Andy quickly changed into her borrowed jeans and top. She quickly ran a brush through her short crop of hair and hurriedly scribbled a note to Emily and laid it on the kitchen countertop.

She tiptoed outside as the family was resting upstairs and with a groan put on her uncomfortable heels which she had worn to the party. She twirled the keys she had taken from Leo on her index finger, hoping he would forgive her for "borrowing" his car.

She really couldn't stay here twiddling her thumbs any longer.

She quickly slipped out and got inside Leo's jeep. She turned on the ignition and screamed as a hand landed on her shoulder from the backseat.

"Caught red-handed! Tsk-tsk!" With a very smug smile, Leo reclined in the backseat of the jeep.

"Dammit, you gave me a heart-attack! Why the hell are you here? Don't you have anything better to do, like, twiddle your thumbs and wait for Mary to die?"

"Hmm."Leo appeared thoughtful. "You mean, like, wait around for you to steal my car?"

Andy gritted her teeth. "I was just borrowing it. I left a nice note on the kitchen counter thanking you and Emily for your hospitality."

"I don't think that extends to the loan of my car."

Andy gripped the steering wheel in frustration. She took deep breaths to calm herself. Unbidden, tears sprang up in her eyes. Tears borne out of inactivity and frustration and fear of ...of... , she didn't know of what. She was so tired, she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. And now, Leo was giving her a hard time. She was gonna return his precious jeep to him after she was done using it.

She heard Leo sigh. He got out of his jeep and opened the driver's side door. "Move over, I'll drive."

For once, Andy was happy to oblige. She slid into the passenger seat and clicked on the seatbelt. She noticed Leo had a spare set of car keys which he slid back in his pocket.

They drove in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Leo said, "You know, it will be easier for me to drive if I actually know where we are going."

"Oh crap, so sorry!" Andy dug her hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "This is Mary's address, I got it from a friend at the halfway house where I used to work. I think this is where her husband lives."

Andy gave Leo a sheepish smile. "It's umm, actually, in LA."

Leo gave her a speaking glance. "You were planning to drive my car all the way to LA?"

"Of course not, only to the Airport. There's an evening flight which leaves in a few hours. You can drop me off there."

Leo didn't say much but drove his car over to the shoulder. He plucked out a Bluetooth handsfree from his pocket and made a call through the Bluetooth connection to someone called Lamar.

"Hola Lamar, ¿cómo estás?" Andy listened as Leo had a conversation in rapid Spanish with Lamar. She couldn't follow through except the words airplane, LA, and Houston. After he was done, he made a call to Sheriff Huff. Quickly, he explained that they had the address to Mary's home in LA and could he please dispatch some deputies to check the whereabouts of Mary or her husband. Leo obviously had more faith in Sheriff Huff than Andy had, but still, she was chastened and believed that it was the right thing to do.

After his calls were made, they turned to the direction of the airport, both lost in their own thoughts.

*****

"Are you serious? That jet plane on the tarmac is for me?" Andy couldn't believe her eyes when Leo ignored her pleas to take her to the Houston Airport and instead drove her to an airstrip outside Houston. A gleaming jet plane was on it and a uniformed pilot wearing sunglasses that glinted in the late afternoon sunlight were standing next to it.

She turned to him with disbelief. "Exactly how rich are you?"

For the first time after they had embarked on this mad-cap journey, she saw a glimmer of amusement in his chocolate brown eyes. "It's not mine, Red. But I do have friends in really high places."

"Remind me to thank Lamar," Andy said with an impish smile to Leo as she relaxed in the front seat of the small six-seater plane. Leo, yes, he had insisted on accompanying her and was lounging in the seat across the aisle, returned her smile.

"Always the best for my lady." Andy, in spite of herself, blushed. He could turn on the charm like no other.

After the take-off which Andy observed with considerable awe, she had never been inside a private plane before, after all, she turned to see that Leo had dozed off. He looked so relaxed and boyish in repose. He also didn't seem to have slept much the previous night. She looked into the overhead bin and found a blanket. Since the seatbelt sign was off, she tiptoed to Leo and covered him with the blanket. And because she couldn't help it, she stared at him. He was good-looking of course, but there was a boyish southern charm to him that was so endearing.

She smiled. And, of course, he was sometimes cocky.

She regretted the fight that she had had with him yesterday, but in the short time in Prescott, he had become so much more dear to him. Even more dear than Felicity, who was like a sister and reminded her of her overprotective friend, Mia.

Without conscious thought, she raised her arm and brushed his hair lovingly. He had such soft, thick hair. And such lovely chocolate brown eyes. She could stare into them all day.

With a start, she realized that Leo was awake and she was looking into his eyes. Before she could pull back, he had pulled her down into his seat. He held her close and covered her with his blanket. She realized her heart was thumping hard in her chest, but he just held her close and twined his fingers with hers. Andy bit her lip. She didn't know why she suddenly felt like crying. She felt.... deliriously happy. Like she would get up and sing a sonata right here in the plane.

