The expression of surprise on the SEAL’s face made her wish she’d kept her phone handy so she could take a picture. Instead, she’d have to trust her rather accurate memory.
“I really don’t,” she repeated. “Sorry.”
“No,” he said, “I’m impressed. That was a logical breakdown of…Are you law enforcement? You said you write about serial killers, but you drive like you’ve had training.” He was aiming those romance-hero-blue eyes at her again as he added, “Please tell me you work for the San Diego police. Because up to now, all I’ve gotten from them isKids who run away nearly always come back of their own accord.”
Shayla winced. “That’s not very helpful.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Welp, sorry to disappoint, I’m just a writer.”
“What do you write?” the SEAL asked.
It was a horribly loaded question, but of course he had no way of knowing that. So she kept her answer on the surface, instead of diving into the murky depths ofNothing, because I’ve been seriously blocked for close to two years now, to the point that even my most popular characters are on strike.
Harry, of course, popped back in.I’m not on strike, he said.But you gave me my HEA, and frankly, I’m not going to let you fuck things up between me and Thom. I’m in love and I’m happy. Leave me alone.
Leavehimalone…? Harry vanished as Shay started to laugh, but the SEAL was looking at her oddly again, so she told him, “Romantic suspense.” It was clear he didn’t know quite what that meant, so she clarified. “Fiction. Thrillers with a steamy love story…? I write about a team of FBI agents.”
“Are you…published?” he asked.
“Yup,” she said briskly. “Not easy to do, but I managed—mostly because my characters act with believable intention. If I were writing Maddie, she wouldnothave gotten out of Dingo’s car at the In-N-Out Burger without a damn good reason. And since there’s literally no way she saw you getting into my car…”
“Maybe she didn’t have to see that. Maybe she just knew it would happen,” Peter countered. “If she’s learned anything about me at all over the past few months, it’s that I don’t quit.”
Shay made a face. “Yeah, that’s still not the strongest motivation. But…maybe shedidn’tsee you when she got into Dingo’s car,” she posited. “And maybe she was like,Where you going?And they’re like,The mall, and she’s like,Aagh, nah, I’m sick of the mall. I’m hungry. Just drop me at the burger place.”
“With what money is she buying herself a burger?” Peter asked. “At most, she had five bucks I gave her for lunch, the morning before she disappeared. And, okay, even if she borrowed some cash from Dingo, where’s she gonna go after that? Unless she’s got other friends to call and sayCome pick me up.”
“See, now you’re thinking like a writer,” Shayla told him.
“I still think she saw me,” he said, “so I’m going withShe knew I would followeven if she didn’t see it happen.”
“Fair enough.” Shay nodded, although she couldn’t help but think they were missing something here. Still, she not only had two teenagers of her own, but she could also remember being one. Maddie had to know that getting caught by her father after going AWOL for two days would only be worse if he caught her while in the company of two twenty-year-old men, one of whom was probably her boyfriend, God help his fake-Australian soul.
“Let’s assume, for now, that Dingo and Big Beard lent her a few dollars and dropped her at the burger place.” She embraced Peter’s theory. “Next question: What are the odds she’d stick around, waiting for you to figure that out and show up?”
“Slim to none,” Peter told her grimly. “I don’t expect that she did. But with any luck, someone who works the counter saw her while she was in there. With any luck, shedidcall another friend, who came to pick her up, and someone saw that, too. I have a teammate whose wife has connections with the SDPD. That’s been useless so far, but…ifI can confirm that someone picked up Maddie from the In-N-Out-Burger, maybe the police’ll finally be able to help me track her down by accessing their security cam footage.”
“Well,thatwould be a very lucky break,” Shay said.
“I could use a little luck right about now,” the Navy SEAL said.
She reached over and patted his knee, again channeling Harry’s confidence as she said, “You said it yourself, Lieutenant. You don’t quit. We’ll find her. With or without luck.”
CHAPTER THREE
Maddie Nakamura held both her phone and her nose as she lay on her side, curled up in the dark trunk of Dingo’s car. It smelled like a mix of oil and old feet in there so she breathed through her mouth, which really didn’t help, becauseGod.
It was uncomfortably warm, too, but since she could see glimpses of the parking garage’s grimy concrete floor through several rusting holes in the chassis, at least she knew she wasn’t going to suffocate.
And seriously, even if death was a possibility, shestillwasn’t going to move until she got Dingo’sall-cleartext.
No way was she going to risk her father finding her. Not now. Not yet. Not until she figured a way out of this shit-storm she was in. And frankly, if she never did manage to find Fiona and return Nelson’s cash, well, Maddie would just have to vanish off the face of the planet, never to be heard from again.
Not like anyone would miss her.
But seriously, how stupid was it that her father had spotted her over at the school, right at the moment she’d been climbing into Dingo’s car? The spring weather was erratic and the past few days had gotten cold at night, and her coat had been in her locker. It seemed safer to sneak into the school to grab it than to attempt to get something from her closet at home. She’d purposely waited until the evening, figuring she’d have less of a chance of getting caught than if she walked in during the school day.
