Obsession Read Free Page A

ten years ago when they bumped into each other at the Publix in Hoover. Of all the grocery stores in the Birmingham area how they’d ended up at the same one on the first holiday she’d spent with her family in years still befuddled her. He had been newly divorced from his second wife. Jess had been celebrating a promotion. A volatile combination when merged with the holiday mania and the nostalgia of their explosive history. The last minute dessert she had hoped to grab at the market before dinner with her sister’s family had never made it to the table.
    Jess hadn’t heard from him since. Not that she could fault his after-frantic-sex lack of propriety; she’d made no attempt at contact either. There had been no random shopping ventures since on her rare visits to Birmingham.
    “There has to be a connection.” He surveyed the happy, carefree faces in the photos again. “Same age group. All attractive. Smart. No records, criminal or otherwise. Their entire futures—bright futures—ahead of them. And no one in their circle of family or friends saw a disappearing act coming.” He tapped the fourth girl’s photo. “I know Andrea Denton personally. There’s no way she would just vanish like this. No way.”
    Two things registered distinctly as he made this passionate declaration. One, he wasn’t wearing a wedding band. Two, he didn’t just know number four personally. He knew her intimately on some level.
    “Someone took her,” he insisted. “Someone took them all.” His expression softened a fraction. “I know your profiling reputation. If anyone can help us find these girls, it’s you.”
    A genuine smile tugged at the frown Jess had been wearing most waking hours for days now. She had absolutely nothing to smile about but somehow the compliment coming from him roused the reaction. “That might be a bit of a stretch, chief.” Sitting here with him staring down at her so intently felt entirely too familiar…too personal. She stood, leveling the playing field. “And even the best can’t create something out of nothing and, unfortunately, that’s exactly what you appear to have so far.”
    “All I’m asking is that you try. These girls,” he gestured to the files, “deserve whatever we can do.”
    He’d get no argument from her there. “You know the statistics.” If they had in fact been abducted, the chances of finding one or more alive at this stage were minimal at best. The only good thing she could see was that they didn’t have a body. Yet .
    “I do.” He dipped his head in a weary, somber move, emphasizing the grave tone of his voice. 
    Eventually she would learn the part he was leaving out. No one wanted to admit there was nothing to be done when anyone went missing, particularly a child or young adult. But this urgency and unwavering insistence that foul play was involved went beyond basic human compassion and the desire to get the job done. She could feel his anxiety and worry vibrating with escalating intensity.
    “Will your counterparts cooperate?” Kicking a hornet’s nest when it came to jurisdiction would compound her already complicated situation. That she could do without. Once the news hit the public domain, there would be trouble enough.
    “They’ll cooperate. You have my word.”
    Jess had known Daniel Burnett her whole life. He believed there was more here than met the eye in these seemingly random disappearances. Unless emotion was somehow slanting his assessment, his instincts rarely missed the mark. More than twenty years ago he had known she was going to part ways with him well before she had recognized that unexpected path herself, and he had known she was his for the taking that cold, blustery evening in that damned Publix. She would lay odds on his instincts every time.
    She just hadn’t ever been able to count on him when it came to choosing her over his own personal and career goals. As ancient as that history was, the hole it left in her heart had never