Colby Brass

While Von thanked Ms. Clemmons, Trinity made his way into the corridor and put through a call to Simon Ruhl. By the time they reached the stairwell, Trinity had relayed the name and address to Simon for intelligence gathering. Any info available from any and all sources could prove useful in their approach.

Trinity dropped his cell phone into his jacket pocket. “Simon will call us if he finds anything.” Since the address was only fifteen or so minutes away the preliminary info might be minimal, but they couldn’t wait around for additional details.

Von put her hand out to push through the door of the building’s front exit. “If we’re—”

She abruptly whirled around. Shoved Trinity against the wall. And kissed him.

His fingers tightened in her coat with the intention of pushing her away … but they relaxed instantly as the reality that Von was kissing him sank into his brain. His eyes closed as the feel of her hot mouth moving over his trumped all other senses.

Vaguely he was aware that the door opened and people entered the building. He heard the shuffling of boots, the hushed exchange of male voices. Trinity wanted to open his eyes and assess the new arrivals but her tongue slid along his and all other thought vanished.

Her arms went around his neck and he promptly forgot the past five years … the hurt … the arguments … the loneliness he’d felt so many, many nights along with anyone or anything else he should have been thinking about just now.

“Get a room,” a male voice grunted.

Male laughter faded along with the heavy footfalls tromping up the stairs.

Von suddenly drew away. “Let’s go.”

Trinity blinked. Grappled with the concept of what had just happened.

Von pushed out the door.

He swiped his still burning mouth with the back of his hand. “What the hell?” With a bewildered glance up the stairs, he shuffled out the door to catch up with her.

“You mind explaining what that was about?” he demanded when he caught up with her hurried stride.

She jerked her head toward the street and the dark sedan illegally parked in a red zone. “Cops.”

Trinity stopped. He stared at the sedan then back at the apartment building.

“Come on,” Von called back. “We’re wasting time.”

Since Trinity had arrived in the neighborhood with Jim Colby, he didn’t have much choice but to go wherever he went from here with Von.

He climbed into the passenger seat of her SUV.

His lips still tingled from the unexpected kiss.

It hadn’t meant anything, he reminded that truly stupid part of himself that wanted to be psyched about the fact that she had kissed him for any reason.

Von would do whatever it took to get the job done.

Even kissing a guy she disliked … her ex-husband.

Trinity’s cell phone vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket to check the screen. A text from Simon.

Proceed with extreme caution.

Target is dangerous.

More details to come.

Trinity confirmed that he had received the information. He slid his phone back into his jacket pocket and checked the weapon at his waist.

“Got your weapon?” he asked the driver.

Von sent him a sidelong glance. “Have you ever known me to be without it?”

An avalanche of memories twisted his gut.

At that moment Trinity wasn’t so sure Charlie Jones was going to be the most dangerous aspect of this investigation.

He swallowed back the doubt.

Whatever he had to face … the top priority was finding that little girl and bringing her safely back to her mother.

Chapter Five

5:40 p.m. (four hours missing)

Von studied the photo of Charlie Jones sent via a multimedia message to her phone by Simon. Forty years of age, according to the stats accompanying the photo, long, stringy brown hair, cocaine-skinny with an extra long rap sheet. A real dirtbag.

Even worse, this was a friend of Lily Larkin’s father—the man who had disappeared with her after stabbing and leaving her mother for dead.

Not good.

A snowman, leaning precariously to one side, adorned one of the postage-stamp-sized yards of rundown duplexes.

Only one streetlight worked and that was on the end opposite of where Von had opted to park, allowing for the possibility of trouble getting damned close without warning. The up side was that the dark provided good cover for her black SUV.

Lily Larkin had been missing approximately four hours. Every additional moment that passed was one too many. Von wanted to find that little girl.

“The cops will be right behind us,” Trinity commented. “If they get to Jones first, we’ll be at an impasse.”

“Then what’re we waiting for?” Von had wanted to move as soon as they pulled to the curb. Her partner was the one who’d insisted they hold off.

Colby rules—the investigator with the most seniority at the agency was lead.

“That,” Trinity said, his attention fixed on the row of housing “is what we waited for.”

Two men exited the front door of the duplex suspected as being the hangout of Jones and his friends. The interior light disappeared as soon as the front door closed behind them but not before Von got a decent look at the man with long, stringy brown hair.

“He got a heads-up that the police are asking questions about him,” Von said, voicing the realization that barged into her brain a few seconds later than it had her reluctant partner’s.

“Can you stay on him without him noticing?” Trinity turned to her. “We can’t risk losing him.”

Von didn’t justify his question with a response. She shook her head as she started the SUV’s engine. They were married for three years, during which time she and Trinity had tracked down numerous bail jumpers as well as varied and sundry bad guys.