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E than tipped his head back and let a huge gulp of water run down his throat. He swallowed, and wiped the sweat that poured down his forehead with his sleeve. His legs shook as he walked back to the squat rack and added more weights.

“You’re killing it today,” Joe called from the dumbbell rack.

Ethan lifted his finger to indicate one minute.

He settled his shoulders beneath the bar and lifted the weight.

When he finished his last set, he made his way over to the water fountain where Joe was filling his water bottle.

Ethan patted his face with the hand towel around his neck. “Hey, buddy. How was your workout?”

“It paled in comparison to yours.” Joe crossed his arms over his chest. “You should consider joining the police force.”

Ethan let a breath out. “No disrespect, but I’ve been there and done that. It’s not for me.”

“The police force is different than the FBI.”

“I know, but I don’t have the passion for it. I’m glad I bumped into you though, are you all done?”

“Yup, just finished my shift. I’ll be off for the next few days. Something you want to talk about?”

Ethan hefted the strap of his bag over his shoulder and followed Joe to the door.

The morning sun painted the sky bright orange.

It was going to be another beautiful day.

It was Monday, and from what she had mentioned before, that meant Riley was off.

Yesterday morning he’d opted not to bring up Hanna.

He’d left the door open in hopes that she would come to him…

that she would trust him. Stupid move. So far, she’d been a closed book.

If he hadn’t proved she could confide in him by now, he never would.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about Hanna Wilson. Any new information on her case?”

Slowly, Joe shook his head. “I’m afraid not. When her parents put up that large reward a few weeks ago, we’d hoped we’d get some leads. All it’s gotten us are a few dead ends.”

He remembered hearing about a twenty-five thousand dollar reward for information leading to Hanna’s whereabouts. Damn, if that didn’t bring anyone forward nothing would.

“What about the boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend. And again, a dead end. He and Hanna had broken up two years ago and he’s now engaged and moved three hours away. The weekend Hanna went missing he was on vacation. Already checked his story and it all lines up.”

Ethan stifled a groan. “What about the last place she was seen? Is that still at the night club?”

Joe stopped at his car, opened the rear door, and dropped his bag inside.

“Even that has changed. The guy she was seen leaving the bar with ended up putting her in a cab. The cab company confirmed it dropped her off at home. It’s a real bitch.

We have nothing to go on except maybe she left on her own accord.

Got sick of being a teacher and moved away without telling anyone. ”

“Only she left everything behind and didn’t touch her bank accounts, right?”

Joe gave one solid nod. “There’s that. Unless she met some rich guy, but still.

It doesn’t add up. It’s like she… disappeared.

Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be offended if your FBI connections could get involved.

We haven’t had anything else suspicious like this in the area, but if you know something we don’t, I’d be happy to hear it. ”

His brown eyes met Ethan’s. “She was a nice girl. Everyone loved her. She got a little wild in the last year, but Hanna wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

The use of past tense reverberated through his body. Joe suspected she was dead. The evidence—or lack thereof—was damning.

Ethan clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll see what I can find out; if you hear anything else, let me know.”

“Sure thing.” Joe’s voice tightened on the words.

Hanna’s disappearance had affected the whole town.

Everyone he’d spoken to in the last two days had gotten choked up.

Raw fear hid in the corners of their eyes.

No one wanted to believe it was a friend or neighbor, or someone they’d grown up with.

He knew better. The person behind Hanna’s disappearance was right in front of everyone’s faces.

Call it intuition, call it experience, he was as sure of it as he was of his name.

He crossed the parking lot to his truck. He just hoped to god they could find her alive. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked the number as he climbed in the truck. A grin split his face.

“Hello?”

“Morning, lazy ass.” Nate’s pleasant greeting rang through his ear. He shook his head and started the engine while Bluetooth kicked in and the call came out over the speakers.

“Lazy ass? I just finished a workout. You should try it some time.” He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

“Sorry, it must be nice to take a hiatus. And I injured my wrist, you know that.” Nate’s tone turned defensive.

Since being away, he missed his friends.

