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Chapter Twenty

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THE ALARM BUZZED AT four-thirty in the morning, but María was already awake and preparing to leave. Isabella made breakfast and packed a lunch, including several snack bars and homemade cookies. They shared the goodbye kiss lovers share when one must go on an unexpected journey, alone.

“I’ll call you. Te amo.” María kissed Isabella one more time and began her trip.

“I love you too,” Isabella called out as she lingered at the door.

***

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JAMIE FELT BOO’S LIPS press against hers. Very softly at first, then with more pressure. Boo’s lips were much softer than Jamie had imagined. And she had imagined this kiss many times. The first kiss was a sweet surprise Jamie wanted burned into her memory. It was almost as if Boo’s lips and hers were melting together.

Jamie’s eyes flew open. The time on the clock was much later than she expected. Boo was still in her arms. An overwhelming urge to wake Boo by kissing her threatened to make the dream into a reality. A deep sigh strengthened Jamie’s resolve—stealing a kiss was not an option. It would violate the trust she built with Boo. Plus, it was clear where a kiss would lead—to more kisses. And that would lead to...Jamie was trying to decide if what would follow would be tender love-making or urgent sex when Boo stirred, opening her eyes.

“Good morning,” Jamie spoke first, sounding far more casual than her aroused body felt.

“Good morning.” Boo blinked a couple of times to clear the sleep from her eyes.

Neither woman wanted to leave their embrace. Both were content to linger in the moment. Max had other plans as he entered his mother’s bedroom without knocking.

“Mom,” he whined, half asleep, “breakfast.” Max crawled into bed, snuggling against Jamie’s free side. His eyes soon settled on Boo, causing him to smile sweetly at her.

“Come on, tigre, I’ll make us something.” Boo reached across Jamie’s torso to tousle Max’s hair. She then rolled out of bed, gently lifted Max up into her arms, and walked toward the kitchen. Max reached up to run his hand through Boo’s hair as she kissed his forehead.

Jamie watched the display of obvious affection between the two. Her heart was lost. She was falling deeper in love as the scenes of perfectly ordinary, yet joyful domesticity played out each day with Boo.

Jamie forced herself out of bed and followed the sounds of breakfast preparations. The morning routine had begun. This ritual would end sooner or later, one way or another, but for now it enveloped them in the comfort of knowing what happens next.

“I need to spend some time in the office today,” Jamie jumpstarted the conversation. “I have to start thinking about what my next project will be.”

Boo stared into her cereal bowl, uninterested in its contents. It seemed that everyone else’s life was moving forward except hers. A feeling of being adrift washed over her.

Picking up on Boo’s mood, Jamie devised an impromptu plan for the day.

“Boo, I was wondering if you would do me a big favor? Mom and Dad are headed to Fairfield later this morning for a couple of meetings. Max really likes the children’s museum there. How would you feel about taking Max there today? If you’re up for it. It can be loud and chaotic.”

“Really?” Boo perked up.

“Max, would you like to go to the children’s museum in Fairfield today?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t think we can disappoint him now.” Jamie shrugged innocently. “I’ll call Mom and Dad. I really appreciate this. And Max does too. Right, Max?”

“Yes!”

Boo looked at Jamie for a moment. Jamie was obviously doing her a favor, not the other way around. “Are you sure? I mean, what do I do if someone recognizes him as your kid or something happens?”

“Boo—number one, Max doesn’t get recognized unless he is with me or someone in the family. Otherwise, he looks just like every other kid. In this case, everyone will assume he’s your child or you’re a relative. Number two, I trust you. It’s very clear you and I feel the same about Max—we’d give our life to protect him. Number three, if you need help, there are a lot of staff at the museum, and Mom and Dad will be a phone call away. I am totally comfortable with this.”

Jamie dialed her phone, making arrangements with her parents to pick up Boo and Max in an hour. Jamie would meet them in Crestwood in the late afternoon for dinner. It was the perfect plan. After ending the call, Jamie walked around the kitchen table to kiss Max on the head. Lifting Max’s face, she zeroed in on him with stern eyes.

“Max, you need to stay with Boo today. You must not run off for any reason. If you need to go somewhere, you must take Boo with you. I am trusting you to bring Boo back home to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mom, I’ll bring Boo home. I promise.”

“Okay, now go find some clothes and let me see them before you put them on. And bring me your backpack so we can put some stuff in it.” Jamie sent Max off to his room with a pat on his butt.

Boo was amused by the way Jamie handled Max until Jamie turned on her.

Jamie walked around the table and kissed Boo on the head. She lifted Boo’s face, eyes zeroed in on her target.

“Boo, you need to stay with Max and you must not run off for any reason. I am trusting both of you to come back home to me. Do you understand?” Jamie wanted to seal the lecture with a kiss on Boo’s lips but resisted.

“Yes, ma’am. I promise we will both come home to you.”

“Good. I love you both and I need you both here with me at the end of the day.” The word love escaped Jamie’s lips before she could censor herself, but she realized she did not want to take it back. Although the sentiment was safer linked as it was to Max, the feeling was one she wanted to express to Boo.

“We love you, too, and we will not fail in our mission.” Boo’s mischievous look deepened her dimple. “I will find some clothes. Do you want to see them before I put them on?”

