Noah and Sami met 19 days ago.

ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

He lay down, put his arm around her, and pulled her closer. "Make yourself comfortable. No kissing or..." He exhaled. "Leave it at that."

Sami laid her head on his chest, her arm went across his chest, and her leg rested on his. "Is this, okay?"

"Does it help?"

"Yes."

"Then it's okay. After you fall asleep, I'll go to my room."

She snuggled closer. "Okay."

"Are you comfortable, now?" She nodded, and he said, "You're borderline impossible."

"I'm impossible, feisty, obstinate, frustrating, and rewrite rules. Oh yes, her highness. Are they bad things?"

"I guess not. It's obvious I'm attracted to those qualities in a certain woman. Goodnight."

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 15 A

As the sun peeked over the horizon, Jasper nuzzled Sami. Sami blinked a few times before her eyes remained opened and saw Noah shoving his belongings into his pockets. "You're still here?"

"I fell asleep." He faced the door. "I need to get to my room. Come out after you're dressed, and we'll walk Jasper."

"Noah?"

"Don't worry about it."

*****
When Noah left the room, Sarah walked over and hugged him.

"What's this for?" he asked. "You're angry with me."

"For acting human." When his eyebrows rose, she pointed at the ceiling vents. "We know you went into Sami's room."

"You heard everything?"

"No. Bob played soft music on the computer. We heard voices but couldn't make out the words."

"Thank you." Noah swallowed. "You know I spent the night."

"What we know is you were comforting an upset person in protective custody."

"I appreciate that." Noah hesitated. "I hope you understand you're the only person who could get by with talking to me like you did last night, don't you?"

"I do." Sarah kissed his cheek.

"Don't do that again. I'm your supervisor."

"But I'm not the only person. You're forgetting Sami."

"You've been around her too much." Noah's head turned when Sami and Jasper left her room. She avoided eye contact with Sarah and Noah.

He walked to the front door. "You both ready?" When Sami nodded, he held open the door. "Let's do this."

As they headed toward the pond, Sami asked, "Noah?"

"Yes, Bob and Sarah know," interrupted Noah. "They know nothing happened. There's nothing to worry about."

"How did you sleep last night?"

Chuckling, Noah said, "Great. How about you?"

"Very good. Thank you for caring."

He studied the pond. "Glad I could help." Their eyes met, and he said, "We need to at least pretend to be professional."

"I wasn't very good at it from the beginning."

Noah grinned. "I know." He picked up a twig and tossed it. "How about you do you, and I'll attempt to remain professional?" He reached over and touched her hand and then pulled it away. "Please try not to be upset when I respond as the team leader."

"I'll do my best."

"Thank you. I promise to take time to talk when you indicate you need to. I'm pretty sure much of what happened yesterday could've been avoided if I took the time when you first said something."

"Maybe, but hindsight is twenty-twenty."

"That's true."

"Do you have a busy day?"

Noah nodded. "I do. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd have time for a run."

"I'll do my best. How's that?"

Sami nodded. "Good."

Glancing toward the door, he said, "We probably need to get back." He thought for a moment. "Starting tomorrow morning why don't we plan our run during this time?"

"I'd like that."

*****
When Noah and Sami walked inside Sarah watched Sami, but Sami avoided her and went straight to her room.

Sarah followed. "Sami, we need to talk."

"I need to shower and start breakfast."

Touching her arm, Sarah said, "That can wait a few minutes, this can't."

Sami plopped on her bed and Sarah sat beside her. "I know you and Bob know Noah spent the night. Nothing happened."

"We know. I wanted to let you know Bob and I are okay with it. I didn't want you feeling self-conscious. We're pulling for you two. We think you're perfect for each other."

"Thank you."

They hugged.

Both heads turned when they heard Noah's voice. "Sarah, where are you hiding?"

Sarah laughed. "I'd better go," and called, "Boss, coming."

*****
Mid-morning, Noah knocked on Sami's door. When he didn't receive an answer, he opened it. "Sami?" The room was empty.

He stood at Bob and Sarah's bedroom door. "Any idea where Sami is or Jasper for that matter? I'm sure they're together."

Jose walked in the front door. "A while back she was doing pull-ups in the kitchen. She'd put the pull-up in the door jamb."

Noah and Jose went into the kitchen but saw no sign of Sami, although Jasper lay on the floor.

Noah scratched his head. "She couldn't leave, or the alarm would've sounded." His eyes met Jose's. "The security system's working, right?"

