Ryan stared at the sun sparkling on a puddle of water on the patio.

He’d sat out there for hours with Carson. She liked the peace of it. He’d begun to think she may even like Oklahoma if she could get past the heat.

What would have driven her to do this? Lie to him?

There’d always been a part of her she was hiding, but he’d thought that was her way of protecting herself given her history. He could be patient.

Instead she’d been lying to him the whole time.

He clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

The sliding door to the sunroom opened slowly.

If it was Alec, Ryan was going to punch his smug fucking face.

The door shut without a word being spoken.

Where had Carson gone? And why the fuck did he care?

Feet rustled the grass. Vito came to a stop next to him.

“How much is Alec gloating now?” Ryan asked.

“He’s not.”

Bullshit.

“Can you fucking believe this?” Ryan turned his head to glance at Vito. “Did you see this?”

“I wasn’t there that night.” Vito shrugged.

“You had no idea? Was I the only one fooled?”

“You wanted to be fooled.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Ryan pivoted to face Vito.

“Do you honestly like fucking a different woman every weekend? Do you like losing chunks of your memory?” Vito stared up at the mammoth tree bordering their back yard and the neighbor’s.

Ryan stared at his roommate. Like wasn’t a word he’d use to describe his weekend activities. It was just what he did. They were all guilty of it.

“You’re like a woman in a shoe store, trying to find the perfect pair. It’ll never happen, but you keep looking.”

“Fuck you.”

“You made yourself an excellent mark. You drown everything out with booze and medicate your problems with sex. I’m surprised a woman hasn’t conned you sooner. You probably thought you, her and the baby were going to live happily ever after, didn’t you?”

“Really?” Ryan could feel his pulse in his finger tips. His whole body was hot, rage pounding through him worse than when Carson had admitted she’d lied. “You think you know so damn much about me? What about you?”

Vito turned his head and blinked.

Ryan was going to fuck him up.

“You love a married woman. A woman who will never love you and you want to tell me how I’m fucked up?” The moment the words were out of his mouth a coldness settled in.

He shouldn’t have said that.

Vito continued to stare at him, unmoved.

“Shit. Man, I shouldn’t have said that.” Ryan held up his hands.

“The truth hurts.” Vito shrugged and turned toward the house.

Ryan listened to Vito’s footsteps through the grass. Ryan felt each one like a knife to the ribs.

What the hell was he doing?

He scrubbed a hand over his face. There was truth to Vito’s words. Ryan did drink to excess. He told himself it was okay. It was only on the weekends when he wasn’t working. It didn’t hurt anyone, except he couldn’t prove that. The women, well, there were only ever a few who had a complaint, so it was fine. But was it?

There wasn’t an answer to that one. At least not one Ryan knew.

The most damning thing was that, yeah, he’d harbored a dream he knew was unrealistic. He’d looked at Carson as the solution, even while a voice in the back of his head knew she wasn’t. It hadn’t changed what he’d done or how he’d felt.

The things he’d shared with her were personal. He’d put himself out there in a way he hadn’t with anyone in years. She’d never asked him to do that. He’d stupidly looked at her as his solution to everything. An answer to his deepest, darkest problems.

Ryan didn’t always like himself.

He’d thought Carson would make him likeable.

That was wrong. He could see it now, but it didn’t lessen the sting.

What had sent her to him? If she was truly trying to con him, wouldn’t she have sold him on the idea of them together instead of pushing the wait-and-see solution? What was she running from? What kind of awful events had scared her so badly that she would lie like this? Or, was it as Alec suspected, and the whole thing a con?

They didn’t know everything.

He’d spent enough time around Carson to know when she was holding back. There were parts of the story she hadn’t yet confessed.

Ryan needed the truth. He had to know why. Even if it destroyed the little good they’d had between them.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit dial on Ian Kelly’s office number. It wasn’t quite late enough for him to head home.

“Ian Kelly, Aegis Group Investigations.”

“Ian, it’s Ryan.”

