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Authors: Calle J. Brookes

Tags: #autism, #stalking, #sociopath, #aspergers, #fbi romance, #pavad

Wanting

BOOK: Wanting
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WANTING

 

 

 

CALLE J. BROOKES

 

 

 

The Lost River Literary name
and imprint are the sole properties of independent publishers Calle
J. Brookes and B.G. Lashbrooks. They cannot be reproduced or used
in any manner; nor can any of their publications or designs be used
without expressed written permission. This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or persons, or locations, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or
portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

 

****

To my nephew, C.A.B., whose
own operating system boots just a little bit
differently.

 

***

This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given
away to other people. If you would like to share this book with
another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or
it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to
Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the
hard work of this author

 

SMASHWORDS
EDITION

Copyright © 2012 Calle J.
Brookes

Cover by B.G.
Lashbrooks

All rights
reserved.

 

Chapter 1

*****

 

Agent Sebastian Lorcan
looked around, taking in the interior of the hallway. Red and
whiskey accents against a warm cream. Like her. It suited the woman
he’d come to see, and surprised the hell out of him. The door
opened a portion; red hair and whiskey eyes were just visible in
the gap.


Agent Lorcan, what are you
doing here? I don’t have people from the Bureau at my home.
Ever.”

Her words were low and he
strained to hear. Her tone was anything but welcoming and he didn’t
blame her. He’d not exactly gone out of his way to be friendly with
her over the past few months.


I need to talk to you.
It’s urgent.” He pushed the door back and stepped into her
apartment. She jumped back to avoid touching him. Like she always
did. It irritated him every time.

Her loft apartment was
definitely not what he’d expected. He’d always thought she’d eat,
sleep, and breathe surrounded by her precious computers—in a small,
cramped little hovel only minutes from the Bureau. This place was
close to the Bureau, but that was the only thing he’d been right
about.

He’d never pictured her in
this luxury apartment with granite countertops, leather
furnishings, and expensive accents. This woman had some serious
dough, somewhere. Curious. “Nice place.”


My place. So why are you
here?” She didn’t glare at him, but Sebastian thought it was pretty
damned close. She stood between him and the two small steps that
led up into the living area off the kitchen.


I need your
help.”


With what? Don’t you have
someone on your team who can work a simple computer program? I
doubt you’re an agent short.” She blocked him with her body when he
would have taken those steps into the living room. Her body was
taut, and her hand firm where she rested it against his
arm.


I can work the damned
computer.” He looked down at the woman nearly pressed against him.
She smelled wonderful—almost enough to distract him from his
purpose. Almost, but he reined himself in.

He’d always found Special
Agent Carrie Sparks distracting.


So what? A case?” She
bent and lifted the black cat that rubbed against her leg. She
cuddled the beast against her chest. It purred. Sebastian couldn’t
blame him. He’d want to purr next to that chest, too. His body
tightened at that thought, a state he was accustomed to being in
whenever around her. “I’m off for the next four days. I’ve built up
too much paid time off for this month.”


I know. This isn’t through
the Bureau.”

She still eyed him warily,
suspicion clear. “Then I can’t help you.”


May I sit down?” He didn’t
wait for her permission, slipping passed her and approaching the
couch. He glanced over his shoulder just as annoyance slipped over
her face.


Sure. Go right ahead. May
I get you something to drink; beer, soda, water?”

It was the first he’d ever
heard sarcasm from her. It surprised him; he’d always thought
people with Aspergers were incapable of it. “Soda sounds fine.
Thank you.”

She opened the fridge and
pulled out two green cans. He settled on her couch; it was as
comfortable as it had looked. She plopped his soda on the end
table, before perching on the glass and chrome coffee table. The
cat hopped up beside her, climbing into her lap. He stretched one
paw over the woman’s lap, and looked at Sebastian. His eyes were
glowing with what could only be interpreted as possessive claiming
of his mistress.

Sebastian repressed to urge
to say anything to the woman—or the cat. “Thank you.”


Why are you here?” She
repeated her question, and he wondered if it was just her customary
speech pattern, or a product of her own annoyance at his
intrusion.


Seven days ago this little
girl ran away from home.” He pulled a small picture out of his
pants pocket. She took it from him warily. “Her mother called a
friend of mine. Who called me.”


And the police have
nothing?”


She’s fourteen and has had
trouble before. Frankly, I don’t think they’re looking that
hard.”


So why can’t your team
help you?” She returned the picture to him, and looked out the
window at the St. Louis arch, an odd expression on her face. “Why
me?”


