“No. I saw you wearing the shawl and nothing else.”

A sensual shiver danced over her skin, and her hips thrust forward of their own volition. “God, Diesel.” She clasped her hands at the back of his neck and pulled his head down, bringing their mouths together hard. The kiss was hot and raw and she wanted nothing more than to lock the door and rip his clothes off.

“You tempt me,” he whispered against her lips when they came up for air. Then he took a firm step back. “Get to work. Call Laurel’s friends. I’ll see you later.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cincinnati, Ohio
Monday, March 18, 2:30 p.m.

Grant didn’t check the caller ID as he answered his cell. “Yeah?” he mumbled, staring at the book he’d found, the page covered with Wesley’s handwriting.

“What’s wrong?” Cora asked, the panic in her voice jolting him back to reality.

“I’m okay.” No, I’m not okay. “I just . . . I’ll tell you when I see you.”

“Grant, come home. Now.”

That got his attention. “Why? What’s wrong with the kids?”

“Nothing, they’re fine. But this lady called. Her name was Dani Novak. She said she was a doctor. In Cincinnati. At first I thought something had happened to you, but she said it was about Laurel.”

Dani Novak. Grant let out a slow breath. She was the woman whose house had been attacked last night by Scott King. And now she was calling him . . . “About Laurel?”

“Yes. I looked her up, Dr. Novak, I mean. She went to UC’s med school, too. Maybe she knew Laurel from there. Maybe she knows where Laurel is.”

“What did she say?”

“That she was connected to something that belonged to Laurel. She left her cell number. I told her that you weren’t home. Grant, what the hell is happening?”

Grant stared at the book, then at the world globe that he’d found on the desk in Wesley’s office, the sphere now split into halves. He’d known as soon as he found the globe that that was where Wesley had hidden something important. A battered world globe was where they’d hidden their treasures when they were kids.

He hadn’t expected a call from Dani Novak, though. “Wesley came here looking for Laurel.” He still hoped, even though everything he’d found said otherwise.

“I know that. We figured that on Saturday. Grant, I’m scared. What’s going on?”

“I think Wes stopped looking for Laurel,” Grant whispered, his throat thick.

“Oh God.” Cora was quiet for a long moment. “She’s dead?”

“I don’t know, but I think so. And I think he found the man who killed her.”

Cora’s swallow was audible. “Is that man dead?”