Jamie’s internal response was, I want to see you putting them on and then take them off of you. Her external response was deadpan.

“I trust you, but please do not mix paisley with plaid. And put a hat on. Apparently that is all you need to disguise yourself.”

As Boo passed, Jamie patted her on the butt, too. After Boo left the room, Jamie exhaled, realizing she needed to watch herself more closely. She was acting more and more flirty with someone else’s wife. She would not want another woman flirting with Boo if Boo were her wife. And, while Jamie was trying to keep it all in good fun, there was intention behind the words she passed off as joking.

***

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MARÍA SPENT PART OF her drive on the phone calling people who Jirafa was likely to be in contact with. No one had heard from her in several weeks but that was typical when Jirafa was out in the field working. Jirafa often traveled to remote locations, plus she would take off on back country hikes for several days at a time. She was not reckless, just out of contact for long stretches of time.

María finally reached someone from the field site where Jirafa was supposed to arrive three weeks prior. Jirafa had not shown up, but no one thought much of it, assuming she had been delayed or was at another job site. The person María talked with did not remember who was scheduled to pick up Jirafa in Crestwood.

“So we know she does not have her truck, she was dropped off in Crestwood, but we don’t know who was supposed to pick her up,” María said, filling Isabella in on the day’s conversations. “We know she has a job she should be working on, but we don’t know why she has not shown up. And we don’t know why she seems to still be in Crestwood.”

“We do know she’s still alive and apparently she’s done some clothes shopping.” Isabella was always looking on the bright side. “Maybe she met somebody, fell in love, and decided to stay in Crestwood.”

“Yeah, right,” María couldn’t help but adopt a somewhat sarcastic tone, “that would be totally out of character for her to just give up her work. She’s not independently wealthy, and I’m not sure there’s a woman who could compete with her passion for her work.” María had firsthand knowledge of how dedicated Jirafa was to her work, often to the detriment of personal relationships. Even though it was long past, María could still be cautious in her relationship with Isabella because of her experience with Jirafa.

“That’s true.” Isabella understood María’s tone. “I guess when you find her you’ll find out what happened. The more important thing is to find her before the feds do, just in case.”

“I’m still a couple of hours away. I’ll check at the diner where she was dropped off. I guess I could try to contact Jamie Jordan, but I doubt her phone number is listed. And it’s not like I can go to the cops and file a missing person report when her picture is posted online. We know where she is, we just don’t know why she’s out of touch.”

“Okay, text me when you get there. Anda con cuidado, mi amor.”

***

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“COULDN’T SHE HAVE MARRIED someone named Oriwennla Xaelvette Zuriaria?” Shon’s search for the elusive María Garcia resulted in an exasperated tone.

“You better search and make sure you’re not making fun of someone’s real name.” Jamie felt a similar, but more aching frustration.

“I can’t believe she wasn’t the right one. She’s the closest match we have. I sent some other possibilities to Chief, but none of them look good enough to follow up on. Do you think Boo just forgot about being divorced?” Shon sat back in their chair to think.

“Anything is possible, but she seems sure she’s still married. And the comment online indicated an expectation to see Boo next week, so we assume someone is expecting her to be somewhere. Have there been any more comments?” Jamie asked.

“Not that I have seen but there are tens of thousands of comments. There’s no way to read them all. I searched for phrases. Plus, things are re-posted all over. We’ll never see most of the things people post.”

“Take a break, Shon. We need to be patient. Next week, we will do another appearance.”

“It might start to look like you two are really an item.” Shon unconvincingly attempted to conceal a grin.

Jamie ignored Shon’s comment to avoid denying it. She was busy making a list of issues she wanted to speak with her agent about, and Boo was not on the list. Jamie had submitted a short read on video for one of the meetings she cancelled earlier in the week. Her agent was working on the endorsement deal. Finally, there was a film project she was intrigued by, but she wanted more information about the production team and who would be directing before she expressed interest.

Jamie also needed to talk to her agent about transitioning from acting to more behind the camera work. Jamie’s primary goal was to find work she had a passion for, but would keep her out of the direct spotlight. She wanted to spend more time with Max as he grew up, and, possibly, include another child in their family. And, hopefully, add a romantic partner.

As her career progressed, Jamie spent more time on set learning about directing and production. Her most recent directors were happy to explain their scene decisions and talk at length about how to create a guiding vision for a film. Being able to see a whole project, not just her part, was a skill Jamie needed to learn if she wanted to try her hand at directing even a small film. Directing was hard work, but it would be a fresh challenge.

***

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BOO AND MAX’S VISIT to the children’s museum was a welcome change in routine. A couple of times during the day, Boo sought refuge from the shrillness of excited children’s screams, but she never let Max out of her sight. For Max’s part, whenever he noticed Boo was not by his side, he searched until he found her. Then, taking her hand, he would lead her back into the raucous fray.

Lessa and Philip successfully negotiated with two bicycle shops to support their Bikes-for-Kids project before retrieving Boo and Max from the museum. On the drive home, Lessa glanced in her rearview mirror at the two sleeping figures in the back seat. Lessa and Philip were growing fonder of Boo as they spent time together and watched her interact with Max and Jamie. They wanted Boo to be happy and hoped to keep her in their lives. This was especially important to them given Jamie’s obvious feelings.