Chapter Twelve

Ollie frowned, trying to read Trevor’s expression, a cold knot of worry building in his gut. “What aren’t you telling me? Has the kidnapper made contact again? Do you have reason to think he’s harmed her?”

Trevor’s eyes widened. “No. Why do you think—”

“Do not try to shield me from this case,” Ollie said, striding toward him, furious at the thought that anything— anything —about Courtney’s kidnapping was being withheld from him. “Just because we’re sleeping together doesn’t mean you get to decide what I can and cannot handle.”

“Are we?” Trevor’s chin lifted as he took a step forward.

“Are we?” Ollie repeated, completely confused. “Are we what?”

“Sleeping together.” The words were hard, as if Trevor had to grind them out between his teeth.

“Um, yeah, aren’t we?” Ollie was having a hard time understanding why he was picking up a weird vibe from Trevor. “I mean, we didn’t get a lot of actual sleep last night, but still. We are. Aren’t we?” He flashed a quick grin, feeling the need to lighten the tension, but not understanding why.

“Yeah,” Trevor said. “Of course we are.”

The words sounded sincere, but Trevor hadn’t come closer. He hadn’t reached out to touch Ollie, as he frequently had even before they’d slept together. And he still wasn’t meeting Ollie’s eyes.

What was going on?

“So, were you just coming down here to find me?” He glanced at his watch, then winced when he saw the time. “Right. Sorry. I lost track of time. Almost time for the briefing.” In fact, there was a full thirty minutes before the briefing, and while Damien’s house might be huge, it didn’t take that long to go from the gym to where the command center was set up on the first floor.

“Right. I should go get my ducks in order before I stand up there in front of the entire team.”

Ollie nodded, waiting for Trevor to suggest they walk back together.

“So, I’ll see you there, okay?”

The words were like a punch in the gut, and Ollie desperately hoped that Trevor hadn’t seen him wince. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Great. Good.” And on that auspicious note, Trevor left.

What the actual fuck?

Slowly, Ollie sank back down to the bench, because his knees weren’t quite up to the task of keeping him upright.

He was still sitting there, baffled, when Leah hurried in, stopping short when she saw him. “Oh! Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was down here. I wanted to get in a quick ten minutes on the treadmill before the meeting.”

Ollie stood, his knees proving to be up to the task. “I’ll get out of your hair and let you have some privacy.”

“I can run in public.” She grabbed a towel from the stack by the water cooler and slung it around her neck as she headed for the treadmill. She got on, then started the conveyor. He watched as she took off at a slow jog, then looked over her shoulder to meet his eyes. She frowned, then pushed the button to stop the machine.

“Okay, what the fuck is going on?”

Ollie’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“You look like someone just ripped your guts out, and I bumped into Trevor on my way here, and he looks like he just ran over his favorite dog. So, I ask again. What’s going on here?”

“What did Trevor say when you asked him that?”

She grinned. “Fair enough. He said you were down here worrying about Courtney.”

“That about sums it up. She must be terrified. I can’t even imagine. Part of me hopes they have her drugged and asleep, but that’s dangerous too. I just wish there was some way to know that she was actually unharmed and alive.”

“Yeah. I get that. You loved her, and you’re worried about her.”

“I did, and I am.” Ollie frowned. “Wait a sec. He actually told you I was worrying about Courtney?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t tell him that. I mean, I suppose it’s obvious, after all that’s why we’re all here. But...” He trailed off with a shrug, remembering.

“What?”

Ollie frowned. “It’s just that before he got here, I was looking at an old picture of her. One I took a few weeks before she broke it off completely. And rightfully so,” he added. “The idea of the two of us together was good in theory, but not in practice. I love her, but I don’t think I was ever in love with her, you know?”

“I do know,” Leah said. “I’m not sure Trevor does.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If he told me that you were worrying about Courtney, then he must have seen you looking at that picture, right?”

Ollie nodded slowly, his stomach feeling a little queasy. “Yeah. He was behind me. He could have easily seen over my shoulder before I shut down the tablet.” He grimaced, mentally slapping his head. “Why didn’t he say something?”

“Oh come on, Ollie. You know why.”

“Yeah. I guess I do.” He sighed. “I need to go talk to him.”

He started toward the door.

“Wait.”

He turned back to face Leah. “What?”

“You know he’s in love with you, right?”

The words shot through Ollie like warm sugar, and he nodded. That blunt statement not terrifying him at all. “He hasn’t said so. But, yeah. I know.”

“I think you love him too, but I don’t know you well enough yet to be certain. If you do, you need to let him know. And if you don’t, you need to let him know.”

She tilted her head, looking him up and down as if sizing him up. “For what it’s worth, I think you two are good together. But I swear to God if you hurt him, I will rip your throat out myself.”

Ollie grinned. “Noted.”

He started to walk away again, then stopped and looked back at her, his smile even broader. “I believe you, by the way. And I think I respect you now just a little bit more.”

* * * *

It was a testament to their professionalism that they both got through the meeting. Trevor directed the briefing with a firm hand, cutting through the long reports to get to the core information, re-assigning tasks, and leading the brainstorming for where to go next with the ease of an expert.

Despite the fact that Trevor never held eye contact, watching him was one hell of a turn-on. There was little Ollie appreciated more than competence, and Trevor had it in spades. Not only that, but by the time the briefing ended, even though they’d made slow progress—and still had no firm leads on the perp or Courtney’s location—Ollie actually felt hopeful. This was an organization and a leader with the skill and the people to find her and rescue her. She was in good hands.

And, knowing that, he justified his plan to pull Trevor away from work long enough to clear the air.

“How are you holding up?” Brax asked after the briefing, intercepting Ollie on his way to Trevor’s side.