Ethan and Cal had been like brothers to him since they’d met in the military.

When Ethan had finally left recon, Nate had gotten him in with the FBI.

At the time, it had seemed like a good fit.

It hadn’t taken long for him to outgrow that shoe.

“Yeah, yeah. And we all know how you did that,” Ethan chortled. He and Cal had come up with a million and one stories as to how Nate had hurt his wrist. All great payback for Nate’s constant needling at them over the years.

“When it heals, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Good luck with that.” Ethan glanced at the clock, his brows knit together. “What the hell bro? It must be the middle of the night there.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” his tone grew heavy.

Ethan’s senses rose. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I broke things off with Mandy.

” A gulp sounded, alerting Ethan that Nate was drinking.

He didn’t sound wasted by any means, so likely just a drink to relax him.

Like Ethan and Cal, Nate knew better than to over indulge.

Ethan wasn’t surprised to hear about Mandy.

Though she had been the most serious relationship Nate had had in years.

“What happened?” In all likelihood, Nate’s commitment fears had stepped in and shaken him up.

“She was married, dude. Didn’t tell me,” he breathed. “How stupid is that? Here I’m thinking she may be the one, and she was going home to her hubby every night.”

Anger bubbled inside him. Nate was obnoxious and sometimes a pain in the ass, but he was a damn loyal friend. “You didn’t deserve that, man. Let it go, move on, the right one is out there somewhere.”

He snorted. “You’re always so damn positive. I don’t think there is a right one for me. Just the right one-nighters. Anyway, I was calling to see where you are. Cal said something about the south.”

“Beaufort, North Carolina.”

“No shit. What brought you there?”

He’d been asked that question a million times since he’d decided to spend the rest of his hiatus here. “I used to spend summers with my grandparents here when I was a kid. Haven’t been back in decades since they died. I didn’t expect to stay here this long though.”

“So what’s making you stay?”

“It’s a nice place, good people. But something else has caught me. A young woman went missing about a month ago. Seems to be a cold case. The police are stumped. I was hoping for your assistance actually.”

“Shit, that doesn’t sound good at all. Man, I hate cases like this. Have the detective on her case send me the file. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll work on it. Give me a little time.”

“Thanks. In the meantime, I’m going to set you up on a dating app. You’re lonely as hell.”

“I’m not lonely. Matter of fact, I just sent someone home.”

He snorted. “If you don’t see that as lonely, then you may have a bigger problem.”

A beat passed. “Eat shit.” A short laugh softened his words. “I’ll touch base with you by the end of the week.”

They disconnected just as Ethan pulled in his driveway.

The humidity hit his face as he stepped out, it was going to be sweltering today.

And a good day to spend at the beach. His gaze drifted to Riley’s dark windows.

He needed to talk to her, but it would be best to sort his thoughts out first. He couldn’t think when she was in front of him.

Her big eyes paralyzed him, her movements gentle and sensual without trying.

She had no clue the effect she had on him.

Spending Saturday night and Sunday morning with her had been torture. But at the same time, it had been easy.

Being around Riley was easy. A smile tugged at his mouth as he entered the small one bedroom house. Riley would take a lot of work.

Cold air washed over him. Despite the barriers Riley held up, something was there between them. He just didn’t know what the hell it was.

***

The hot sun beat down on Ethaan’s body, basking him in warmth that radiated to his bones.

His sunglasses did little to block the blinding sun.

His back tingled telling him it was time to turn over.

He pushed himself up and shifted on the towel.

His feet hung off the end, coated in sand from his last dip in the ocean.

Once he evened out his front, he’d go back in.

“Heads up,” a teenage boy called. A volleyball slammed into the sand next to him. Ethan hefted it into his palm and threw it back to the kid.

“Thanks,” he called, and ran back to his group of friends.

The beach was packed. There had to be hundreds of women laid out on the sand and not one of them drew him in like Riley did. And damn if her secretive life, which had thrown his into such turmoil, didn’t draw him in even more.

He skimmed over the crowd of people. His gaze stopped on a slim woman in a teeny, black bikini—