First, thanks for the comments. Anywho, Persalleshipper101 wanted a kiss. Here we go.
Percy sighed loudly. "This is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
LaSalle glanced over to see her looking out the window of his truck. "We just started looking. We'll find her."
Despite his reassurance he was doubtful as well. It's easy to disappear in New Orleans. So many people lived their lives off the grid right in the heart of the city. Hiding in plain view. But he didn't think that would be a problem this time. Young people couldn't do anything without broadcasting what they did — from what they ate to where they went to what they were thinking.
They were searching for the teen daughter of a slain Naval officer who may have been a witness to his murder. One moment she was at NCIS headquarters speaking geek with Sebastian and Patton, who were supposed to be watching her, the next she gave them the slip. The two managed to mine her social media accounts and came up with a list of her possible locations. Gregorio and King were paying a visit to all her friends. Meanwhile, he and Percy were hitting a few of her favorite places around town.
"Here we are," he said as he put his truck in park.
"City Park," she said and looked at him. "Like I said, haystack."
He laughed. She did have a point. City Park was over 1,300 acres. But according to Patton, her pictures indicated there were three places she visited the most — the sculpture garden, the amusement park, and the botanical gardens. That was a start. In many ways, technology made police work a lot easier.
Once in the park, every one hundred or so yards they flashed their badges and a picture of the girl only to be greeted with the same response — no one had seen her though they barely looked at the picture. No one gave a damn anymore. Can't be bothered to find a missing girl, but let it be someone they loved.
"It still doesn't make sense," Percy said. "Why would they leave a witness behind?"
"Maybe they didn't want to kill a kid. Had some compassion."
"Nah." She shook her head. "We're not talking about a three-year-old. Lindsay is 17. More than capable of IDing whoever did this."
"You think she has something to do with it?"
"Dunno. Just got a lot of questions and she hasn't been generous with the answers."
The sculpture garden was a bust and there was a false lead that led them around the botanical garden. What little hope he had was fading quick. They walked up to a group of young guys hanging out under a large oak near the entrance to the amusement park. They looked to be in their early twenties.
"Seen this girl?" LaSalle held the photo in front of them.
One of them laughed. He was lean, wearing a white tank. "Man, you serious? See how many people out here? You asking have we seen a little blonde needle in a haystack."
He glanced over at Percy to see her pressing her lips together, desperate to not laugh, which, of course, made him want to laugh. He turned his attention back to the smart ass and stared. Silence made people uncomfortable. Made them talk, often more than they ever intended.
"Nah, man." He rolled his eyes.
They went back to searching and asking and coming up empty when Percy pulled out her phone then stopped.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Text message from Gregorio. They found her." She looked over at him. "At a friend's house."
He looked up. The sun would set soon but there was still enough daylight. "Come on, I want to show you something."
"What?" She asked with a frown.
"I can't really explain it. Just something better seen," he said as he continued walking.
It took a few minutes, five to be exact, and they walked it in silence, through the grove of live oaks draped with Spanish moss, past the laughing children, and romantic couples on picnic blankets. He loved New Orleans in the fall. The dog days of summer were a thing of the past and in their place, autumn sunshine and cool breezes.
"Here we go, right here." He pointed to the arched stone bridge up ahead. "This is one of my favorite places in the city," LaSalle said.
Not the bars, not Mardi Gras or the French Quarter. Along with the bayous, this was the New Orleans he loved.
"Really?" She threw him a skeptical look.
"Why you sound surprised?" He glanced at her. He couldn't help but smile at the doubtful look on her face.
She shrugged. "Don't know. Seems too zen for you."
They stopped at the highest point of the bridge. Ducks waddled in the pond. The lake was lined with weeping willow trees. Every time he came here it was always this way — serene, almost magical.
She placed her hands on the stone bridge and looked out across the water. He leaned down until they were the same height and looked straight down into the water. They were shoulder to shoulder.
"It's beautiful," she said. "How did you find this place?"
He knew she assumed it had something to do with a woman he dated or something equally roguish.
