Chapter One
Sunday evening, Sean Malone sat on the back porch of his Uncle Dan’s beach house, enjoying the unseasonably warm late-March weather. The temperature had climbed to seventy-four earlier in the day, and even with the sun setting, the air still held enough warmth to make sitting outside comfortable.
Stretching his legs across a second chair, he finished the final chapter of a thriller by one of his favorite authors beneath the glow of the porch light. He’d planned to read it when it first came out, but work had kept him busy over the past year, and most of his downtime had gone toward catching up on sleep.
Now, two days into a month of accumulated vacation time, he intended to do as little as possible before starting his new position at the FBI office in Greenville, North Carolina, a little over an hour from Whisper on the Outer Banks. He’d stay at his uncle’s beach cottage for the next three weeks while his leased apartment underwent renovations. The place, located halfway between Whisper and Greenville, had been left in rough shape by the previous tenants.
Sean didn’t mind, though. The beach house was quiet, comfortable, and his private sanctuary for the time being. And while he already missed Florida’s warmer weather, being close to family again made up for it.
Six months earlier, he requested a transfer from FBI headquarters in Jacksonville after learning his oldest brother and sister-in-law, KC and Moriah, were expecting a baby. The child—due in five weeks—would be the first Malone of the next generation, and Sean wanted to be a part of his niece’s or nephew’s life.
KC worked as a SEAL instructor at Little Creek Naval Base in Virginia, about ninety minutes north of Whisper. Meanwhile, Moriah taught at the local elementary school as a substitute teacher. Their middle brother, Brian, lived outside Elizabeth City and worked as a special agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Dan Malone had raised his three nephews in the tiny beach house after their parents were killed in a plane crash when the boys were teenagers. Over the years, the brothers had grown up and moved on with their lives, while Dan relocated to an apartment above his hardware store in the center of the small town. Still, the old man would never sell the cottage. Too many memories lived within those walls, and he wanted his nephews to have a place they could always return to.
Sean checked his watch. Ten to six.
His uncle and Bonnie Whitman would arrive any minute with dinner, and he was already looking forward to Bonnie’s famous beef stew. Home-cooked meals had become rare over the years, especially during his time in Jacksonville, and nobody cooked better than Bonnie. She’d been Dan’s wife Annie’s best friend since first grade and had remained close to the Malone family after Annie died while the boys were still young.
“Sean? Are you here?”
He frowned at the unfamiliar female voice. It wasn’t Bonnie, and he had no idea who it belonged to. Rising from his chair, he crossed to the porch railing and looked down.
Soft white light from the exterior fixtures washed over the patio below, revealing a beautiful blonde woman waving up at him. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, and even from a distance, it looked soft and silky. Something about the striking green eyes fixed on him tugged at his memory, but he couldn’t place her.
When he failed to answer right away, her mouth curved into a smile that hit him harder than it should have.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Um... sorry, I don’t.” His confusion lingered as she climbed the stairs toward him.
“I’m Grace Whitman. Bonnie’s niece.”
His eyes widened. “Grace? Holy cow. I’m sorry—I didn’t recognize you.” His gaze swept over her before he could stop himself, and he liked what he saw far too much. “Wow. Last time I saw you, you were thirteen and dressed like a tomboy.”
“And you were eighteen and heading off to join the Army.” She closed the distance between them and slipped her arms around him in a quick hug.
The contact caught him off guard.
After releasing him and taking a step back, she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and grinned. “You look great.”
His gaze traveled over her again. “So do you. I mean... wow. I can’t believe you’re the same person. I remember short hair, skinny knees, and braces.”
She made a face before laughing. “Yeah, well, I grew up over the past fourteen years.”
No kidding.
He forced himself to stop staring and shook away the dangerous thoughts trying to form. Bonnie was practically family, which meant Grace fell into that category too… whether he liked it or not.
“Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?”
“Aunt Bonnie and Dan told me to meet them here for dinner. Didn’t they tell you I was coming?”
He shook his head. “No, they didn’t.”
“Then that explains the shocked expression.” Her gaze flickered toward the beach before returning to him. “I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen you. Between college and work, I haven’t made it down here much the past few years, and whenever I did, you were never around.”
She held out the bottle of wine she’d been carrying. “I figured a nice Merlot would go well with Aunt Bonnie’s stew.”
