Chapter 6

But now I'm all alone
And I can't stop thinkin' of you
To hold you in my arms once again
Is all I wanna do

AJ sat at Brian’s kitchen table and stared into the mug of black coffee that had long since cooled in front of him. Nick sat across from him and frowned at the bowl of cereal he’d poured for himself over an hour ago. Neither of them had much of an appetite. Brian had gone to church that morning because it was Sunday and because he had been spending a good portion of each night there, praying for the safe return of his family. Nick wondered when the last time Brian had slept was. When he posed the question to AJ, AJ shrugged and said that Brian hadn’t even stepped into his own bedroom, so who knew if he even slept?

When the buzzer for the front gates rang, AJ looked at his watch. “Did anyone say they were coming by today before two? Because it’s only eleven, and I know Brian made everyone promise to stay away until two.”

Nick shrugged. “Let’s just find out.”

When they asked who was at the gates, they were met with a curt response. “Agent Regan Daniels. FBI,” a woman’s voice replied.

Nick and AJ stared at each other then hit the button to open the gate. “Did you know the FBI was coming?” Nick wondered.

AJ frowned. “I didn’t know. I mean, I knew the cops cleared out last night, but Brian just said that they were done with their part of the case. I thought that just meant that the cops in Virginia were going to take care of it, now. I guess not.”

“The FBI,” Nick said almost reverently. “How cool is that? If anyone can find Si and the babies, it’s got to be the FBI.”

AJ shook his head. “Christ, Nick. If they can’t find them, I don’t think anyone else could.”

They watched a dark sedan roll up the drive followed by another small car. They parked next to Sienna’s car, and six people got out.

“Holy shit,” Nick whispered. “Check out that one.”

AJ barely heard him as he watched a woman in sunglasses and dark suit walk up the path towards the door. Her dark red hair was pulled back to trail down her back and her face wore a no-nonsense attitude. AJ opened the door before she could ring the bell.

One brow arched. “Mr. McLean, I assume?” she greeted him, coolly. AJ nodded, wondering where the hell his voice had gone because he was usually able to deal well with women. Before he could say anything, she had stepped into the house and greeted Nick by name also.

“Wait a minute,” AJ discovered his voice. “You know who we are, but we don’t know who you are. Agent Daniels, I assume,” he wondered.

She nodded. “That’s right, gentlemen. And this is the rest of my team,” she gestured towards the four men and one woman who entered the house. “Agents Bishop, Clark, Lord, Harrison, and Rafferty. We’re taking over the Littrell kidnapping case from the Lexington Police Department because the case has become one extending through different states.”

AJ nodded. “Because the guy who kidnapped Sienna and her children called from Virginia, right? Will you be able to bring them home?” he demanded.

Regan slid her sunglasses on top of her head, revealing eyes the color of smoke. “We’re going to do our best to bring them home. In case you were wondering, Mr. McLean, I have yet to leave a case unsolved. And my field is kidnapping cases.”

AJ snorted in disbelief. “You’re what? Twenty-five? I’m supposed to believe that you’ve solved enough cases like this one to be able to say you can bring them home?” He ignored Nick’s sound of protest. “Not to alienate you from the start, Agent Daniels, but I find it hard to believe you can solve this case. You seem like you just started last year.”

Regan’s expression hardened. “I’ve worked for the FBI since I was twenty-two. That’s six years, Mr. McLean. Or did your touring tutor not teach you the minimal math that required to compute it?” When her team murmured behind her, she ignored them and, stepping up to AJ, she tapped a finger on his chest. “Unless you know how to follow a suspect carrying precious cargo through several states and have done so at least two hundred times before, stay out of my work, and I’ll stay out of yours.” She stepped back. “Now, where’s Mr. Littrell?”

“Right here,” Brian called from the front door. He stepped into his home and walked towards Regan. “That was quite the pissing match you and AJ had there, Agent Daniels. Although it answered my concerns about you. So, thanks, Alex,” he nodded at AJ, who shrugged.

“And your concerns would be?” Regan wondered.

“Exactly how hard you would try to bring my family home,” Brian answered simply. “I think it’s safe to say that you don’t plan on leaving until you find them. So, I’m trusting you to bring them back to me.”

Her expression softened. “Mr. Littrell, I promise you that I will do whatever is in my power to find the man who took your family and bring him to justice. Before that, however, I plan on finding your wife and children and bringing them home—where they belong.”

