Page 83 of The Fast Lane

He laughed softly but his eyes were sad. “I miss her.”

“Yeah. She was pretty special.”

Slowly, as though afraid he might startle me, he picked my hand up. Carefully, gently, he turned it over and uncurled my fingers. Head bent, he traced the lines there with a whisper-soft touch. My breath caught at the small gesture. It felt wildly intimate, and it was only my hand.

I had it bad. And it was getting worse by the second.

“This will sound weird.” His eyes met mine. “I miss her hands.”

Tears welled at the heartache in his voice. I couldn’t imagine losing my mother. And for Theo, she’d been his only family.

“Remember how she always talked with her hands? Or how she was constantly putting lotion on because her hands were dry from washing them so much at work? The thing I miss the most though is when she’d touch right under her eye.”

“I remember that. What was that about?”

He chuckled, his fingers still tracing my palm. “When I hit middle school, I started to get embarrassed when she would do the whole ‘I love you, my sweet baby angel’ act when we were in public. She was kind of upset when I told her I wanted her to stop. She said she understood I was growing up but she still wanted to say she loved me anytime she wanted. So, she decided that whenever we wanted to say I love you in public, we would touch just under our eye.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Sorry.” He let go of my hand and stretched out on his chair. “I didn’t mean to get weird there.”

I stared at him an extra beat…or five, taking in the view, so to speak. Then, I followed his lead and laid back in my chair.

“Athena Norwood,” I said after a full five minutes had passed.

“Hmm?”

“A.N. Athena Norwood.”

He chuckled. “Not even close.”

“Amy North.”

“Nope.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Can I at least get a clue?”

“Alright. Let me think.” Which he did for what felt like hours. “One of the initials is the same as someone who has a special place in my heart. She’s loyal and smart and clever. Plus, she smells good, and she always makes me smile.”

I scowled. Who was this woman and how do I get rid of her? He sounded much too attached. “Do I know this person? She sounds way too perfect.”

He barked out a laugh. “Oh, you know her, and trust me, she is not perfect. Honestly, she can be slightly unhinged at times. It’s part of her charm.”

Crossing my arms, I settled back into my seat, mulling over his clues for this mysterious woman. Whoever she was, I hated her.

THIRTY-FIVE

Note to self:

Go shopping for a new stakeout outfit.

“Nervous?” I asked.

Theo’s tapping fingers on the steering wheel paused. “Maybe a little.”

After we’d finished at the pool and cleaned up, we ate dinner at a Chinese buffet and played a cutthroat game of Go Fish! until Hallie began rubbing her eyes. Abe kicked me out of our room while he got her to sleep. Theo and I had been presented with the perfect time to complete our mission. His mission. The mission. Whatever.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled into a fancy subdivision in a Vegas suburb called Henderson. It was the kind of “community” with its own pools, playgrounds, clubhouse, and gym. Judging by the size of the houses, meticulously manicured lawns, and expensive cars in the driveways, people paid through the nose to live here.