***
The ride back to Chicago was silent misery for Donovan. Their new acquaintance sat in the back of his Blazer boring a hole into his skull with her hate filled gaze. He didn't even have to look into the rearview mirror to know her deep green eyes were on him; he could feel it. Just as he could feel her presence and smell her sweet scent. What the hell was he thinking forcing her to come back with them? She may very well have been right. Perhaps he was mad after all.
Jessica wasn't sure how long they had traveled before she finally spoke. "This is little more than kidnapping, you sorry son-of-a-bitch," she snapped hatefully. After they had left Drevin's last known residence, they had driven her back to the seedy little motel she was staying at and made her collect her belongings.
Donovan shrugged. "Call it whatever you want, but until..."
"Yeah, I know...until you're satisfied....blah blah blah. What the hell do you want from me?" she asked petulantly and plopped back against the seat.
"Drevin's trail is cold. I don't know him, but maybe you know enough about him and this case to give it a spark," he explained. "After I have you checked out, you'll tell me everything you know." While she had tossed her things uncaringly into her one suitcase, he had contacted Cody, instructing him to run a background check on Jessica Crenshaw.
Jessica smirked at the back of his head, silently wishing she could knock it right off his shoulders. "Fine. That will take all of five minutes."
"And here you thought I'd never be satisfied," he replied sarcastically, effectively ending the conversation.
***
"Hello, Miss Crenshaw," Cody greeted as Donovan, Jake, and their guest entered the Nest.
Jessica shot a displeased glance at the lanky man as he ran a hand through his wiry brown hair. "Well, aren't you just the little genius?" she snapped. She smiled sickly as she stepped around him and sat in the chair he just vacated.
"Hey..." Cody protested and tried to shoo her away from his computer.
"Oh, look. Here's the background check on me, Mr. Head Agent, Sir." She made a face at the screen. "Not a very flattering picture, but what can you do? Anyway...says here that I'm 28 years old. College dropout." She chanced a look at Donovan and was not surprised to see him watching her intently, his anger growing by the second. She winked at him uncaringly. "You know...too many parties, not enough studying. Sooner or later, Daddy's bound to say 'Enough' and make you pay your own way."
Donovan moved around the console and grabbed her up from the chair. "So you went into bounty hunting? What a unique career choice," he said, bitingly. She was fast becoming a royal pain in his ass. He headed her in the direction of the conference table in the briefing room and accepted the file that Cody handed him as he walked past.
"Oh, not right away," she admitted readily, ignoring the sarcasm that dripped from Donovan's voice. "I tried other things, you know. Waitress, sales clerk, even played secretary for a while until the Bossman decided to get a little too touchy feely."
Donovan urged her down into a chair and watched with little amusement as she placed her elbows on the table. Before he had a chance to sit, she snatched the file from his hand and began to leaf through it. "Miss Crenshaw, you are rapidly getting on my nerves."
"Good. Feeling's mutual, asshole."
His brow arched in reflex and he retrieved the file from her. Her cheeks bore a deep crimson color and he was sure it was a sign of her building anger. Her hair was still tucked beneath that damnable baseball cap and it was all he could do to stop himself from reaching over and snatching it from her head. "Cooperate and you'll be out of here faster than you can..."
"Whistle Dixie? I don't whistle. Shit...save the claptrap for someone else." She leaned back in the chair and stretched, pulling the baseball cap off at the same time. She ran her fingers through her hair, combing it out as it fell just past her shoulders. It didn't escape her attention that Donovan's eyes followed her every move.
Donovan couldn't stop himself from watching as her back arched causing her breasts to strain against the material of her sweater. When she removed the cap and her lustrous light auburn hair cascaded around her shoulders, it was all he could do to keep himself from reaching out to touch it. "Can we just put aside the hostility? I've been assigned to find Drevin and if you have any information that may help me, you're going to share it with me."
She huffed and sat forward in her chair, watching him intently. She stayed silent while he read through the file and prayed this Cody person hadn't dug too deeply into her past. She knew on the surface, everything appeared normal, but if someone were to dig around, they would find holes.
"So, Miss Crenshaw...you've only been tracking bail jumpers for a little over a year. You've only worked for Phillip Nordstrom and have managed to bring in a few of his problem clients. You've worked this case from the beginning with little success." Donovan sat back and waited for her reaction, but she gave none and stared back at him silently. "What? No smart mouthed comment?"
She shrugged her irritation and stood, walking toward the doorway. "I've come close."
He remained in his seat as he watched her. She had turned her back to him and was now leaning against the doorjamb. "Close? What's close? Either you catch the guy or he's gone. There is no close."
She slapped her thigh, tiring of his annoying questions. "You are just so brilliant, Donovan. Tell me what to do now, since I'm so fucking incompetent."
"I'm not going to tell you anything...you are going to tell me what you know," he insisted coolly.
Her file confirmed who she said she was. Cody found she had a license for bounty hunting in every state that required one. Most of the bounties she had brought in were small time offenders – bad checks, deadbeat dads, robberies; none that seemed dangerous. She was a college dropout as she had stated, from a small college in northern Pennsylvania – Bloomsburg State College, where she studied Economics.
"First I want to know what you know," she parried his demand. "I've been in this for a long time, Mr. Donovan. I need to..."
"It makes little difference what you need, Miss Crenshaw."
Jessica spun around to face him, ready to argue further, but was met by a file folder thrust toward her. "What's this?"
"What you asked for," he replied quietly. "It's all I have to go on and it's not much. Hence my request for what you have."
