Caught by Jami Alden Read Free Book Online Page A

his hand gently on her bare forearm and looking deep into her brown eyes, “I can assure you we’re here for a very good reason, if you’ll just let us explain.”
    She blinked slowly, as though coming out of a trance. “Okay, Ethan, was it? Why don’t you follow me to the kitchen and we can discuss it over a cup of coffee.”
    Toni made a noise that sounded like a gag and followed them down the hallway. Though the house was not nearly as large or as ostentatious as the Kramers’, the Friedlands weren’t exactly hurting for money. The house was professionally decorated, with expensively upholstered furniture in the living room and dining room and all that knick-knacky crap that women liked to put on every available surface.
    “Can you tell me what this is about?” Joyce asked. “We really are in a hurry. Mai gets booked up weeks in advance, and I don’t trust anyone else to touch my feet.”
    “As I tried to explain,” Toni said, her voice so tight she sounded like she had lockjaw, “We’re hoping Laurie might have some information about Kara Kramer.”
    Joyce barely spared a glance at Toni as she strode down the hallway. “What kind of information?”
    “Kara Kramer didn’t come home last night,” Ethan said as they entered the kitchen. Laurie sat at a farmhouse-style kitchen table, her thumbs moving rapidly over the keypad of her phone. “Have you heard from her at all?”
    After a few more seconds of flying digits, Laurie finally looked up. A pretty girl, lanky, with pin-straight dark hair and light brown eyes that stood out from her summer-tan skin.
    “I haven’t really talked to Kara in a while,” she said, a little wary.
    Ethan nodded, accepted Mrs. Friedland’s offer of a cup of coffee, and sat down at the kitchen table across from Laurie. He watched as Joyce offered Toni a cup, too, almost as an afterthought. Unlike Ethan, Toni remained standing, leaning against the counter as she sipped her coffee. A stray bead of liquid caught on her lush bottom lip, and he watched, mesmerized, as her tongue came out to flick it away. His cock jerked to attention, and he could almost feel that hot, pink tongue flicking along his skin. He had the unwelcome urge to forget this interview and grab her by the back of the neck and see how she tasted, hot, sweet, and bitter from the coffee.
    He closed his eyes, gave himself a mental shake. He never had trouble keeping a lid on his sexual urges, and now was not the time to get distracted by a pair of mile-long legs and a mouth that would have done a porn star proud.
    “How long since you’ve talked to her?” Toni asked. “It’s extremely important that you tell us anything you know.”
    “Are you the police?” Laurie asked, sounding taken aback by Toni’s aggressive tone.
    Ethan sighed. Sexy or not, Toni had all the subtlety and patience of a bull in a china shop. He shot a look at Toni. Let me handle the talking. She seemed to get his message because a muscle throbbed in her jaw, but she kept her mouth shut.
    “No, we’re not the police,” he said. “We’re private investigators, hired by her parents to help find Kara.”
    “Was she kidnapped?” Joyce asked, sounding appalled.
    “Right now all we know is that Kara left the house sometime around two this morning and she hasn’t come back yet. We were hoping you had seen or heard from her,” Ethan said, choosing his words carefully. “We hope she’s just at a friend’s house and will come home on her own. But in the meantime, we can’t rule out the possibility that she’s in some trouble.”
    “Why would her parents hire you?” asked Joyce. “Why not let the police handle it?”
    “They are. We’re simply picking up some slack.” He turned his attention back to Laurie. “So, have you seen or spoken to Kara recently?”
    “Laurie’s been in France for a month,” Joyce interjected. “She got into a very prestigious language immersion program.”
    “Did you keep in touch with Kara while