“Hey—”

“I need you to look into someone for me. Fast.” Ryan didn’t know where Carson was, but if she were in trouble, he might have just sent her running headlong into the worst of it.

“You aren’t on a job.”

“It’s personal. Please? Don’t tell me you haven’t done this for anyone else.”

“I’m supposed to at least pretend to have reservations. What’s the name?”

“Carson Adair. A-d-a-i-r.”

“Your girlfriend?” The sound of typing clacked in the background.

“What can you tell me about her?”

“How much do you want to know?”

“What can you tell me right now?”

“One second, fuck. Okay. Carson Adair. No priors. No record. It’ll take me time to put together personal information on her.”

“Can you tell me if she’s got a sister named Frankie and was adopted?”

“You can’t check her social media and see that for yourself? I just pulled her up right here and—it’s got a Frankie listed as her sister. Seventeen. Black. The parents have one of those joint social media accounts. God, I hate those.”

“Does Carson look like them?”

“The parents? No. But these are just avatars. It could all be dummy accounts.”

Ryan didn’t think so.

His gut said that despite the lies, there’d been a lot of truth to what Carson said. She might have played him, but it was for some greater purpose.

“I’ve got to go, but can you look into the sister? Something’s going on and I’ve got to get to the bottom of this.”

“I’ll do a surface level check while I run backup here. Don’t forget, Zain’s leaving on vacation.”

“Can you send me her address? And run a location check on her cell?”

“Text the number to me and I’ll send you her apartment.”

“Thanks.”

Ryan ended the call and immediately texted Ian the number he had for Carson. He turned back toward the house.

Carson was gone. He didn’t know where she’d go or what her plans were.

There was more to this story. She hadn’t said everything with Alec pelting her with questions. Ryan should have taken a damn breath and asked her for the whole story privately.

He stopped at the doors to the house.

Why did he care?

Carson had lied to him. Her problems didn’t involve him. He was off the hook.

And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Whatever had sent her to him had her truly scared, and he couldn’t turn his back on that. Not since he’d gotten to know her. Carson might not be everything she’d told him she was, but she wasn’t evil. And she was no con artist.

His phone vibrated.

He glanced at the text from Ian.

She’s down the street at a gas station. That’s a burner number and not the number registered to her.

Why was she using a burner?

Ryan had to get to her and find out the truth behind this whole thing.

He strode through the house, snatching his keys off the bar.

“Where are you going?” Alec asked.

“To talk to Carson.”

“Is that a good idea?” Alec vaulted the sofa and followed Ryan to the front door.

“Something’s not right.”

“Yeah. Her.”

Ryan grabbed the front of Alec’s shirt and shoved him back against the archway leading from the gaming room to the living room. Paxton and Silas sat with controllers in hand, their game paused.

“She’s got you wrapped around her finger. Don’t you see that?” Alec held up his hands.

“That doesn’t matter.” Ryan shoved Alec back into the living room. “I’m going after her.”

“If you won’t listen to me, at least take one of these assholes with you?” Alec was a paranoid bastard, but he could also be right.

“Vito?” Ryan called out.

“Coming.”

Ryan didn’t wait for Vito to catch up. His old roommate had seen and heard everything Alec had, but wasn’t as quick to jump on Carson. Ryan needed her to trust him enough to come clean. That wouldn’t happen with Alec in tow.

Ryan got behind the wheel of his car, Vito not far behind. As soon as his feet were off the pavement, Ryan accelerated. He whipped the sports car around and gunned it, heading for the main street and the gas station.

“What do you think?” Ryan had often found Vito to be a calm, middle of the road kind of guy.

“We don’t have the full story.” Vito held tight to the door handle.

“That’s what I’m thinking. There’s more to this. It doesn’t make sense. She’s not a scammer, so what’s really going on?”

“She could be a very good scammer.”

“No.” That answer was wrong. He knew it.

Ryan wasn’t impervious to being fleeced. It was a possibility, but his gut didn’t agree. He’d been inside Carson. He’d spent enough time with her that if she wasn’t being honest, he should have seen it. Then again, had his own desire to create a family around her lie blinded him?