Jessica questioned him with her eyes. His eyes appeared earnest as if saying he was through playing games. If she could help him, he wanted it. The file was a peace offering of sorts. "Give me some time to go over this and I'll see if there's anything I can add to it."
"Fine."
***
Donovan glanced over the file Cody had put together about their guest downstairs. It was as flimsy as the case file, which really didn't mean one damn thing, but something wasn't sitting right with him. Jessica seemed a bit on the testy side, and yet he wondered how much of that was for show. Of course, he had nothing to go on in that respect. It was strictly intuition.
Bounty hunter. He wondered how on earth she had gotten into such a career. All that time spent chasing bail jumpers and never staying in one place for very long; it seemed like a lonely existence to him.
Lonelier than the one you've created for yourself? he questioned silently. He didn't exactly have women beating down his door these days. To be honest, he just hadn't felt the desire to pursue or be pursed. He wrapped himself in his work like a well-worn coat protecting him from the cold.
Ironically, it was his line of work that ultimately cost him his relationships and he had tired from the inevitable. Sure, the women he had been involved with in the past would understand at first. The long work hours and abrupt schedule changes caused friction in a relationship quickly. As their demands increased, his patience thinned. Six months to the day they began dating, it would be over. It was a calendar he could rely on. He released a sigh and turned his attention back to Jessica's file, checking her background. No living relatives. Lonely girl.
***
Jessica read the file quickly from cover to cover. Unbelievable. No mention of anything but the hit and run 'accident'. It made her blood boil. These people had absolutely no idea of what the man they were tracking was capable of doing. She picked up the file and went in search of Donovan. She found the one called Cody sitting at his computer. "Donovan?"
"He's up in his office," a female voice answered.
Jessica turned to see the pretty brunette who entered the room. "Yikes. Who gave you that eye?"
Alex chuckled. "Let's just say...I earned it. I'm Alex, by the way."
Jessica accepted the hand Alex extended and shook it firmly. "Jessica Crenshaw. Now, where would The Man's office be?"
Alex pointed. "Up there."
"Thanks." Jessica made the trek quickly, entering the office without announcing her presence.
Donovan's head whipped up when he heard the noise from the stairway. "Hello, Jessica."
"Oh, it's Jessica now, is it? Okay...Donovan." She found it difficult to maintain her balance when he smiled suddenly. The brilliant flash of white against his olive toned skin nearly drove her to distraction. Damn. He could easily be a womanizer, she thought, although it saddened her that he might be. She wondered why she even cared one way or the other. She had just met the man and as soon as she told him what she came up to tell him, she was gone.
"Frank."
"Okay...Frank. Wayne Drevin, about 5'8", medium length blonde hair, greasy looking, slightly overweight. Age forty-two." She tossed the file onto his desk. "It's sorely lacking in detail."
"Agreed." He sat back and watched her walk around his office, inspecting every wall carefully. She finally stopped at the large window and braced herself against the sill. He turned his chair enough to face in her direction. "Tell me what's missing, Jessica."
She nodded and absently chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before turning her back to the window to face Donovan. "The accident. There was another witness to the accident, or at least, there was rumored to be one."
He braced his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. "There's no mention of a second witness at all."
Jessica nodded. "So I saw. The victims, twenty-nine year old Laura Reynolds and her five year-old daughter, Tammy, were run down. That's all you've got." She pushed off from the window and paced the room slowly. "What you have no record of is that there was a third person on the scene. A sister, who is now missing...no one can find her. She had told a cop on the scene that it was no accident, that Drevin had run her sister down on purpose."
"For what reason?" Donovan wondered aloud. He stood and moved toward Jessica, who had once again turned her back toward him. "And how do you know this?"
"I asked the cop that was on the scene that night. He said he had filed the report with the woman's statement, but could give no reason why it was not in the records." She turned to face Donovan, not realizing he was standing so close to her. Startled, she lost her balance and nearly fell backwards.
Donovan's hands shot out and grasped her by the shoulders to steady her. He could feel the heat of her skin through the thin sweater and heard a voice in the back of his head demanding to feel more. He shook it aside and dropped his hands from her shoulders quickly. "Why would the records be tampered with? What was this woman's name?"
"I haven't discovered that little tidbit of information, Donovan....Frank." Her eyes dropped down to his hands that were now at his sides. Large hands, with long tapered fingers. She felt the blush enter her cheeks at the thought of what he could do to her with those hands. She had to get away from him quickly before he drove her insane. "Her name is Melanie Burgess."
"I'll have Cody run a check on her," he stated, moving toward the doorway. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"
Jessica shook her head. Yes, but I won't. "No, nothing."
Donovan sighed and nodded. If she had more to tell, there would be a reason to keep her around longer. "Is there a number where I can reach you if I have any further questions?" he asked expectantly.
"I don't own a cell phone," she answered smartly. "But there is a number on the card you took earlier. It's an answering service, but I check it several times a day."
"Very well. We'll see if we can turn anything up on that police report."
Jessica nodded and moved past him. "Good luck. I haven't had any, and believe me...I've tried." She didn't know if he would fare any better than she had, but it was possible. At any rate, there was something she had to check on and time was running out. If she missed the opportunity, it might be her last chance at Drevin. "I'd like my gun back," she insisted suddenly.
Donovan watched from his office doorway as she descended the stairs. "Jake...give her back her weapon. She's free to go." She said nothing further to any of his team as she accepted the gun, tucked it into the back of her jeans, and covered it with her sweater. She turned and looked up at him for a moment before she picked up her small suitcase, opened the door, and left the Nest. He frowned, watching her leave and wishing she would stay. What a mixed-up feeling for someone he had just met. You're acting a fool, Donovan.
--
To be continued...
