"You're going to be running that room one of these days, babe," TJ told Naomi. "You're the smartest woman I've ever met and the hottest," he said, giving her another kiss. "Sorry, guys, I can't help myself."

  "It's nice to see you happy," he said.

  "The happiest I've ever been," TJ said. "Ever since I met this woman, I can't stop smiling."

  "Oh, please," Naomi said. "You had plenty of other women wanting to make you smile. I had to get in line."

  "None like you."

  Andi cleared her throat, and he sensed she was getting a little uncomfortable and impatient with the love talk and the PDA going on at the table. "Do you know Neil and Larry well?" she asked Naomi.

  "I actually worked for Neil when he was running his company with his ex-wife Shana. That was six or seven years ago. I thought he was very good at picking the right material to produce. But there was a lot of tension between him and his wife, and they didn't have enough job potential for me, so I left." She paused, her smile fading. "I heard a rumor on my way over here that something happened to Neil's daughter, that she was kidnapped."

  "Whoa," TJ said. "Seriously?" His gaze swung to Cooper's. "Did you know that?"

  "Yes."

  "Have you spoken to Neil?" Naomi asked.

  "I have. He's very upset and worried."

  TJ shook his head in bewilderment. "That's terrible. I hope his kid comes home, but we know that doesn't always happen…" His voice trailed away, and his gaze sharpened as it moved from him to Andi. "Wait a second. Aren't you in the FBI, Andi? Is that why you're here? Are you trying to find Neil's kid? Are you and Cooper solving another mystery together?"

  "My team is working on the case," Andi said. "Cooper and I ran into each other at Neil's house, and we decided to catch up."

  "But you hate each other," TJ said in bemusement.

  "Not anymore," Andi said. "How's your family?"

  "My dad passed away a couple of years ago. Will is a real estate agent now. He was working with my dad, but now he's running the company and very full of himself. I don't see much of him, which is fine with both of us."

  "And your mom?"

  "Busy. She's still working at the travel agency. She's running some tours to Europe, which is fun for her to actually get out of the office and see some of the places she sends people to." TJ paused. "I was just telling Coop that I have a music studio now, making my music and engineering others."

  "That's great. You were always so talented, TJ. I remember when you and Tim Waters had that band in the eighth grade with Heather and Rocco."

  TJ grinned. "That lasted about five minutes. But I actually recorded with Heather the other day. She's releasing her music online, and it's doing well. What's it like being an FBI agent? Do you have a gun? Do you have it with you now?"

  "It's an exciting and rewarding job," she said.

  "You always wanted to be a detective. When we were kids, you were constantly trying to solve mysteries."

  "They were mostly just games back then."

  "Until they weren't." TJ turned to Naomi. "I told you about that kid who lived next door to me who got kidnapped. Well, Andi and Cooper were on the street that night. They were the first at the scene."

  "We were just riding our bikes," Cooper interjected. "We weren't looking for trouble."

  "It's sad that little girl never came home," Naomi said.

  "It was awful," TJ said with a hard glint in his eyes. "I used to play with her sometimes. She was always so happy. I still can't believe someone took her and no one ever figured out who." He looked back at Andi. "I hope this other kid is found. Do you have any leads?"

  "We're talking to a lot of people," Andi replied. "Naomi, do you know Jillian Markham, by any chance?"

  "I've met her a few times. She used to work for Neil, but she had a problem with his partner, Larry Friedman. That surprised me, because I always thought Larry was a good guy, not a creep like so many producers in Hollywood," Naomi added.

  "She said Larry sexually harassed her," Cooper interjected.

  "I heard that," Naomi admitted.

  "That bothers me," he continued. "I don't want to work with a company that's not protecting their employees." He didn't want to throw Neil under the bus, but he did want more information from Naomi.

  "Well, I don't know what happened. I like to believe women when they make these claims, but Jillian seemed like the kind of person who would lie to get ahead. Why are you asking about her? Is she a suspect?"