"My grandma, my mother's mother, loved it here. As a teenager back in Alabama, she loved this boy. Her family was uptight, always worried about perception. Image. But she didn't care about any of that, especially when he came to this boy because he made her laugh and made her heart smile, she said. And he cared about her dreams. She said she knew, even at sixteen, that it was the kind of love people wrote songs about, started wars over. But her parents didn't approve, wrong pedigree and all that. So they sent her away to prevent them from being together. She cried for months. Heartbroken for years. Never forgot about him. Compared every man to him.
She went on with her life. Got married. Had kids. Had grandkids. She was visiting. We brought her to the park and she found this place. All the years I'd lived here and I never knew about this small piece of heaven. She was standing about right here where we are when a man stood a few feet from her. They struck up a conversation. Both from Alabama, even more unbelievable, from the same small town that even people in Alabama had never heard of. And it was him, her long lost love. So random. Like it was meant to be. They got married a month later and he moved back to Alabama with her. To that same small town that told them they shouldn't be together."
When he finished he expected her to say something. Instead, it was met with silence. He looked over at her. She was looking at him in awe, eyes a bit wide. There, with the reflection of the water dancing across her face, he couldn't pretend he didn't want more. More than what they pretended to be. More than what they settled for.
Her lips separated just a bit and she exhaled slowly. "Whatever you're thinking," she started.
"You're thinking the same," he said as he slowly leaned in to close the distance between their faces. He moved slow enough to give her a chance to reject him but he prayed she wouldn't. Their eyes locked as he moved in and she watched him. Their mouths were mere inches apart.
"Christopher, we should stop before it's too late," she whispered.
"It's already too late. Whether we do this or not, you think it'll make a difference? You think walking away from this moment means something? We're here. If we don't we might as well have."
From the moment he hugged her things changed. No matter how much she denied it. No matter how much he tried to ignore it. He told her they were better off putting their feelings aside because what they were as a team was most important. She agreed. They put up a valiant effort to not cross a line.
"All the cards are on the table, Percy."
"No, not all of them."
"Well, at least one real important one is."
"And what's that?" She asked as her eyes lowered and focused on his mouth.
"That we both wanna do this."
"Do what, exactly?"
He leaned in the rest of the way until his lips were barely against hers. It sent a surge of electricity through his entire body. How was that even possible?
"No more non-moment moments," he said. "This here, is definitely a moment that even you won't be able to deny."
He waited for her to make the next move. He may have barely placed his mouth against hers but she needed to be the one to continue this moment. Her eyes closed and so did his. He waited for her to stop thinking and go with her feelings, to live in the moment. Just when he was about to give up, she kissed him. It was restrained. He enjoyed every second that every bit of their mouths touched. Near the end, he alternated between nibbling on her top lip and then her bottom one. He was enjoying being in the moment, so close and uninhibited, the feel of her lips against his. He didn't want it to end, especially when he heard the slightest hint of a moan from her. He wanted more of her but didn't want to do too much too soon and definitely not in public. Percy could be skittish, like a trapped animal ready to flee. One wrong move and that wall would go back up, higher and harder to penetrate than ever before. He knew patience was better than pressure.
When he pulled back her eyes were still closed. She was beautiful and he imagined them lying in bed together and watching her sleep. He imagined a lot of things that would probably freak her out.
She slowly opened her eyes. "Why did you bring me here? This place where your grandmother found her true love?"
Percy came into his life and quickly established a trust. Not only did he trust her with his life but with his deepest and most difficult feelings. Whether friends or more, he felt better with her around. That was never more clear than when he watched her get on a boat that was rigged to explode. He had never tried to prevent a partner from doing their job, but it was a setup, no one was expected to survive. In that moment, death was more acceptable than a life without her.
"I realized we weren't far from here. I hadn't been here since-" He stopped.
"Since when?"
Since Savannah but he didn't want to tell her that. This was about the present, and maybe the start of a future.
"A year or two." He stood up straight and stepped back just enough so he could breathe. Being so close to her made that simple act a hard thing to do.
She didn't look like she believed him but he was thankful she didn't push the issue. Instead, she nodded and took a deep breath.
"We should get back to the office." She took a few steps and stopped, turning to him. "Are we good? Or..."
He laughed. "You planned on acting like this didn't happen?"
She shrugged.
"Let's talk. After work," he said.
He stared at her until she gave in with a reluctant nod of her head then headed back to the truck. He smiled as he jogged to catch up with her. She never gave him an easy victory in this little battle they had; he wouldn't have it any other way.