Page 103 of Duty Unbound

What if I never got the chance to tell her how I really felt? That was what terrified me most. The possibility that I’d missed my opportunity because I was too focused on work, too afraid to admit that this woman had become the center of my universe in just a few short weeks.

I opened my eyes, determination hardening my resolve. No more wondering. No more missed chances. I was going to find Mel, bring her home safe, and tell her exactly what she meant to me. That whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, I would be there. For as long as she’d have me.

And God help anyone who fucking stood in my way.

Chapter 33

Ethan

My phone screen blurred as my eyes refused to focus. Thirty-six hours without sleep would do that to you. Thirty-six hours of nothing. No ransom demand. No taunting message. No proof of life.

Nothing.

Not one fucking thing.

I rubbed my burning eyes and refocused on the laptop where the security footage played for what had to be the hundredth time. The quality was shit—typical for strip mall cameras—but it was all we had. Mel’s silver Audi pulling into the coffee shop lot. Her walking inside, phone in hand. The oversized panel van pulling up next to her car, completely blocking the camera’s view of her driver’s side door.

Then Mel returning with two cups, disappearing into that blind spot.

The van sat there for exactly three minutes and fourteen seconds before pulling away.

And Mel was gone.

“You need to sleep.” Logan’s voice came from behind me, low and steady. “You’re no good to her like this.”

I didn’t bother turning around. “Not happening.”

“Ethan—”

“I said no.” I rewound the footage again, hoping to catch something I’d missed in the previous ninety-nine viewings. “If this was Nova’s stalker, why haven’t we heard anything? It’s been a day and a half. No demands, no contact, nothing.”

Logan pulled up a chair beside me, his normally impassive face showing signs of the same exhaustion we were all feeling. “Maybe it’s not about Nova. What if this is something else entirely?”

I’d been considering the same possibility. If the stalker had taken Mel to get to Nova, there would’ve been a message by now. Something.Anything.

“We’re missing something.” I stared at the screen where the van’s image was frozen just before it pulled away. No license plate visible. Make and model impossible to tell with certainty due to the distance and grainy quality. White male driver, so that fit with the other details we had about the stalker, but didn’t narrow down the pool of suspects. His face was just a blur of pixels.

“Police are getting nowhere with the missing persons report,” Logan said, sliding my coffee toward me. It was cold, but I drank it anyway. “Maybe it’s time to try a different angle.”

I finished the brew, tossed the empty cup into the trash, and stood, my muscles protesting after sitting in the same position for hours. “I’m going to call Corey Hollis. I already owe him a dozen favors, might as well add one more.”

“Good idea.”

I stepped outside into the blinding Texas sun. It felt wrong somehow, the day being so bright when everything else was so dark. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

“Hollis.” His voice was gruff, professional.

“Corey, it’s Ethan Cross.”

A pause, then, “Cross. I’ve been expecting your call. Heard about what happened.”

Of course he had. Bad news traveled fast in law enforcement circles.

“I need to know if there’s anything—anything at all—that might help us find Mel. We’ve reached a dead end.”

Corey sighed heavily. “Nothing concrete yet. We’ve got people looking into it, but?—”

“I don’t need the official line,” I cut in. “I need help.”