  "We're investigating everyone tied to Mr. Benedict and his family," Andi answered.

  "You sound so formal, Andi," TJ put in. "Hard to believe you're the same girl who used to shoot spit wads at me through a straw."

  Andi laughed. "That was you, TJ, not me."

  "That's not the way I remember it." TJ's expression shifted. "I've missed you guys. We ran around for so many years together, and then everyone was gone. That kidnapping changed so many lives."

  "I would have been gone even if that hadn't happened," Andi said.

  "Right. Your parents' divorce. That sucked."

  "Yes, it did," Andi said.

  "My mom still sees your dad quite often, either in the neighborhood or at the golf club. I think she said he got remarried, but then divorced again and now has a girlfriend."

  "Yes," Andi said with a sigh. "My father is not someone who should ever be married. He doesn't believe in monogamy. Hopefully, no other woman will be fooled into thinking he does. Anyway…" She finished her beer, then gave him a look, "We should get going, Cooper."

  "Okay," he said, as they stood up. "It was nice to meet you, Naomi, and to see you again, TJ."

  "Let's meet up again sometime. Why don't you give me your number, Coop?" TJ took out his phone.

  He hesitated, not sure he wanted to get back into the old crowd, but TJ would probably never call him anyway, so he gave him his number. And then he and Andi walked out of the bar.

  They paused in the alley just outside. "That was crazy running into TJ," he said. "But do you really want to leave? I know you came here to get information on Kristine."

  "I talked to a bartender," she replied. "He confirmed that Kristine worked there. She didn't socialize and was kind of quiet. He said she wasn't a good fit for the bar business. She left after a few months."

  "That describes the Kristine I know."

  "He also said she's still part of a run club that meets at the bar on Thursday nights. He saw her about two weeks ago and said she seemed happier than she used to."

  "Thursday is a long time to wait to get more information on her from the run club."

  "Well, if we don't have anything else before then, we can check it out," she said. "I have to say I didn't think LA was going to feel like such a small town. I didn't think I'd run into anyone I knew. First you, then TJ. And Naomi knows Neil, Larry, and Jillian."

  "Well, they're all in the same business, so that's not that surprising."

  "I guess not. Are you really going to call TJ?"

  "No. And I don't think he'll call me. People say they want to get together again and then it doesn't happen, which is fine. I don't need to hang with TJ."

  "You used to like him."

  "I don’t dislike him now. He's just not a part of my life anymore, and that's fine."

  "I get it. Anyway, I need to get back to the office."

  He nodded as they started walking down the alley. "What's next?"

  "I don't know. I need to regroup."

  As they walked out of the alley and crossed the street, a car came screaming around the corner, bearing straight toward Andi, who was slightly in front of him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, shoving her behind a row of trash bins as he dove on top of her.

  Chapter Eight

  The vehicle hit one of the cans, knocking it over with a loud crash, and then the car sped away. Cooper's heart jumped against his chest as he looked down at Andi's shocked brown eyes. He couldn't believe how close they'd come to being run over. "Are you all right?"

  "I—I think so," she said breathlessly. "Are you?"

  "Yes," he said, suddenly becoming aware of her soft body beneath his, which seemed more dangerous than the speeding car. He rolled to the side, then helped her to her feet. They ran toward the street, but the car was long gone.

  "Did you see what kind of car it was?" she asked.

  He shook his head. "I was blinded by the headlights."

  "Me, too."

  "He drove straight toward us, Andi. It was deliberate."

  "Maybe it wasn't," she said, her voice uncertain. "He came around the corner so fast he might not have seen us." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I should have been paying better attention. I got distracted talking to you about the past, and I can't be distracted on the job. That's why you and I should not be working together."

  "Your distraction wasn't my fault." He didn't like the way she was reframing the situation. "Instead of blaming me, you should thank me for saving your life."

