“Yeah that.”
“It surprised Dad too when I told him I passed my entrance exam and was going to the academy.”
“He didn’t approve?” Nick was a fourth generation military man. Had he expected Payton to follow the same path? Alex had followed, but that was because he liked the structure. Also, what boy didn’t like the idea of blowing stuff up for a living?
“No, just shocked. You remember me when I was younger. I was never the girlie girl. I didn’t want to be a damsel in distress, but save her instead. I wanted to help people. So I became a detective.”
“You couldn’t have done something less dangerous like be a lawyer or a social worker instead?”
Payton cocked an eyebrow. “Says the man who jumps out of perfectly good planes to keep people safe.”
“Yeah, but that’s different.”
“Why, because I’m a woman?”
He had just walked out of the fire and into the frying pan with that statement. It was better to stop while he was ahead. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be questioning your career path. You’re just nothing like the girl I left.”
“How would you know the girl I was? You were never around me long enough to know.”
Only because he had been avoiding her like a plague. “True.” He should apologize for that too, but he honestly wasn’t sorry. He was a teenager with raging hormones and no self-control. One thing would have led to another. Just as he would feel that familiar pull toward her now.
She looked at him so innocently and pure, and he was the devil wanting to devour her.
Payton leaned closer. The movement pressed her breasts together, enlarging her cleavage. Was she doing it on purpose? It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. “Do you still feel the same way?”
“I’ll clear the plates,” he announced loudly, grabbing the plates and making a retreat to the kitchen.
This had been a bad idea, thinking he could stay in this house with Payton alone. She was just too damn tempting, and he was only human. He’d call Colin to switch, but he didn’t want to leave those two alone here either. He was between a rock and a hard place.
Chapter 17
Payton sat at the dining room table cursing her blunt tongue. She hadn’t meant to be so obvious about how upset she still was with his callousness when they were younger. It was over. It happened.
She was a trained detective in the art of interrogation now. She could get detainees to reveal their secrets. One statement from him, and it was gone. She was reverted back to an adolescent begging for Alex’s attention.
Payton wasn’t that girl anymore. Soft, weak. Following him around like a little lost puppy because no one would pay attention to her. Payton had gone to police academy to prove herself. To pave her own way like Alex had. She hadn’t chosen military because she wanted to do everything on her own. Without her dad’s influence. She’d graduated top of her class.
Payton stood tall heading for the living room. Let him hide and retreat. She didn’t care. She had a case to solve.
Pulling out the list of addresses, Payton got on the computer and started inputting them into the system. After a few minutes, she tuned out the rest of the world as she focused. Each address was somewhere local in the Colorado Springs area. Close to the base. But there was nothing to connect any of these places. They were a mix of people’s addresses and old buildings. After a few more minutes, she sighed in frustration.
“What is it?” Alex asked coming into the room.
She noted he sat in the chair furthest away from her. “There’s no connection between any of these places on the list. It’s either people’s home addresses or old buildings. The only thing they have in common is they are here in Colorado Springs.” She tossed her computer to the side.
“You need to take a break.”
Was he out of his mind? “My father is missing, and you want me to take a break?”
“Just for a few hours. You’ve been going at this all day. I’m sure you’re tired. I know I always think better after a few hours of sleep.”
“I’ll sleep when I find my father.” She didn’t know why she was being defiant. He was right. Her head was pounding, and her eyes were blurry. Fatigue was weighing down upon her like a thick blanket. A few hours of sleep and she’d be able to think straight. It wasn’t the first time she’d worked herself into exhaustion. Whenever she had a case, she worked herself like a horse until she collapsed. The guys at the precinct called her a bloodhound. Once she was on a case, she didn’t give up.
She didn’t think that was necessarily a bad thing. But after a few hours’ sleep, she did always think clearer.
“Working yourself to death isn’t going to help him. If anything, you’ll get yourself sick, and it could take us longer to find him.”
“You’re right.” As much as she hated admitting it.