him to better make her next point. A mistake. Last night’s dream was still fresh in her mind and she pictured herself naked in his arms. She breathed in his clean scent, dismayed that it had become familiar again so quickly. Physical attraction. That was all it was. She’d already been down this road with him and he hadn’t turned out to be the man she needed him to be. She hardened herself against him.
“You can be back even sooner if you leave today,” she snapped.
“Are you going back today?” he asked.
What did that have to do with anything? “No.”
“Then neither am I,” he said. “I’m going to stay and help you.”
“No way.” She shook her head. “You think somebody besides Mike contacted Caroline. I’ve got to conduct the investigation as though it was Mike.”
Vertical lines appeared on Logan’s forehead. “Why?”
“I haven’t been able to connect any of his friends to Key West,” Maria said. “Until I rule out Mike, he’s the most likely suspect.”
“And how can you rule him out?”
“By showing around this age progression.” She got a copy out of her purse and handed it to him.
A muscle twitched in his jaw, but otherwise his face revealed nothing. He handed the sheet back to her. “Mike would have been a handsome guy.”
Would have been, not turned out to be.
She swallowed back a retort, reminding herself that she couldn’t prove Mike was alive. Not yet, anyway.
“So where are we headed?” Logan asked.
“We’re not headed anywhere.” She started walking and he fell into step beside her. He was only three or four inches taller than her five feet eight, which was always a surprise. He looked bigger than life. “I’m going to the downtown branch of the post office. I hit the other branch yesterday.”
She passed a fresh produce store and turned the corner onto Eaton Street, which was far less crowded than Duval. They passed a coffee shop and a retro movie theater that was playing first-run films. Maria slanted a glance at Logan. “You don’t listen real well, do you?”
“Think of me as your sidekick,” he said. “I gather we’re going to see if anybody remembers him mailing the envelope?”
She sighed and gave in to the inevitable. “Nobody will remember that, but they might remember Mike.”
The sprawling Old Town post office was in the next block. The line was at least fifteen people deep, a big difference from the post office Maria frequented in Lexington. The lines there had been getting shorter while the number of employees on staff shrank. One of the Lexington tellers blamed the internet.
“Why didn’t he email the photos? Why did he mail them?” Maria didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Logan answered.
“Whoever mailed the photos,” he said, putting emphasis on the first word, “didn’t want someone to track the IP address back to him.”
“That makes sense,” she said. “I’m getting in line. You don’t have to wait with me.”
“Sidekick, remember?” He kept by her side, so close she imagined she could feel the heat of his body. Last night’s erotic dreams came to mind again. She’d done far too much imagining lately when it came to Logan.
It took more than a half hour to reach the front of the line. An Asian clerk not much taller than the counter she stood behind called out, “Next.”
Maria hurried over, the age progression in hand. Logan hung back but only slightly. She got straight to the point, laying the sheet of paper on the counter. “Could you please tell me if you’ve seen this man.”
“You want to mail this?” the woman asked.
“No.”
“What do you want to mail?”
“Nothing.” Maria attempted a smile. “I’m looking for this man. All I want to know is if you’ve seen him.”
The clerk didn’t return her smile. One of her dark brows arched. “What did he do wrong?”
“Nothing. He’s my brother.” Maria tried not to show her frustration. Some people were tougher nuts to crack than others. “I only want to talk to him.”
“How do I know this man wants to talk to you?” the woman asked, her expression hardening. “We’re very busy. You need to step aside if you don’t have anything to mail.”
“But you haven’t—”
“I can vouch for my friend.” Logan was suddenly at Maria’s side, flashing a reassuring smile at the clerk. “She’s been worried about her brother since he went missing.”
The flint went out of the woman’s features. She looked past Maria to Logan. “This man, he’s really her brother?”
“He really is,” Logan said. “Could you please take a look and see if you recognize him?”
She nodded once, slid the paper closer and examined it for a few seconds. “Never seen him before.”
Maria shoved aside her disappointment and tapped the age progression. “Could you hold on to that and show it around?”
“Give me a call if somebody recognizes him.” Logan reached into his wallet and handed a business card to the teller. Because he had clearly made a connection with her, Maria suppressed the urge to pull out a card of her own.
“For you, I’ll do it,” the clerk told him.
Maria didn’t speak again until they were outside in the sunshine. Even though she hadn’t wanted Logan along, she couldn’t discount his help. “I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said. “I’m here to help any way I can.”
Unexpected tears stung the backs of her eyes. She wasn’t sure if they were due to the stress of searching for the brother she’d long believed dead or the fact that Logan Collier was being kind to her.
“Where to now?” he asked.
“Let’s stop at that coffee shop we passed,” she said, nodding back down Eaton Street. “I could use a cup.”
“A bottle of cold water sounds good to me.” He wiped his damp brow. “I’m not exactly dressed for warm weather.”
There was a line inside the coffee shop, too. Great, Maria thought. This would work. “I need to use the restroom. Would you order a cup of regular coffee for me?”
“Sure,” he said.
She waited until he was in line and his back was turned before slipping out of the store. Guilt, her constant companion, once again descended. She ignored it.
She
