virgin Islands. Plummeted back in time, she struggled with sobering memories and the ever-hovering sense of helplessness she could never quite shed.

“Are the police looking for her?” Lincoln asked.

“Yes. They’ve done some investigating, but nothing has turned up so far.”

We’re very sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do...

The St. Thomas police hadn’t known where Trevor’s abductors had taken him. They’d demanded money, and her father had paid, but they’d killed Trevor anyway. To this day, they hadn’t been caught. The injustice of that had stayed with her.

Arizona was vaguely aware of Braden glancing over her before saying to Lincoln, “I’m going down there to look for her myself.”

“And you came to me for help?” Lincoln asked, still perplexed.

“You’re a bounty hunter. You know how to find people.”

Lincoln fell into an undecided silence.

He hadn’t been a bounty hunter when Trevor had been kidnapped. A few years had passed since that traumatic event. It may as well have happened a few months ago. Arizona’s heart went out to Braden, and especially to his mother. She well understood what they were going through.

Except, all she sensed from him was determination to find his sister. He hadn’t experienced the awfulness of losing someone close, knowing how horribly that person must have suffered before dying. She hoped he never would have to. “What if she decided to go somewhere else?” she asked. “Maybe she’s having fun and not thinking about calling her mother.” It’s what Arizona would do. Calling home would be the last thing on her mind. “How old is she?”

“Twenty-nine. She would have called. And she would have returned my mother’s calls. I hope she’s only having fun. But I can’t wait to find out. If I wait, it might be too late for her.”

Arizona lowered her head as that struck a raw chord in her. She had waited until it was too late. Her fiancé had been kidnapped right under her nose. And no one had been able to do a thing to save him. That was the worst part. The helplessness. How many times had she wished there had been something she could have done?

She caught Braden watching her fully now, soft curiosity over what had changed her mood. Her brother’s scrutiny was far less empathetic. Braden’s plight was beginning to circle her heart, close in and compel her to act.

“Did she go there alone?” she asked Braden.

He nodded. “She’d been dealing with so much after being asked to resign from American Freight Forwarding Services. She went to get away. That’s why Mom was so worried. With all that happened...”

Dawning sprinkled down on Arizona. “Your sister is Tatum McCrae?” The female executive had allegedly allowed several unlicensed arms shipments to a prohibited country and had been asked to resign amidst a scandalous government investigation. She’d claimed she was being blamed for something she hadn’t done. Luckily, the government had agreed and hadn’t charged her. Export violations rarely made big news, but Arizona had been fascinated by the story, by the woman. Her reputation was solid. She was charitable and respected, a role model for young women.

If something had happened to her, it would make a great story. News of a woman like that vanishing in a place like Tortola would stir up a decent amount of public interest. This could be just the story she needed to boost her career. It would probably wind up in the news eventually, anyway. And Arizona never turned down a chance to fight for victims.

Noticing her brother’s now very acute discord, she cocked her head in challenge. He was going to try to stop her again.

Lincoln turned to Braden. “I’ll go with you to Tortola.”

Surprise drew Braden’s head back. “You will?”

Clever. So that’s how he thought he’d stop her.

“Lincoln...”

“I also know some people I can call—” Lincoln talked over her. “We’ll look into her latest credit card use and other indicators of her whereabouts.”

“That would be great.”

Her brother was going to make this difficult for her. She wasn’t going to let him ignore her. “Michael Benson said if I brought him a writing sample, and it was as good as Dad said it would be, he’d hire me.”

Michael Benson was editor in chief for a prominent news magazine.

Lincoln sighed as Braden followed what must surely seem a strange turn of conversation. “That isn’t the real reason you want to go.”

“You want to do a story on my sister?” Braden searched her for answers, disconcerting her. He didn’t sound pleased with the idea.

“Benson isn’t going to hire you,” her brother interrupted. “He’s just saying that because he owes Dad a favor.”

And the favor was reading her writing sample. Nothing more. “If I give him quality work, he’ll hire me.”

“You write about fashion and gossip. Nobody would ever take you seriously.”

That hurt. Braden’s brow had lowered enough to put a crease above his nose. He didn’t like where this was headed.

“It’s not what you think,” she told him. “This is an opportunity to do something worthy.”

“Why are you pushing this, Arizona? It’s not what you really want.”

She turned to her brother. “How do you know what I want?”