Brian watched her for a few moments then nodded. “Okay then. Call me Brian,” he told her. “You’re going to help find my family. The least you can do is call me by my first name, and these two, too,” he added, gesturing towards AJ and Nick.

Regan nodded. “Call me Regan, then.” At Brian’s nod, she continued. “I think it’s best if we just got started right away. I have all the materials from the LPD, so I know what they’ve uncovered so far. Is there a room that I could use to set up my equipment in, Brian? I mean, if you want us to work out of your home, of course,” she added quickly.

Brian nodded. “I wouldn’t let you work anywhere else. I want to be there the instant you find anything, so you can have my office.”

As he led the FBI agents down the hall towards his office, Nick turned to AJ. “What the hell are you doing, AJ? We need her to help us, so you can’t go off and be an asshole to her!”

AJ shrugged. “There’s something about her that just rubs me the wrong way. I don’t know what it is, though.”

Nick arched a brow. “Rubs you the wrong way? Damn, if I could rub her the right way—oof! Hey, what was that for?” Nick complained, rubbing the side AJ had punched him in.

“Keep your hands off the FBI agents, Nicky. We can’t have her focusing on your good looks instead of Sienna. Let her focus on what’s important. Meanwhile, I think we’d better hang around and see what goes on, huh?” At Nick’s nod, they headed down the way the others had gone.

***

For dinner that evening, Kristin had dropped off a roasted chicken with vegetables for the people who remained in Brian’s home. He had asked his family and friends not to spend time at the house because it would only distract the agents from doing their jobs properly. And, Brian had explained, if they couldn’t do their jobs properly, then how could they be expected to find Sienna, Luke, Kara, and Serena? After that, everyone had agreed not to come over but to simply drop off meals. Nick and AJ had firmly told Brian they weren’t going anywhere, but he told them that he was glad they were there; that he needed their support, now.

After setting up their equipment in Brian’s office, Regan had told Brian the same thing Lieutenant Sheridan had: until the kidnapper called again, the only thing they could do was wait. At least they now knew that Sienna was somewhere in Virginia—for the time being, anyway. When she had been getting ready to leave for the night, Brian had stopped her and offered her a room in his home.

“I’ve got plenty of space,” he reminded her. “I could put up your entire team, if you want.”

She smiled. “Brian, it’s a thoughtful offer, but I couldn’t have all six of us stay.” When she’d seen the look on his face, she’d relented. “Okay, then. I’ll stay, but I’m going to send my team off. I hope that’s okay.”

Brian smiled. “That’s good. Thank you.”

Now, Regan joined Brian, AJ, and Nick for dinner. As they sat eating, AJ could feel the tension descend on the table. Nick ate as Nick always ate—happily and until he was full. Regan cleared off her plate, but AJ noticed that she hadn’t put much on it to begin with. She had bird bones and was a willowy three inches shorter than his five foot nine height. His concerned gaze fell on Brian, who everyone else seemed to be furtively watching. Brian poked at the chicken, bit off a piece here, nibbled there, and then set his fork down and caught AJ watching him.

“What?” Brian wondered. At AJ’s pointed glance, he pushed himself back from the table. “I can’t eat, okay? I can’t do anything normal until I know they’re okay. What if they haven’t eaten, Alex? How can I eat when they might be starving somewhere?”

Regan motioned for AJ to not say anything. “Brian, it’s not going to help your wife when she comes home to find her husband falling over and weak. Instead of you being strong for her, she’s going to have to be strong you. How is that going to help her?”

Brian let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll eat, but only because I know everyone talks about me when they think I can’t hear them. I’ll eat and then y’all can just be quiet and focus more on my family than me.”

They finished the meal in silence, and AJ cleaned up the kitchen area, while Brian showed Regan to the room she would be staying in and Nick went outside to wander the gardens. AJ had become quite adept at cleaning the kitchen and doing dishes in the last week and actually found it therapeutic. As he washed the plates and glasses and set them in the dishwasher, he tried not to think about Sienna or the kids and instead focused on the newest member of the puzzle—Regan. He couldn’t understand why she had gotten under his skin as quickly as she had. All she’d had to do was open her mouth and he’d been annoyed. No, AJ corrected himself. She’d fascinated him. This woman was to find Sienna and the babies? She looked as though she had barely made it out of college and was now supposed to help out with a huge case such as this one? Maybe it was because she was a lovely woman. He’d never had problems with them before. Then again, AJ mused, yeah, she was pretty, but he’d found all females pretty in one way or another. Although she was attractive in a quiet, girl-next-door way. He’d never been attracted to that, so he knew that he’d simply have to restrain Nick from doing anything stupid.