  Her eyes suddenly blazed with fire. "I'm not blaming you. But you didn't save my life. You just gave me a shove."

  "Which got you out of the way." He felt a driving need to keep the anger between them, because whatever else was brewing was a lot more terrifying.

  "You are so annoying. You always have to be right," she complained.

  "Me? I'm not the one who always has to be right. That's you."

  She blew out a frustrated breath. "I need to get back to work."

  "This wasn't an accident," he said again.

  "You don't know that."

  "My gut says someone was waiting for us."

  "Well, your gut is trained in psychology. Mine is trained in investigation."

  "Then you should investigate."

  "I intend to do just that. I need to go back to the office and see if we can find the car on any traffic cams in this area. I'll drive you back to the Benedict's house, so you can get your car."

  "I'll call a rideshare," he said. "You need to go to work. And I need to…get the hell away from you for a while."

  "It doesn't have to be a while. You should step away completely, Cooper. If this wasn't an accident, then it's not the end; it's the beginning."

  "I'm not stepping away. I'm just taking a break."

  He pulled out his phone. She took a few steps, then turned back to him.

  "Thanks," she said.

  Their gazes met and clung together for a long couple of seconds. A lot of emotions flew between them. Neither one of them had ever been good at backing down, being wrong, or apologizing, but he could see the truth in her eyes, and his tension eased. "You're welcome."

  "You might not believe this, but I don't want you to get hurt, Cooper. So go home. Support Neil with your friendship and let me do my job. Can you do that?"

  "I can do that tonight. But tomorrow, I'm back with you. That's what Neil wants, and it's what I want. And, by the way, I can take care of myself." He paused. "Give me your number."

  She hesitated, then rattled off her number.

  He sent her a text to confirm. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, if not before."

  Andi drove back to the office Tuesday night, her mind whirring with questions, her emotions all over the place. She was glad that Cooper had wanted a break from her because she desperately needed a break from him.

  He had saved her life when, as recently as twenty-four hours ago, she would have said he'd be the first one to push her in front of a speeding car, not save her from getting hit. And when he'd landed on top of her, when their bodies had gotten tangled up, with adrenaline surging through her veins, she'd felt a physical attraction to him that was completely unexpected.

  It was why she'd felt the need to yell at him, to make sure they both remembered that they didn't like each other, that they weren't best friends like they'd once been; they were mortal enemies.

  She suspected he'd felt the same need, maybe even more strongly than she had, because he blamed the devastation of his brother's life, his family unit, on her. Maybe he was pissed at himself for shoving her out of the way.

  But, of course, he wouldn't do anything else. Cooper had always had a tremendously strong sense of right and wrong. When she was a kid, she liked to push boundaries, sometimes rationalizing that the end justified the means. Cooper had been the one to hold her back from going too far.

  Conversely, she'd sometimes pushed him to go further than he wanted to. That had made them a good team for a long time.

  Now they were a team again, but not voluntarily. They'd been forced together by a kidnapping, by a desperate father. Which only reminded her that she was wasting time thinking about Cooper when she needed to focus on what had just happened and why.

  If it was deliberate, if the driver had been waiting for her and wanted to take her out or scare her in some way, then she was making someone nervous. That meant she was closer than she thought to a lead. But who was the lead? She'd talked to everyone attached to Neil's household and spoken to Jillian twice. That didn't narrow anything down. She needed more help, and the sooner she got it, the better.

  When she arrived at the office, she found most of the agents had gone home, with the exception of Savannah and Nick, who were still working on the investigation. She filled them in on the near miss at the bar, as well as what she'd learned about Kristine and Jillian since her last check-in.

  The three of them spent another thirty minutes trying to find traffic cam video from the area around the bar. Unfortunately, since she hadn't gotten a good look at the car, they didn't have much to go on.

  "Maybe it was just a reckless driver," Savannah said when they ran out of steam.

