The Summit (12 page)

They returned to the front of Megan's house, Ben looking so exhausted and grim Autumn suggested they speak to the last child, Robbie Hines, another day.

“We're here,” Ben said darkly. “Let's get it done.”

When they pulled up in front of Robbie's house, the garage door was open and an old car—nineteen-fifty-something—sat on blocks with the hood open. A redhaired youth leaned into the engine, a grease rag stuffed into the back pocket of a pair of baggy jeans.

He turned at their approach and Autumn saw an older version of the boy who had been in her dream.

“Mr. McKenzie…” Robbie said. “It's nice to see you.”

“Hi, Robbie.”

Robbie looked a little older than the girls…maybe thirteen now, with short-cropped red hair combed up on the sides and a face full of freckles.

“Hello, Robbie.” She gave him a smile. “My name is Autumn Sommers. I'm a friend of Ben's. We were hoping you might answer a couple of questions about Molly.”

“That was a long time ago,” Robbie said, obviously not interested in stirring up the past anymore than Ben was.

“We just want to know if there's anything about that day you might have remembered later, in the years since it happened.”

Robbie looked uneasy. “They caught the guy, right? The guy's in prison?”

“He's in prison,” Ben said. “We're just trying to tie up a few loose ends.”

“He coming up for parole or something?”

Ben flicked Autumn a glance. “Meeks never confessed to killing her, Robbie. We just want to see if we might have missed something…anything at all.”

Robbie jerked the rag from his pocket and wiped his greasy hands. “You know, there is something…I mean, I didn't know anything about cars when I was seven, but now…well, classic cars are a hobby of mine and my dad's.”

“Go on,” Ben urged.

“The car I saw that day…back then I didn't know what it was, but now I know it was a Chevy Super Sport. A Chevelle, the one with the big 396 engine. I've seen a dozen of them at car shows over the years. It wasn't fixed up or anything so it just looked like a plain old white car to me back then.”

Autumn looked up at Ben. Inside her chest, her pulse was beating faster. Meeks had been driving a Toyota.

“I didn't think it mattered or I would have said something to the cops when I first figured it out. But Molly was…you know…dead. And the guy who killed her was in jail.”

“I'm just glad you noticed it,” Ben said. “I want you to tell me everything you can about that car.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Robbie launched into a dissertation on collectible cars and the Chevy Chevelle in particular. “The day Molly was taken is burned into my brain…everyone crying, and talking to the cops and all the stuff that happened after. I can still close my eyes and see that car. That's how I recognized it when I saw one like it at the car show. A Super Sport like that…it's a real classic, worth some money even in poor condition.”

Ben squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks, Robbie. You've really been a big help.”

Robbie walked beside them out to Ben's Mercedes. “I think of her sometimes, you know. I guess I always will.”

Ben nodded. “Yeah.”

They climbed into the car and Ben started the engine. Autumn noticed the way his hands gripped the wheel and when she turned she saw that Robbie watched them until the car disappeared out of sight.

“Well, it's a lead,” Autumn said into the quiet that had settled inside the car.

“Yes, it is. And if Robbie Hines is right, Gerald Meeks had nothing at all to do with Molly's disappearance.”

Autumn's gaze snagged his in the mirror. “Which means my dreams might be real. If they are, Molly could still be alive.”

“A
ll right, girlfriend—you are dating
the hunk!
You have got to tell all!”

Autumn and Terri perched on stools at a tall round table in their usual spot at the back of O'Shaunessy's. It was Tuesday, six o'clock. Terri had just gotten off work, as had most of the patrons chatting noisily in the pub.

“We aren't dating,” Autumn told her. “We're working together to find his daughter.”

“But you said you went out with him Saturday night. The man took you to the Olympic Hotel, for God's sake.”

Autumn had mentioned the evening with Ben and told her friend that she had agreed to give Ben time to get to know her, to hopefully come to trust her. And it seemed to have worked.

She hadn't told Terri that Ben had spent the night. Her friend would never believe that nothing had happened…well, almost nothing. There was, after all, that mind-shattering kiss.

“You're blushing. Oh, my God—what happened after the benefit? Don't tell me you slept with him!”

“Don't be ridiculous. You know why Ben and I are spending time together. It was your idea for me to talk to him in the first place.”

Terri eyed her shrewdly. “You'd tell me, wouldn't you—if you had sex with him?”

“No. But I didn't. All he did was kiss me good night.” There, it was out in the open. She hated to lie to her best friend.

Terri's eyes widened. “Well, come on—what was it like? A long, slow, dreamy, kiss, or a hot, burning, tongue-sucking orgy of a kiss?”

