The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak

always happens when you least expect it."
    It had happened to her. She'd gone to Tennessee to uncover the identity of the man who'd shot her when she was in high school and come home engaged to Cain Granger, the brother of the boy who'd been killed in the same incident.
    "I'm not in the market for marriage," he said.
    She smiled dreamily. "You would be if you knew how great it was."
    God, was he going to have to sit through a recital of what she'd found with another man?
    "I'll take your word for it. Anyway, I've gotta go. Skye needs me." He crossed to Skye's office, one of four that branched off the reception area. He could hear her on the phone behind the closed door and was relieved that he'd soon have a distraction. But Sheridan spoke before he could escape.
    "We've found a log cabin just outside Auburn we're thinking of buying. It'll be perfect for Cain. Plenty of room for his dogs. Lots of space.
    Mountains."
    "That's good." Jonathan wished she'd go back in her office and leave him alone.
    "Cain and I are driving up there tonight. Would you like to come along so you can see it? We could have dinner afterward."
    He almost laughed out loud. "As much as I'd love to see Cain, I'm afraid I have to pass."
    Ignoring the confusion on her face, he knocked at Skye's door. She called for him to come in, but he didn't budge when Sheridan said, "You don't like him, do you? That's why you haven't been returning my calls. Cain and I are a package now, but you won't accept him."
    Jonathan grimaced. "You don't need me to accept him, Sher. You don't need me at all anymore." Stepping into Skye's office, he shut the door behind him. "What's with the cryptic messages?" he demanded as soon as she looked up.
    She cocked an eyebrow. "Hello to you, too."
    Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm in a rush."
    "Is it something you can cancel?"
    "Cancel?" he repeated in surprise. Skye was usually more respectful of his time, especially since he donated so many pro bono hours.
    "I need the best. It has to be you," she explained, and he realized that what he'd interpreted as being highhanded actually stemmed from panic.
    43

    He held out her message and read it again: Something's come up.
    Please, please get in touch with me today--Skye. "I guess my other commitments aren't so pressing that I have to leave right this minute," he conceded and dropped into one of two bright pink, yellow and orange chairs across from her desk. "What's wrong?"
    She pushed whatever she'd been working on aside and rocked back.
    "A friend of mine called earlier, someone I met at a victims' support group after Burke attacked me the first time."
    That was also where she'd met Sheridan and Jasmine, another partner who'd since left Sacramento. "A woman?"
    "Yes."
    "Who is she? Do I know her?"
    "I don't see how you could. Her name's Zoe Duncan. She's never been involved with the charity. I'd actually lost touch with her until this morning.
    She saw the ad in the PennySaver a few weeks ago, recognized my name.
    She said she'd planned to call for social reasons, but that soon changed."
    Skye raked her fingers through her shoulder-length, choppy hair--the result of a recent cut. "Her daughter's missing."
    He considered that for a moment. "What happened?"
    "She disappeared."
    "When?"
    "Yesterday afternoon."
    "How old is the girl?"
    "Thirteen."
    "Was she troubled, likely to be a runaway?"
    "The age might make you wonder, but she's a straight-A student."
    "Smart kids run away, too, Skye."
    "Not smart kids who are at home recovering from mono. If she wanted out, she would've waited until she felt better. Besides, there were no serious problems at home."
    He ran a finger over his bottom lip. "She was living with her mother, then?"
    "Yes."
    "What about her father?"
    "He was released from prison about three months ago."
    Jonathan rested his elbows on his knees. "That's an interesting coincidence. What was he in for?"
    "Rape. One count. The woman he attacked was a