  "It's a possibility," she conceded.

  "But you don't believe that." Nick gave her an assessing look.

  "It felt deliberate. But I can't imagine who would come after me from this case. Our investigation has barely started. I'm not close to finding Elisa or who kidnapped her."

  "Maybe closer than you think," Savannah said. "Jillian Markham is looking more and more guilty by the minute. She was near the Benedict's house this morning around the time of the kidnapping. She ran away from you, had a secret meeting with Neil, where she apparently wanted to blackmail him, and then packed a bag and hightailed it out of town. Her roommate talked to you. Maybe she's involved, too. She could have told Jillian that you were closing in on her."

  Savannah made a good case. "Jillian is the best lead we have," she agreed. "We need to find her."

  "Another person that needs to be located is Daniel Guerrero, Solange's son," Nick said. "He's not returning calls. And his mother claims she hasn't seen him all day."

  She sat back in her chair, feeling suddenly exhausted. Her lack of sleep was catching up to her.

  "You look beat, Andi," Savannah said. "You should go home."

  "There's a child missing."

  "It's always hard to call it a day when that's in play, but there's not much else we can do tonight. I need to head out in a few minutes as well."

  "Of course," she said, realizing it was past eight. "You should have left earlier. You don't need to be pulling long days."

  "I'm fine, but I do occasionally need to see my husband," Savannah said with a smile.

  "That's why I stay single," Nick said. "I don't have to worry about getting home to anyone."

  "I don't think that's why you stay single," Andi said dryly. "You prefer the many over the one."

  Nick laughed. "You don't think I've changed in the seven years since we last saw each other?"

  "Have you?" she countered.

  "Maybe a little," he replied, an odd shadow entering his gaze.

  "Where are you living now?"

  "About six blocks from here. What about you?"

  "Two and a half miles away. So, neither one of us has much of a commute. Where do you live, Savannah?"

  "Ryker and I have a house in Pacific Palisades. We decided we don't need to be as close to our offices as we used to be." Savannah stood up. "I want to have you both over when this is all over. We'll barbecue by the pool."

  "Barbecue by the pool," Nick mimicked. "You sound very LA, Savannah."

  "Well, that's where I live now," she said with an unapologetic smile. "I'll see you both tomorrow. Don't stay here all night. You'll have more energy for tomorrow."

  "Goodnight," she said. As Savannah left, she turned back to Nick. "I appreciate your help today."

  "Well, apparently, that's what we do here," Nick replied. "It's all-hands-on deck for whatever is the hot case. That's going to take a little getting used to."

  "I agree. I'm used to a more formal hierarchy of power, but Flynn jumps right in with everyone else." She gave him a knowing look. "Are you already tired of being at a desk after one day?"

  "Surprisingly, no. I've been working undercover a lot the last several years, living under another name, pretending to like things I hate and hate things I love. It's refreshing to just be myself and do my job with a little distance between me and the criminals."

  There was an undertone to his words that made her curious about his last assignment. It sounded like he needed to find his feet again. Before she could ask any questions, her phone buzzed. The call was from the LA office. "This must be Damon," she said.

  "Take it," Nick said with a nod. "I'm going to make some coffee."

  "Make enough for two," she said, then took the call. "Agent Hart."

  "This is Agent Burnett," a man said.

  Her heart skipped a beat. "Agent Burnett. What can I do for you?"

  "I understand you're working in LA now."

  "Yes, I am."

  "And you've taken the lead on the Benedict case."

  "I have."

  "Well, I might have some information that will be helpful to you. Why don't we meet tomorrow morning and discuss it? It won't take long. I can meet you for breakfast at Chicky's Pancake House. It's near your office."

  She was surprised and felt a little uncomfortable agreeing to his invitation. Why was he getting involved in a case that had been taken out of his office and given to her? She didn't understand the local politics yet, so she decided to say yes and then speak to Flynn. "All right. What time?"