The color deepened in Autumn's cheeks. “It was just a kiss, that's all. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
You liar! It was the hottest, wettest, sexiest kiss you've ever had and you will probably never forget it.
“Ben isn't my type and in case you haven't read the society pages lately, I am definitely not his. But right now we need each other. There's a chance his daughter is alive and if she is we need to find her.”

“You're getting pretty involved in this,” Terri said.

“I know I am. But I think Molly's reaching out to me. I can't turn my back on her. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Ben. I dragged him into this. You can't imagine how painful this whole thing is for him. I'm not about to abandon him now.”

Terri swirled the swizzle stick through the Cosmo she was drinking. “Just be careful. I
have
read the papers and we both know the guy is a heartbreaker. You can tell that much just by looking at him.”

It was true and it was something Autumn didn't intend to forget.

“So what's the latest with Todd?” she asked, trying for a change of subject.

“Todd is a jerk. I never should have gone out with him.”

Sooner or later, they all became jerks, at least in Terri's opinion. Autumn wondered if her friend would ever figure out what she actually wanted in a man. Then again, maybe she and Terri weren't really so different. For one reason or another, neither of them wanted to get into a serious relationship. They just approached the problem in an opposite manner. Terri slept with them and dumped them. Autumn rarely went out at all.

Across the table, Terri glanced up as a lanky, familiar figure walked through the front door of the bar. “Look, here comes Josh.” Her blue eyes rounded. “Oh, my God,
the hunk
is with him.”

Autumn's head jerked toward the men crossing the bar in their direction, one of whom was Ben. “For heaven's sake, stop calling him that,” she whispered to Terri.

Josh smiled as they reached the table. “Hey, Autumn…Terri.”

“Hi, Josh,” Autumn said. Terri smiled briefly at Josh then her predatory gaze fixed on Ben and a lump of ice settled in Autumn's stomach. She worked to keep the smile on her face. “Ben, this is my friend, Terri Markham.”

“Nice to meet you, Terri,” Ben said casually.

“You, too,” said Terri and to Autumn's utter amazement she didn't ooze a single drop of her abundant female charm in Ben's direction.

“I tried to call you on your cell,” Ben said, “but you didn't pick up. Then I saw Josh coming out of the gym as I was leaving the office. He thought you might be down here with Terri.”

Autumn dug into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “It's so loud in here I guess I didn't hear it ring.” She stuck the phone back into her bag, suddenly realizing that if Ben was looking for her, it must have something to do with Molly.

“What is it? Did you find out something?”

He caught her elbow, urging her up off the stool. “Excuse us a minute, will you?”

“Sure,” said Josh, who looked at Terri as if he had just received a gift.

Ben led Autumn out the front door and a little ways down the block. She hadn't realized he was carrying something in his hand until he held out a rolled-up sheet of paper.

“My guys got this for me. Take a look and see what you think.”

Autumn carefully unrolled the paper. For several long moments, she just stared. It was the computer-aged photo of Molly. “It looks like her, I mean the way she is now, but…”

“But what?”

“But in my dream, her hair's longer, almost to her waist, and her lips don't seem as full, or maybe it's just that in the dream she isn't smiling, the way she is here.” She studied the photo. “And there's something different about her eyes…In my dream, they don't seem as sparkly as they look here.”

“She was happy the day the photo was taken. Joanne had bought her a pretty new dress and she was excited to have her picture taken in it.”

There was something in his tone that made her look up at him. There was an odd glitter in his eyes and she saw that his jaw looked tight.

“You say she looks different,” he said. “But this
is
the girl in your dreams? You still think it's Molly?”

“It's her, Ben.”

He nodded. “I've got Pete Rossi working on finding the car. I looked up the make and model on the Internet and Robbie was right—it's a classic, pretty hard to find. The DMV has very good records. I'm thinking we start with Washington State, check the records six years back and compare them with those today. Rossi's an ex-cop. He's got connections with the force. He says he can get what we need.”

Autumn nodded. “Starting in this area sounds good, though if I'd stolen someone's child, I might take her out of state, just to keep anyone from finding her.”

“Even so, odds are good the guy was from somewhere around here. He must have seen Molly someplace, then found out where she lived.”

“So we track down the car and—if we're lucky—maybe the guy still owns it.”

“There's always a chance.”

“But if he does,” Autumn said, “I'm the only one who knows what he looks like. I've been thinking about this, Ben, and I think we need to do a sketch. You know, one of those composite-type drawings. They do it all the time on TV. That way we'll all know who we're looking for.”

“Not a bad idea. Maybe the guy will turn out to be someone I saw in the neighborhood or somewhere else. If not, we can use it when we canvas car owners. I'll get Pete to find us a sketch artist, someone the cops have used.”