She wasn’t abducted. Case
doesn’t fit the parameters required for my unit. My team is still
with the rest of yours in Nashville. And you’ve also been given
mandatory leave. I have no one else available. This shouldn’t take
long. I want to find her, I need to find her. I’ve known her since
she was six.”

She bit her lip and looked
at him. “I don’t know. What do you need?”

She was close to
capitulating. It was in the way she looked at the photograph in her
hand. He leaned forward, but kept his shoulders relaxed.
Unthreatening. “Please, Agent Sparks. She’s just a child and
woefully unprepared for the world outside on the streets. I need to
find her.”

She sighed and Sebastian
knew he had her cooperation. She squared her shoulders and looked
at him directly, making eye contact. “I’ll do it.”

At her words, the tension
that had plagued him for the last three hours lessened slightly. He
needed her skills, and now he had them. “Thank you.”


What do you know so far?”
Carrie moved, sitting beside him. Her shoulder brushed his.
Sebastian felt that ghosting touch and his whole body went on
alert. This enigma did something to him faster than any other woman
on the planet, and with any other kind of woman he would have acted
on it months ago. But not Carrie Sparks and not just because of her
obvious differences. She was not the kind of woman a man like him
ever fooled around with. Too many consequences would be
involved.

He knew and would just have
to remind himself of that. “First, the computer. Her mom said she
spent quite a lot of time online. Blogs, emails, social
media.”

Carrie nodded. “I can start
on the internet searches from here. My computers are in
here.”

He followed her to the back
wall. Just visible was the outline of a built-in sliding door. It
so seamlessly blended into the cedar wall around it that had she
not opened it, he would have missed it. One more indication that
this place was pretty damned pricey. And that didn’t fit with who
he thought she was. Junior agent, living on a beginning federal
employee salary—it wasn’t enough to afford a place like this. Where
was her money coming from? “How long have you lived
here?”

 

 

Chapter 2

*****

 

Carrie watched the man
invading her home and couldn’t help but feel the irritation that he
always caused. It was so much worse than usual; this was her
sanctuary. And he’d invaded. If it hadn’t been for that little
girl...


Eighteen months.” She
flicked the switch to power the lights and the six screens that
were housed in the small room. It had once been a bathroom, but
she’d repurposed it. Her pair of laptops that she carried with her
on cases were her babies, but this room was her heart. Four
higher-than-state-of-the-art hard drives were lined up like neat
little soldiers under a long table. She’d built the hard drives
from spare parts. Two wireless keyboards were configured to operate
any drive.

The room had no windows;
she hated glare on her screens when she worked. It seemed smaller
and darker than she knew it to be. She attributed that to the man
crowding behind her; she could hear his breathing over the steady
hum of her machines. The hum usually comforted her as much as
Linux’s purrs, but not this time. Not with him in the room. “You
need to understand something. No one has ever seen this room. I
need your word that you won’t disclose its location.”


Why? Do you keep this
quiet, I mean?”


I’ve had burglaries
before. And they’ve stolen important code. This was in Virginia,
and I was asleep in the other room. I wasn’t able to stop them,
though I tried. Do I have your word?”


Of course. I won’t tell a
soul.” He nodded, though Carrie suspected he didn’t understand. But
the night that her old apartment had been broken into had left an
indelible memory, just as strong as the sight of her mother dying
in front of her when she was nine. Carrie needed a safe place,
especially in her own home. This was it.


What is the girl’s name
and do you have her email address?”

***


Ashleigh Cavanaugh.” He
repeated the email address he’d been given. The room surprised him,
but not as much as his anger at her need for it. She would have
been extremely young when living and training in Virginia, only
twenty-three or twenty-four. Vulnerable. The idea of a young Carrie
sleeping in her bed and some strange, faceless man breaking into
her home aroused all his protective instincts and he forced them
back down. She brought out the caveman in him so easily. Did she
realize that?


I’ll track her internet
paths. Since she’s over thirteen, she can open her own social media
accounts. If I can find her communications, you can profile her
posts to see if we can get a read on what’s going on.” She spoke
with confidence, not repeating herself even once. It surprised him;
she always took the background with her team. She was part of the
Complex Crimes Unit of the FBI, and her team was a team of Bureau
superstars. Sebastian’s team was the number three team—the other
two teams were older—with the CCU. In the two months Sebastian had
been assigned to St. Louis, he’d had plenty of opportunity to
observe Carrie and her team.

She was the least
experienced, and in Sebastian’s estimation, the most vulnerable.
She’d proven that the first time he’d met her, having been the
victim of an attack by a former colleague that left her battered
and in a leg cast.

BOOK: Wanting
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