He didn’t know, and he wouldn’t until he got to the bottom of this.

Carson’s baby blue bug sat parked haphazardly across two spots at the corner store. Ryan pulled in beside it, but no one was in the vehicle.

“Stay here.” He got out and jogged into the store.

She wasn’t strolling the snack aisles. She wasn’t getting a drink or bent over evaluating which ice cream to get. She wasn’t anywhere.

“Excuse me?” He approached the counter. “Have you seen a woman come in here? Brown hair, about this tall, wearing gray slacks and a blouse?”

“No.” The attendant shook his head.

“Could she be in the bathroom?” Ryan thumbed over his shoulder.

“They’re out of order, but you can check.”

Shit.

Ryan didn’t like this.

He pulled out his phone and strode to the back of the store.

“Find her?” Vito asked after one ring.

“No. Check out the car.”

Ryan pulled the door open to the women’s restroom.

It was empty.

He checked the men’s room, but it yielded no further answers.

“Her car’s unlocked,” Vito said.

“Fucking hell.”

“Keys are in the floorboard. Her stuff’s here.”

“Something happened.” Ryan wheeled around and his gaze locked on the security monitors. “I need to see those.”

The attendant glanced over his shoulder.

“Do you have one that shows this side of the building? A woman would have pulled up maybe fifteen, twenty minutes ago. She’s gone, but her car and things are still here.”

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to do this...” The attendant stared at him with wide eyes.

“You okay being the reason why a woman gets kidnapped?”

The young man flinched and turned toward the monitors. “Twenty minutes you said?”

“Yeah.” Ryan braced his hands on the counter.

Vito entered, but hung back saying nothing.

Ryan watched the black and white footage of the outside. His car reversed out of the shot. For several, long moments he stared at Carson’s empty car. A single figure backed into view and peered into the windows. He was only there for a moment before he walked away.

Who the hell was that? A good Samaritan? Had they called the police?

A few seconds later two figures backed into view, one sitting behind the wheel.

“There. Keep going until she pulls in.”

The attendant played the video.

Ryan watched Carson pull in. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. He could hear her sobs. They twisted his insides up.

He could have listened to her.

A shadow and the reflection of a vehicle pulled up out of the shot. A man strode toward the car. He wore a jacket despite the heat, which was odd. He approached the car then pulled his jacket to the side.

“Ten bucks says he’s got a gun on her,” Ryan said.

“I’m not taking that bet,” Vito replied.

There was some exchange. The man beat on the roof of the car before she finally got out.

“Is there another shot where we can get that license plate?” Ryan prayed there was. This might be their only lead on who’d taken Carson. They’d been right at Ryan’s doorstep. If she hadn’t left, making herself vulnerable, would this man have come to their home?

Whatever had Carson spooked, it was real.

BEN KEPT THE GUN pointed at Carson’s stomach. He didn’t want to accidentally kill her with one shot if she did something stupid, but he wanted her to feel the threat. To date he’d never had to actually shoot someone, but he was angry enough to pull the trigger. Especially with her.

“W-where are we going?” Carson asked.

“Your place.”

“You know I had no choice?” She glanced at him.

“You always have a choice,” he sneered.

“I didn’t. See, they were threatening my sister—”

“Shut up. I don’t care.”

“My sister’s parents were illegal immigrants from Ghana. My sister was born here, but the small hospital didn’t do digital records. The county courthouse record room burned down, and so did her birth certificate—”

“Boohoo. I don’t give a fuck. You screwed me. Whatever happens is karma.”

“Ben, please? There’s got to be some way we can fix this? You and me?”

“You bet you’re going to make this right. You’re going to log in with your admin powers and unfreeze my client’s money.”

“What?” She glanced at him, her mouth hanging open. “If the accounts are frozen, I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, but my clients won’t know that. I’ll tell them the whole story, how you’re the one who fucked us all over. I give you to them and they let me go. Then you get to fix this shit.”

“Ben—”

“Shut the hell up and drive,” he snapped.