Wiping off the counters, he quashed the urge for a cigarette and went to join Nick outside in the bracing cold.

***

Late that night, after she had made sure that the men in the house were asleep, Regan tiptoed out of the gorgeous bedroom Brian had lent her to explore the house. She hadn’t seen more than the study, kitchen, and part of the upstairs during the day. Now, she thought, now she could finally move around the house and get an idea for who exactly it was that she was fighting for. Who were the Littrells, she wondered. For that matter, what kind of a relationship and home had Brian and Sienna built? It was these things that Regan dug into in order to get the full feel of a case—she needed to know who she was helping.

The living room was decadently decorated with plenty of flower arrangements that had begun to wilt. Regan assumed they were from the flower shop that Sienna ran, but no one had cared for them in the mess of the past week. She glanced over the pictures scattered through each room. Most of them were of the children, and Regan had to smile at how pretty the babies were. Other pictures were of Brian and Sienna’s wedding day and their friends and families.

She walked into the den and stopped. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t think anyone was awake.”

AJ simply watched her in the dim light of the lamp he had flicked on when she’d walked in. “No worries,” he told her. “I was just sitting here, thinking. You’re welcome to look around,” he offered. “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing for the last half hour?”

Regan blushed at having been found out, then she was annoyed with herself for being embarrassed. “I needed to get a feel for Brian and Sienna and their family. It helps me to know who it is I’m helping,” she informed him.

“And?” AJ asked.

Regan sighed and sat on an armchair across from him. “And I’ve discovered that they’re parents who are raising three of the most beautiful children in the world. Everything that’s happening to them now is ridiculous. I hate that such terrible things happen to the best of people,” she added. “But, I will find them and bring them home. Trust me.”

AJ said nothing for a several moments. “You know, the funny thing is, I do trust you, Regan Daniels. I think you’re a woman who knows what she wants and gets it. If you want Sienna and the kids back, I think you’ll get them back. So, thank you ahead of time.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied.

They fell into a silence for a time, and Regan tried to figure him out. She’d read up on all the Backstreet Boys, and AJ and Nick had had the most colorful pasts. AJ had cleaned up his act, though, Regan knew. He’d gone through the alcoholism and drug abuse, stuck himself through rehabilitation, and he’d come out the other side much cleaner. She had to admire that, she knew. Especially since she knew all about tough times and bringing yourself out of them.

When he’d snapped at her earlier, she had been hurt. She’d barely known him, but she’d felt hurt when he’d snubbed her. And that, she realized, might become a problem. She’d never felt anything more than friendly affection towards a man in the last eight years, but she was afraid that if AJ looked at her with those eyes, she might ruin her record. It was ridiculous, she kept telling herself even as she sat here in the dim light with him. How was it that she could so easily be attracted to a man after going years without caring about one? She’d barely known him twelve hours and already, Regan knew he’d be dangerous.

“You know what, Regan?” AJ turned to her. “You could be a potential problem in my small world.”

She frowned at him. “Excuse me? I could be a problem?”

AJ shrugged. “Sure. You’re a beautiful woman, which could prove a problem because Nick’s already got his eye on you.”

The frantic dance her heart had done when he’d called her beautiful came to an abrupt halt. “Nick? He’s a baby,” she reminded him. “He might start to have a puppy dog crush, but I’m here in a strictly professional capacity,” she reminded AJ and herself. “The most I can be is a friend. Which is probably more than I should be, anyway,” she added.

AJ nodded. “I’m going to have to remind him of that. He knows you can’t be distracted because you have to focus on the case, on bringing Bri’s family home. However, I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to resist the Carter charm.”

Regan stood. “Don’t worry, AJ. I have incredible will power. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I should be getting to bed, now,” she murmured. “Otherwise, I won’t be able to concentrate tomorrow on the important things. So, good night.”

AJ nodded and watched her go. He may have lied to her, AJ thought. He knew Nick would probably develop a thing for her, but he was afraid that he might, too. Shaking his head, he stood. With his background, going for an FBI agent was probably the worst thing he could do. So, he wouldn’t. He would help with the case and keep his distance from her. That would be the best way to go all around, AJ thought and, switching off the lamp, left the room.

Lyrics from “Can’t Stop Thinkin’ About You” Backstreet Boys

***

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