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“H ey, Herbert. Have you spoken to Nico today?”

“Not at the moment,” Herbert answered. “Why?”

I held my phone to my ear as I sat in my car. I was parked next to Flip Stack. This place had the best cell service in all of Sage Hill that I could find so far. It’s too bad that I had to drive six minutes just to use it.

I glanced at Eve’s purse and her belongings on the passenger seat. “I need him to look into something for me but he isn’t answering. It’s important.”

“Okay, don’t worry, Rose. He’s probably sleeping or something. You know he’s a night owl.”

That was true. Nico had once been in the military.

After a bad accident that he doesn’t like talking about, he was honorably discharged but left with a minor case of PTSD.

He stayed home most of the time. He hardly ever left his chair or all those monitors in his room unless he needed food or some other human necessity.

I hadn’t heard from him since he gave me the update on Eve’s stalker-ish superfan.

That was a dead end. Turns out that fan of hers moved to New Mexico shortly after Eve filed the restraining order.

From what Nico could find, the woman was married and currently seven months’ pregnant.

I seriously doubted a pregnant woman was behind this.

I relaxed a bit, knowing Herbert was right about Nico. I needed to get a grip.

“Is everything okay?” Herbert asked.

“Honestly . . . no.” I closed my eyes when I felt the burn behind them. “It’s Eve.”

“What about Eve? What happened?”

“I think she’s in trouble. Like, deep trouble, Herbert.

I—I found her purse with some of her stuff in it.

Zoey said she saw an email that indicated Eve booked a flight to Thailand, but her passport is still in the purse.

No one has seen her for the past four days.

She’s missing and I think someone kidnapped her.

” Or killed her , a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

The nightmare I had before waking up on the couch came to mind. The sunken eyes. Stitched, bloody lips. The hand grabbing my ankle and dragging me into the water with it.

“Whoa, are you sure?” Herbert asked. “You know how Eve is. How do you know she’s not just being Eve ?”

“This time is different. I can feel it. Something is off about all of this.” I drew in a breath to combat my tears.

“I booked the cottage she stayed in last and there’s a weird vibe in this town.

” I glanced at the diner, spotting a waitress moving through the aisle holding plates in both hands.

“And about an hour and a half ago, someone knocked on the door, then ran away. That’s how I found Eve’s purse. They left it there.”

“ What? ” Herbert shrieked. “Why haven’t you called the police?”

“I was going to, but when I thought about it, it struck me that this person isn’t trying to hurt me. I think they’re trying to help or warn me. Why else would they give me her purse? This is evidence.”

“Well, why wouldn’t they just speak to you like a normal person?”

“Probably because they don’t want to be involved.”

My mind reverted to Rory. The absent stare she gave when she saw the picture of Eve on my phone.

The way her face grew pale. The fact that she was so clearly lying.

Was she covering for Alex and Damian? Had they been holding on to Eve’s belongings all this time?

If so, why would she sneak it to me? What did she want me to know?

“This is a mess, Rose.” Herbert’s voice pulled me back to the present. “You can’t possibly think something happened to Eve. I swear she’s always stressing you out.”

“I don’t know.” I bit my bottom lip. “I looked through her camera. She took pictures. One showed her with Lincoln .”

“The guy who gave her about five black eyes? Is she fucking crazy?”

“If anyone is behind it, it’s probably him. That’s why I need Nico. I need to know where Lincoln is now. I know he does all our searching stuff, but he can do . . . other stuff too.”

“Yeah, but he hasn’t done that other stuff in a while,” Herbert countered.

“I need him for this.”

He sighed. “Okay. I guess. If I hear from him before you do, I’ll let him know. So, what are you going to do now? You don’t plan on staying there, do you? Need I remind you about your deadline? Twyla needs that article on Cowan soon. She’s been sniffing around my desk all day.”

“I know, I know. But I can’t leave until I know what’s going on.” I went to the search engine on my phone, typed something in, then started my car and drove out of the diner’s parking lot. “In the meantime, I’m going to the police station. I need to put in a missing person’s report for Eve.”

Eve Castillo journal entry

I can only write this here because if I tell anyone they’ll judge me.

I went to a festival to see the fireworks uptown with Lincoln for the Fourth of July.

I expected to be scared. I mean I was nervous to see him after so much time apart, but he looked great.

He was dressed well. His eyes were softer.

He held my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

We shared a funnel cake and ate kettle corn.

He smelled really good. I just wanted to curl into him and sniff forever.

That was one thing I missed most about him.

His smell, especially when we had sex and he’d sweat.

I’d breathe him in as he buried himself inside me and groaned in my ear.

I wanted to merge with him, become one. His kindness could be a front.

He’s done this before—buttered me up just to rope me back in and then punch me square in the face or grip my upper thigh so hard he left a bruise.

The sad thing is, I’m not afraid of Lincoln. Yes, he hits me. Yes, he’s abusive. But I’m not afraid. Maybe that’s why I keep going back. No one can protect and hurt me like he can.

The pain and pleasure are a powerful combination. I’m thinking about seeing him again. We’ll never get married like we’d planned, but we can have fun . . . until one of us gets bored.