“Not the best week of my life, but we’ll get her back.”

“We will,” Brax said firmly. “And we’ll get her back alive.”

He started to turn, clearly intending to return to work, but Ollie reached out, touching his elbow to stop him. “You okay?” He didn’t know the full story, but he’d heard whispers back in the day about a tragedy with Brax’s girlfriend. “I’ve heard … okay, nothing specific, but…”

For a moment, Brax was silent, and Ollie feared he’d overstepped his boundaries. “I saw them grab her,” he said. “My girlfriend, Sabrina. We were both twenty, and I couldn’t do a thing. Not when they grabbed her. Not when they killed her.”

Ollie reached out, his hand closing over Brax’s forearm. “I’m so sorry.”

Brax drew in a breath, his head tilted to the floor. Then he straightened, his clear blue eyes meeting Ollie’s. “One day, I’ll find them. One day, I’ll kill them.”

“Yeah,” Ollie said, thinking of what he’d do if anyone hurt Courtney. Even more, if anyone hurt Trevor. “You will.”

For a moment, they both just stood there, then a small smile touched Brax’s lips. “Thanks, buddy. We’re going to find her. You know that, right?”

“We will,” Ollie said firmly. “No other outcome will do.”

“You’ve got that right,” Brax said, then gave him a little salute before heading over to check in with Denny.

Ollie caught Trevor’s eye, then cocked his head, indicating that Trevor should follow. For a moment, he actually thought Trevor would refuse. But then he fell in behind Ollie.

Relieved, Ollie led the way down the hall, then hooked a right into another hall that led to the girls’ playroom. It was empty now—Ollie assumed Bree was with the girls in the third-floor kitchen—and he indicated for Trevor to have a seat…on one of the tiny plastic chairs.

He frowned. “I swear, the last time I was in here, there were some adult chairs, too.”

“Sure there were,” Trevor said with a chuckle. “You planned this just so I wouldn’t be at my best.”

“So neither of us would,” Ollie said, straddling his own kid-sized chair. “But right now, I don’t think either of us is, anyway.”

“Want to cut to the chase and explain that? In case you hadn’t noticed, I have an investigation to run.”

“I noticed that. Not entirely sure why you’re in charge, though. Under the circumstances.”

Trevor leaned back, his brows rising. “Circumstances?”

“You being so fucking clueless, I mean.”

For a moment, Trevor’s face was a study in shock. Then his hands clutched the back of the minuscule chair. “All right. I’m listening.”

Ollie drew in a breath, then leaned forward, his arms resting on the back of the chair as his hands reached for Trevor’s. “I’m not in love with her. I’m not entirely sure I ever was. But I do care for her. I do worry about her. If I hadn’t screwed her over by not letting her go long before she dumped me, I think we would have been close friends. Now, I just want to find her. To make sure she’s safe.”

He paused, waiting for Trevor to say something. When he didn’t, he continued. “I was only looking at her picture, Trev. I was worried. I am worried. But I don’t love her like that.” He drew in a breath for courage. “But I do love you.”

He saw the flicker in Trevor’s eyes. “Love?”

“Yeah.” It was remarkably—terrifyingly—easy to get the word out. “Love.” He lifted a shoulder. “I think I’ve been in love with you for a while, actually. Honestly, it’s a little disconcerting.”

Trevor’s brows rose. “Disconcerting?”

“Me. Falling for a guy. Never expected it. And now here I am, putting my fragile ego on the line, and I don’t even know if the guy feels the same.”

Trevor nodded slowly. “Yeah. I can see how that could be awkward.” He eased closer, and when he spoke again, his voice was low. “I’m probably not supposed to be telling you this, but I have it on pretty good authority that he loves you, too.”

Ollie fought the smile that tugged at his lips. “Is that a fact?”

“Who can tell amidst all the rumors,” Trevor said airily, “but that’s the word on the street.”

They shared a smile as a thousand tons of weight that had settled on Ollie’s shoulders finally evaporated. And when Trevor tilted the tiny chair forward so he could capture Ollie’s mouth, it felt as if they were finally a team again.

As soon as they rescued Courtney, they could slide into the process of figuring out how to merge their lives together.

Honestly, Ollie couldn’t think of anything he’d ever looked forward to as much.

“I guess I proved my own theorem,” Trevor said.

“What do you mean?”

“Relationships. Making you crazy. Ours spun me out a bit.”

Ollie chuckled. “It did, didn’t it? But I’d say you landed okay. Only a few bumps and bruises, and— Oh. ”

He practically leaped to his feet, knocking over the child’s chair in the process. Trevor was on his feet in an instant, too. “What? Ollie? What is it?”

“We’ve been right all along, but we didn’t realize how we were right.”

Trevor shook his head, his hand twirling as if urging Ollie to spit the story out faster. “It is about me. Or, I think it is. What if it’s just not about my cases? What if it’s about me and Courtney?”

Trevor shook his head slowly. “Not following you.”

“Relationships making you crazy. What if we should be looking for someone who was in a relationship with her?”

“What does that have to do with you?” His brows rose. “Unless you’re our perp.”

“Funny man. No, I’m thinking someone she dated when we were on-again/off-again.”

Trevor nodded slowly. “We’ve been looking at men in her life since you two broke up. But we haven’t gone earlier.” He stood. “You may be right. Let’s go see if Denny and Mario can push this to the top of their lists.”

“It feels right,” Ollie said as they hurried toward the command center. But even as he enjoyed the high of possibly having latched onto a lead, he couldn’t help the dark stab of guilt. Because if he was right, then he was the catalyst, and Courtney’s life was in danger because once upon a time, he’d been too much of an asshole to walk away and stay away.