“Maybe we should talk to the police ourselves.”

“We don't have anything to give them. A dream and a thirteen-year-old kid who thinks he might have figured out what kind of car the kidnapper was driving six years ago.”

“And the fact Gerald Meeks says he didn't kill Molly.”

“Which Meeks told you but refused to tell anyone else.” He sighed. “We need something concrete. When we find it, I'll talk to Doug Watkins. He was the lead detective on the case when Molly was first abducted.”

“I thought the FBI handled kidnapping cases.”

“They were involved. The guy who worked the case has since left the bureau and the two of us mostly butted heads anyway.”

“But you think this detective might help?”

“Maybe…if we have something new to give him. But Watkins is a realist. He's not going to buy into this dream theory without any proof and the department's not going to want to spend money on an old case with no new evidence.”

His gaze locked with hers. “You were with me yesterday morning. Did you dream about Molly last night?”

She moistened her lips, a little intimidated by that iron-hard stare. “Yes.”

“Did you notice anything new? Anything different?”

“It was a long day and I was tired. The dream was kind of fuzzy.”

“I want to stay at your house tonight. If you dream, I want to be there when you wake up.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he held up his hand. “It helped the last time. I want to try it again.”

Autumn shook her head. “We can't do that, Ben.”

He knew she was thinking about the kiss and the edge of his mouth faintly curved. “I promise I won't attack you. I won't even kiss you goodnight…not unless you want me to.”

She fought not to tremble. A memory of his mouth moving over hers sent a curl of heat into her belly. Of course she wanted him to kiss her—at least the insane part of her that still thought of sex craved it like a flower craved rain. The rational part of her pea-sized brain was terrified that it would happen.

“I'm not your type, Ben. You know it and so do I. And frankly, you're not my type either.”

Ben looked amused. “I didn't know you had a type. The few guys you've dated all seemed pretty different.”

Her hackles went up. Was there anything about her private life he hadn't read in his damn report? “Who I date is none of your business and you can bet that any man I might be interested in would not be one who specializes in cover models and one-night stands.”

“Wait a minute! First—you're just as beautiful as any of the women I've dated, whether you see yourself that way or not, and second—I don't specialize in one-night stands.”

“Just women who aren't interested in anything remotely resembling a relationship.”

“Are you saying you
are
interested?”

She bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was to get involved with a man and especially not a heartbreaker like Ben. “No, but—”

“I want to stay the night. No strings,
no sex,
strictly business. You talked me into looking for Molly. Now I'm committed to doing everything in my power to find her. I thought that's the way you felt, too.”

“I do, I just…” She took a deep breath. Ben was a man who rarely took no for an answer. It was the reason he was so successful in business—and with women. In this case, he also had right on his side. Molly was his daughter and he would do anything to find her. Autumn could hardly fault him for that.

Still, she was already on dangerously thin ice where Ben was concerned. She would have to be extremely careful.

She released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. “All right. You win. But bring something to sleep in this time.”

He grinned. “I sleep naked. In deference to you, I left on my boxers last time.”

Her face heated up. “I'm trying to forget.”

He reached out and touched her cheek. “Are you? Because I'm trying like hell to forget how sexy you looked in that ridiculous over-sized T-shirt. So far it hasn't worked.”

Autumn's jaw dropped. The nightshirt was the least sexy thing she owned. Her stomach fluttered as if it were full of feathers and her mouth went dry. “You're scaring me, Ben.”

“Yeah, well, you're scaring me too. Let's just keep focused on Molly.”

She
was scaring him? She thought of Dolores Delgato, the beautiful, exotic model. Now
there
was a woman who could frighten a man, though Ben didn't seem the least bit threatened.

She cast him a glance but couldn't read his expression and returned her thoughts to Molly. Maybe if Ben was there when she dreamed, another clue would surface.

“Okay. Then I'll see you tonight. What time?”

“I've got plenty of work to do at the office. How 'bout I show up around nine?”

She nodded. She almost weakened and suggested she cook him dinner—before sanity returned like a flashing neon sign, pointing out what a bad idea that was.

“See you then,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “See you then.”

 

Ben worked late, then went home, stuffed his shaving kit and a change of clothes into a small canvas satchel and walked down Second Avenue to Autumn's condo. The air was warm and damp, the first days of summer were beginning to settle in. He inhaled the salty sea air and caught a glimpse here and there of the lights along the waterfront reflecting against the sea. A blue and gold taxi honked at the car in front of him but Ben barely noticed, preoccupied as he was with his earlier conversation with Autumn.