Chapter 10

• Felicity woke up with energy, for the first time in a long time. Her sleep hadn’t been interrupted by any visions or the anguish following one that most time prevented her from relaxing and sleeping. Maybe it was from the fact that someone believed her—making her feel a lot less like a freak of nature.
• She took her time getting ready for a change. It wasn’t often she felt like taking special care of how she looked. Then again, how often did she have plans to actually speak to people? She paused in front of the tiny closet and thought. She couldn’t remember the last time.
• Selecting a long flowing dark blue skirt, she held it up to a white blouse. She shook her head. Just doing that gave her a flashback to her mother’s endless lectures, when she’d been younger on dressing appropriately. Shrugging, she pulled the blouse out of the closet. Her mother hadn’t been around for a long time to critique her selection of clothes.
• Brent was just reaching to get out of the car when her front door opened. He dropped his hand and watched. She was smiling. He suddenly felt underdressed in his black jeans. But she looked just like a porcelain figurine in her dark skirt with a tight hugging top. The sunlight reflected through her long, pale hair as it hugged down passed her shoulders. When she looked at him through the windshield and smiled, he was glad he had a few seconds to compose himself before he’d have to speak.
• Felicity climbed into the passenger seat and smiled over at the grinning detective. “Morning.”
• “Morning.” He paused for another second to look at her, then turned and started the car.
• He’d driven silently for several blocks. Felicity noticed him glancing at her a few times. She looked down at the folder of sketches on her lap. “After the sketches, what then?”
• Brent stopped at the corner and briefly looked at her. “We’ll run them with the missing children’s database.”
• She pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “Oh. I check the websites quite often though…”
• “They’re rarely up to the minute.” She gave him a puzzled look. He turned into the parking lot near Jac’s building. “It’s sad, but there are too many cases to keep the sites and networks up-to-date constantly.” Parking the car, he turned toward her. “Ready?”
• She looked around. “We’re there already?”
• “Yeah.”
• “Oh.” She reached over and opened the door. “I’m just a bit nervous.”
• Brent climbed out and glanced at her over the roof. “Don’t be, I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” He winked at her. “I’ll sing and distract everyone if you phase out.”
• Laughing, she walked over to stand in front of him. Even with the heeled boots she had decided to wear, she still had to tip her head back to look up at him. “Please get someone to record it, so I can hear it later.”
• He cleared his throat. “Trust me; it’s not anything you’d want to hear.” Turning, he led the way into the building. Standing there looking down into her lustrous eyes had made him think of things he had no business thinking.
• Jac got up from the table when they walked in. “Hi.” She gave Brent a huge grin. “I knew you’d be gallant and pick Felicity up.”
• Brent grinned back at her. “Of course. I carried her groceries last night too.”
• Jac’s eyebrows went up then she glanced at Felicity. She was laughing. Jac motioned them in. “Have a seat. Reid just ran out to get coffee, and Ricky is running a few minutes late.” Felicity walked past her. Jac frowned. “Felicity, you’re cheating.”
• Felicity turned and gave her a puzzled look. “I am?”
• Jac grinned. “You wore heels. I liked that you were just as short as I was.”
• Felicity set the folder down and shrugged. “I felt like I was standing in a forest last night when the two detectives stood talking over my head.”
• Jac chuckled. “You get used to it.”
• Brent walked over and leaned against Jac’s desk. He looked down at Felicity. “Hey, I’m the short one.”
• “Sure you are.” She followed his eyes when he looked towards the door to see his partner coming through the door. Maybe he had a point. The larger man almost filled the doorway. She smirked at him. “So, did you two get kicked off a football team or something? Decided to scare and protect instead?”
• Brent laughed at Reid’s bewildered look. Taking the cup his partner held out he shrugged towards her. “Felicity thinks we’re trees.”
• Reid smirked. “I’m just a little guy, my father was big.”
• Felicity stood there looking up at him.
• Jacinda handed her a cup. “Regular, right?”
• Felicity nodded and took the coffee. “Yes, thanks.” She glared up at Reid, who she was sure was purposely standing at full height to make her feel very small. “Sit.” She told him quietly.
• Brent laughed as Reid gave her a peculiar look but sat down anyways. He waited for Jac to stop giggling. “What time is Ricky going to be here?” He had barely finished the question when someone knocked on the door.
• “Now,” Reid said in a bland tone.
• Felicity looked at the door, then over to Brent. He winked at her, making her feel less anxious. “Don’t forget you promised to sing.”
• He laughed, not even knowing where to begin to explain to his partner why he was singing.