Forever in Your Deadly Heart

Chapter 12: Job Offer

"And why should I work for you?" Nessa asked, her hands on her hips. She knew she looked ridiculous and was missing a sandal, but she didn't care. She was probably fired from the Tiki Hut because the rules didn't allow allowed long breaks-- not even if you were abducted.

"I'll let you be a secretary," Knox said. "Again."

"Again. That's right...because you fired me the first time," Nessa muttered. "No, thanks. I'd rather wear this hula girl outfit for the rest of my life than work for you."

"You won't be a temp," his voice drawled out as she started to walk away. "If you really want to wear that outfit, I won't put up a big stink about it either."

She slowly turned back to him, her eyes narrowed, "What's the catch?"

He didn't waste any time.

"I want to know where Jessica is at."

"Jessica,the woman you were supposed to marry, right?"

He gave a terse nod.

"I don't know." Nessa shrugged.

Nessa immediately noticed his body stiffen and his fists clench. He looked away as if wrangling in his anger before turning back to her.

"Of course, you know. How else could you have written me that note on the napkin? Only Jessica hated Nicholas Sparks books and used to tell me--"

He stopped himself, biting his lower lip and turning his head from Nessa.

"You still think I'm in cahoots with you ex?" Nessa asked, humor in her tone.

Knox sighed. "How else would you know these things about me?"

"I really don't know," Nessa repeated, rubbing her temples. "If you haven't heard from her for this long, aren't you worried that something happened to her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I told you before. I can hear them talking to me. What if...what if she's no longer living?"

His face paled and he shook his head, taking a step back. "That's impossible. She's alive. She has to be."

"Why? Because you say so?" Nessa argued.

"I would know if something happened to her."

Nessa bowed her head in annoyance. She wanted to go home and change. She wanted to eat a bag of Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheese chips while watching a marathon of true crime shows. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"You don't know what happened to her. You can't know because you haven't talked to her, right? I told you before that I could destroy you if I wanted to. Did you think I was joking. I know all of your secrets."

"You're insane. Do you know that?" Knox asked. He was standing in front of her, unable to move because of his curiosity. He knew Jason sat in the car, probably eavesdropping.

Nessa lifted her head, "You tend to lose yourself, don't you?"

"I don't know what you mean," Knox answered, confused.

Nessa gave a sad smile. "When you drink too much, you black out. You don't even remember what you do when you're drunk, do you?"

His mouth opened but his words were lodged in his throat.

"If you want to give me a job, it has to be without conditions."

She didn't wait for him to answer. Instead she made her way back towards Tiki Hut, picking up her missing sandal along the way.

"C'mon, what is it?" Chrissy Spencer was typing in the password to a laptop that belonged to her sister, Jessica. Despite the numerous tries, she'd never been able to unlock it.

She had tried Jessica's birthday, Knox's birthday, her favorite TV show. She had even thought about asking one of her computer-nerd friends to help her.

"What did Jessica like? She liked yoga, make-up, Audrey Hepburn..." her voice trailed off as she remembered Jessica once singing songs from My Fair Lady. At the time, their father had reminded Jessica she sang terribly. Jessica didn't care. For a week, she continuously sang songs from My Fair Lady.

Chrissy tapped her fingers against the keyboard, typing a quick phrase with no spaces.

TheRainInSpain

The lock screen darkened and a welcome screen emerged, allowing Chrissy access to her sister's laptop. She greedily looked through her sister's files, frustrated at not finding anything useful. It wasn't until she saw the folder holding her sister's pictures, that she gasped.