He didn’t care about her sob story about some sister. He knew the important bits that his accountant had fucked him over and half a dozen different countries wanted him dead. He would have to pick and chose who he ran from for now.

RYAN PRESSED THE PHONE to his ear and paced the sidewalk listening to the hold music for another five minutes.

The gas station security camera had caught a black town car with rental tags idling while the driver got out. It was the mystery man who’d investigated Carson’s empty car just after she’d been taken away. Ryan was willing to bet the man had a gun. Whoever had kidnapped her, their license plate was impossible to make out. Ryan’s best lead was this mystery man.

A sedan and a pickup truck pulled in, parking haphazardly around them. Paxton, Silas and Alec got out of the vehicles, their expressions grim.

Vito waved Ryan over to where he stood with his phone charging.

“Police have no report of a missing woman,” he said. They’d been hoping someone might have seen the abduction and called it in.

“Make one.” Ryan was going to do this all by the book if he could, but he had the sinking sensation they were dealing with a limited amount of time.

“Hello, sorry for the wait,” a cheerful man said.

“Yeah, were you able to track the car?” Ryan asked.

“I just spoke with my supervisor, and I’m sorry, but without a warrant we can’t give out that kind of information.”

“A woman is missing. Whoever is driving that car might be our only witness.” Ryan could not yet prove the mystery man was involved. He just knew it.

“If the Seattle police want to make a request, we can work with them—”

Ryan jabbed the end call button. “Fuck.”

“They won’t play ball?” Silas asked.

“No.” Ryan pivoted and paced away from the others.

Without a way to track the rental, they had nothing to go on. Time was not on their side. Whoever had taken Carson had clearly been hunting her for a while. Now that they had her, things would move fast.

“Dude. Dude?” Silas gently pushed Ryan’s shoulder.

“What?” Ryan turned toward his housemate.

“Let’s call Zain.”

“He’s on vacation.” Ryan figured his next best bet was trying the office, but the people he needed were back at the home office in Illinois if Zain wasn’t available.

“He’s our boss. He should be our next call even if all he does is tell you to call Gavin.”

Ryan nodded and looked back at his phone.

Part of him felt guilty for making this call. Whenever anything went wrong, at work or in their personal lives, Zain was the one they called. He was their wizard behind the curtain and he deserved a damn vacation away from all this.

“What’s the emergency?” Zain said.

“Carson’s been kidnapped and the rental car company won’t play ball.”

“Text me the details.”

“Are you sure—”

“I’m about to have no internet for a week. You’re doing me a favor.”

“But you brought a laptop? Texting you the plates now.” Ryan chuckled.

“Hey, you never know if I can steal access when the wife’s not looking.”

“I heard that,” a woman said in the background.

Alec waved Ryan over to his Mustang. Someone had pulled a paper map of Seattle out and spread it out on the hood of his car.

“Shit. Boarding is about to start.” Zain muttered other words Ryan couldn’t understand.

He doubted the plane would wait for Zain to finish doing whatever techno magic he was up to. It was probably also illegal, but whatever got their person home was permissible so long as it didn’t break any major laws.

“Sweet heart, go. I’ll be on the plane before they close the door. Promise.” Zain’s constant calm was fractured. Ryan could hear the stress in his voice.

Ryan didn’t dare say anything. That Zain had answered Ryan’s SOS without asking questions and simply getting down to business was appreciated. He didn’t even know if Zain knew who Carson was, only that someone had been kidnapped. This was why Ryan worked for Aegis Group. Yeah, they all liked to make a buck, but when things mattered, they did the right thing. Ryan hadn’t always had that luxury, but he sure appreciated that now.

“I’m in,” Zain said. He rattled off the license plate as keys clicked in the background. “I’ve got the car, sending the GPS link to your tracking app—now. Got to go. If you need backup, call the office or Gavin. He’s on standby while I’m gone. Good luck.”

Zain ended the call before Ryan’s phone vibrated with the information.

He pulled the phone away from his face and looked at the message.

That address... It was familiar.

Because that was the address Ian had given them for Carson’s apartment.