"I checked it about twenty minutes ago. Everything was fine."

"Bob, Sarah, come here." When they stood in the kitchen, Noah continued, "Sami's missing."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Missing?"

"Apparently."

"What happened when you walked Jasper this morning?"

Setting his jaw, Noah said, "Nothing. Everything was good. I was going to ask if she wanted to go for a run. She's nowhere around."

A crash sounded. Everybody's eyes looked towards the ceiling.

"Did that come from the roof?" asked Jose.

Sarah's hand covered her mouth. "How'd she get up there?"

Walking into the pantry, Noah looked up and pointed. "There's the attic. She pulled herself up through the door opening." He jumped, grabbed the sides of the opening, and pulled himself through. "What are you doing?"

She sneezed. "It's dusty. Investigating." She pointed. "Look at all these boxes. There are old magazines, photos, all sorts of things." As she noticed Noah's eyes staring at her, she asked, "How much trouble am I in this time?"

"Not a lot, only frustrated. When I couldn't find you, I got scared something had happened. Before you go exploring again, let me know."

"Okay. While I was doing pull-ups, I saw the attic door."

He grinned. "And one thing led to another." He scanned the area. "I wondered if you wanted to go for a run."

"Of course."

"Good. Jose?" When he answered, Noah said, "Sami's dropping down, catch her."

"Sure, Boss."

After Jose made sure Sami was safely down, Noah slipped through the door. "Get ready, and we'll leave."

"Give me a few minutes." Sami went to her room with Jasper following.

As the team studied Noah, he asked, "Any suggestions?"

Bob grinned. "We need to find her something to do."

Sarah nodded. "I agree. There's no TV or electronics. A person can only play so much Solitaire."

"I know." Noah pointed to the attic door. "She discovers things to do." He studied Jose.

"There's no way I'm putting an alarm on the attic door."

Noah chuckled. "I still need suggestions." He paused. "I'd better get ready for our run."

*****
As Noah and Sami began running, Noah asked, "What pace do you train at for the ten-kilometer races?"

"I try to run it under forty-five minutes. For actual races I try to hit forty-two minutes. My best time was a hair under forty minutes."

"That's a good pace. No wonder Galvin fell out."

Sami grinned. "Should we slow down?"

Chuckling Noah said, "Nope, its fine. I won't have a problem keeping up."

The run continued before Noah asked, "Why do you think it scared me when I couldn't find you?"

"Professionally it wouldn't look good if you misplaced me."

After exhaling, Noah said, "That's true. Anything else?"

Swallowing, Sami avoided eye contact. "Maybe like how I felt when you went to check on Wyatt Earp or the meeting with Big T."

"Something like that."

"Thank you for caring." When Noah stopped running and stared into her eyes, Sami continued, "I understand how hard it is for you to express feelings. Partly because professionally, you can't, and partly because there's always the risk of getting hurt."

Without commenting Noah continued the run. After a few moments, he reached over and touched her hand, but quickly let go.

Without looking at Noah, Sami said, "I'm taking a risk by putting myself out there." After a few moments of silence, she added, "I'm not planning on either of us getting hurt."

The rest of the run was silent.

Just before they started up the porch steps Noah said, "I'll do whatever I have to, so you don't get hurt."

"I know."

~~~~~
CHARACTERS:

Sami Martinez - Twenty-five-year-old high school teacher, who's working to find a kidnapped teenage girl.

Noah Taylor. - Homeland Security team leader, who works in the Human Trafficking department. Alias - Trey Morgan

Jose, Bob, & Sarah - Agents who work under Noah. Bob and Sarah are married.

Laura Martinez - Sami's mom.

Jasper - Sami's Great Dane, a large breed dog.

Myra Rodriguez - Kidnapped teenage girl whom Sami was close to.

Julia - Teenage girl, who was friends with Myra and Sami works with.

Big T - Neighborhood pimp; not a friendly person

Numerous Team Members - They will show up periodically but not really important to the story, except they're there.

Chen - Charles Henry Edward Nichols - Human trafficker and into some really bad stuff.

Chief Galvin Baldwin - Noah's supervisor.

Ryan Brown - All around jerk. He thinks highly of himself.

Marc - Sami's old boyfriend.

Mateo Enrique Aguilar de Pereira - a very close friend of Sami's; a rich playboy

Juan Pablo Enrique Aguilar de Pereira - Mateo's father