And that was before Leo brushed a kiss on her temple. After that, she felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

What the hell were these feelings?

"We'll find her, you know, Red? Or at least do our best."

Andy was quiet as Leo continued playing with his fingers. With a voice which suddenly felt choked, she asked him, "Why-Why are you doing this, Leo? I-I didn't... I mean, why are you going to so much trouble for me?"

She looked into his chocolate brown eyes again. And couldn't stop looking. God, she was going to embarrass herself. There really was no dearth of women throwing themselves at Leo, including poor Felicity who she hadn't even cleared the air with, Leo really didn't need another groupie hanging around him. Andy, on the other hand, sympathized with those girls. It was so easy to like Leo, almost too easy. She had liked another before, she reminded herself, and that hadn't ended well.

Before she could pull back, Leo pulled her closer. "Don't do that. Don't suddenly close off like that."

Andy shook her head, but before she could speak, Leo brushed his mouth over hers. "You asked me why I'm going to so much trouble for you. I think the answer's pretty simple. I am really into you. You offered to have an affair with me yesterday and I don't think I could stop myself even if I wanted to."

Andy pulled back just a fraction and inclined her head. "That idea wasn't very appealing to you yesterday."

"What can I say? I'm a guy, we like to do the chasing. I was just caught off-guard when you...well, propositioned me."

Andy bit her lip uncertainly. "I thought you were used to women throwing themselves at you."

That earned her a slow smile. "Well, not really. And I definitely wasn't expecting it from you."

Andy had a feeling that she was getting in way over her head. Something seemed not quite right with their arrangement. But then, she had never had an affair before. Leo was obviously the expert here.

"So, can we seal our bargain with a kiss?" Leo leaned in close. But, he didn't kiss her. He seemed to wait till she closed her eyes and leaned in and met his lips with her own. She felt a tremor go through her as Leo's hand came up and cupped her cheek. His lips moved, oh so softly, over hers. She sighed his name and his mouth ate up her sigh.

This felt so right and if there was a niggling feeling at the back of her mind, she just ignored it. Her hands were in his hair and she felt the silky locks as the kiss deepened. She heard Leo groan and strain towards her as his hands moved over her body and she felt as if she was on fire.

The pilot announced that they were going to land soon and Andy and Leo pulled away. Leo looked at Andy with such intensity, she was sure she had turned all shades of red.

She quickly hopped back into her seat and fastened her seatbelt.

When they landed in the LA airport, a black limo whisked them away. They were still an hour away from Mary's place, so Andy snuggled into Leo. He chuckled and drew her close.

"I'm enjoying this adventure with you sweetheart, though I am guilty that I'm secretly glad I could take you to LA with me."

Andy sobered up. Damn it, she was here for Mary and she had completely forgotten about her! That didn't make her a very good friend, did it?

"What do you think has happened? With Mary?" Andy asked and with a grimace and a hasty apology, Leo pulled out his cell to speak to Sheriff Fred Huff.

Just then, Andy's phone rang. It was Felicity.

"Andy! Where are you? Emily was freaking out when she got the note. Is Leo with you?"

Andy waited till Felicity's questions were over. She then quickly filled Felicity in and said that they would call back soon when they had news about Mary.

"Huh? So you and Leo, right? Tell the asshole that he better take care of you." Andy couldn't hold back a giggle.

"Look, umm, Andy, I think I should tell you something...well, I sort of threw myself at Leo at my birthday party, and please don't hate me, but I didn't know that he was into you or anything." Was Felicity apologizing to her?

"I know, honey, I'm.." This was awkward. Andy had had no idea that Felicity had Leo in mind when she told her about the "hot guy" she was into. And Andy herself hadn't come clean to Felicity about how Leo and she came close. So, Andy thought, it was probably not a good idea to let Felicity know that she and Leo were snogging minutes before Felicity barged in. "I..uh.. Hope there aren't hard feelings or anything."

"Oh jeez! Leo told you? Oh crap, I'm embarrassed. For what's it worth, tell him he's a lousy kisser." There were squeals of laughter from the other end. Emily was obviously listening in."Umm, anyways, Ben asked me out and I said yes. So, yay! We'll talk when you get back."

Andy was still smiling when she hung up with Felicity. God, what would she do without her? It was hard enough to leave Dallas and move to Prescott, but, in a few short months, Prescott was beginning to feel like home? She needed to have her head examined.

Leo was just getting off the phone. "Well, I talked to Huff and they did send people down to Mary's place." Leo pursed his lips. "Mary wasn't there. Her last names' Bremer, by the way. They found Bremer and he's being cross-examined as we speak. Looks like he has a solid alibi for last night. I have also requested someone to keep a watch on the house till Mary's found, but I don't know if they have decided about that yet because they think Bremer's in the clear."

"Hmm", said Andy as she processed the information. "You're going to regret coming with me."

Leo raised a brow. "And why is that?"

"Because we're going sleuthing!"