I looked at the photo the private detective gave me at dinner the night before. It was strange to discuss details at dinner, but as soon as she started talking, I knew why she picked a public place. She knew I wouldn’t like what she had to say.

Not that I blamed her. I hadn’t been in the best frame of mind when I contacted her and explained the reason I wanted to hire her. I was growing crazier every day trying to find out where Laney was. A piece of my soul had been ripped from my body, so I wasn’t myself.

I still couldn’t believe it. It didn’t matter I was staring at the proof in front of me. It didn’t matter how peaceful she looked on the beach. There was no doubt she needed and deserved a break from all the stress, but I was the only calm thing in her life.

I placed my head on the back of the sofa and looked at the ceiling. Her father hated me. I was the root of her troubles. How does she choose between a man she’s known a couple of years and the only family she has left? That can’t be easy for her.

I sat up and slid the photo back into the envelope. There was only one thing left to do. I’d gone to the police before without much resolution. I was happy some local news stations and papers picked up the story, but no one viewed it more than just green reporters trying to bite into a story that wasn’t there.

I vowed not to release the information I found until I knew Laney was safe, but I no longer had a choice. I needed to use whatever I could to get her to come back to me. It didn’t matter if she hated me for it. I needed to know she was safe. I shoved the photo into the freezer before I left. Soon, it would be Joshua Mosley on ice.

* * *

I felt the eyes on me as soon as I entered the police station. I’d left an impression the last time I was there when I caused a huge scene. No one would listen to me. That was when the reporters had come over. They were just wrapping up getting information on a previous case they were working on, and as soon as one person came over, they all flocked. I didn’t see any reporters around for my second trip. I’d have to make the police listen.

I approached the desk, but the guy behind it didn’t look up. I cleared my throat. He briefly closed his eyes, but continued to type. They weren’t going to make it easy. Neither was I.

“Are you on his payroll, too?”

That got him to look up. “Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“I’m pretty sure you remember me from last time, and your reaction to my being here is telling me you’re not willing to listen. Why wouldn’t you be willing to listen unless you’re on Joshua Mosley’s payroll?”

He got out of his chair and leaned forward on his desk. “You little cocksucker.”

“Then you are ready to listen?”

He sighed and stood up as he straightened the badge he wore on his uniform. “No one pays me except for the department. You got that?” He pointed his finger in my face. “Look, I know it’s hard to think you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone and have them leave you without warning, but it happens to the best of us, kid.”

“It doesn’t happen with Laney.”

He shook his head as he sat back down. “Go drink it off, pick up a new girl, and do yourself a favor. Get over her.”

“No!” I pounded my fist on his desk. The movement of a few officers standing up in another room got my attention. I turned to them. They were probably the ones I needed to talk to anyway instead of the guy sitting at the front.

“You all talk about wanting to nail Joshua Mosley’s ass to the wall, but when you have information right in front of you to do it, you refuse to look at it. How many of you are on his payroll?”

A couple wondered out to the main area, but most of them threw their hands at me and sat back down. I was going to be listened to. I didn’t care if it threw me in jail. Someone had to hear me.

“I will find someone to help me take him down. I will take you all down with me when I do it. Is that clear? You think I’m no one! I’m here to tell you I am someone! I’m the one who will save Laney at all costs!”

“Bryce, is it?”

I turned to a familiar man wearing a suit and tie. He wasn’t one of the cops who tried to pacify me the first time, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen him. The briefcase at his side led me to believe he wasn’t a cop or a reporter. I narrowed my eyes. Maybe he was one of Joshua’s attorneys.

“Fuck off.” I turned back to the cops standing on the other side. “You’re not getting rid of me today until someone listens to me.”

“I’m willing to listen, Bryce.”

“Ryan, you don’t have to—” I hadn’t seen the chief standing behind him before, but it was interesting to see him shut up at the motion of Ryan’s hand. Maybe he was someone I should talk to.

Ryan spoke to me and ignored the chief behind him. “What is it you want to talk about?”

The chief tried to take another stab at getting me out. “He’s just upset that his girl left him. I’ve already looked into it and there’s no evidence of any foul play. Joshua Mosley has a receipt for the ticket of the plane his daughter left on.”

I was tired of hearing about their evidence. “Do you have proof she was on that plane? No, because you didn’t look into it anymore. What Joshua says goes, isn’t that right? Did you get a bonus for lying to me?”

Ryan held his arm out when the chief started toward me. “That conference room we just used, is it still open?”

“You can’t be serious. You’re not going to listen to a little shit ass punk like this, are you?”

Ryan didn’t do a great job of keeping his frustration off his face. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw before turning to address the man behind him. “Is there a reason you don’t want this conversation to take place here?”

“You want to waste your fucking time, be my guest. The conference room is all yours.” The chief walked off as he shook his head and flung his hands in the air.

Ryan took a deep breath and turned back to me. “Now, let’s have that conversation.” He motioned with his head for me to follow as he headed back down the hall he came from.

I followed, but I’d never been that far into the police station before. It crossed my mind that it may not have been the best idea I had. If I pissed off Joshua and he did have Laney somewhere, she may have been in more danger after I spilled the secrets I had. It was a chance I had to take.

He walked in and motioned for me to take a seat before shutting the door behind me. “In case you have no idea who I am, my name is Ryan Wilcox. I’m the district attorney, and I’m very interested in nailing Joshua Mosley’s ass to the wall.” He took a seat a couple of chairs down from me. “The floor is yours. I’m all ears.”

I had no idea what to say or where to begin. I wasn’t going to put all of my cards on the table, but I would begin with the most important one.

“My fiancée has disappeared.”

“Did you two have a fight?”

It was starting out as it always did. Did we fight? Did I do something to her? Why was it so unbelievable that she didn’t love me? I decided to stop all questions to get to the root of the problem.

“We had sex.”

He was taken aback by that. “Did it go too far?”

I slapped my hand on the table and leaned forward with my other elbow on my knee. “No, you don’t understand. We were happy. We’ll be happy again as soon as I can find her. She had an early morning meeting, so we went in together. That almost never happens since the bank opens earlier than her shop and she leaves later than me.

“That morning we were leaving at the same time so I got to drive her. We got there a little earlier than anticipated since there wasn’t any traffic, and I decided to fool around in the car.”

He leaned over, placing his elbow on the table and lifting his hand to rest his chin on it. “Did she not want to fool around?”

“No, you’re thinking like I’m a criminal. Stop. She was the aggressor. She straddled me. Had I known she was feeling adventurous, I would’ve joined her in the shower.”

He nodded and motioned for me to continue.

I cleared my throat. “After work, I headed over to spend the rest of the time she had at the boutique with her. I’d driven her that morning, so I was going to take her out to dinner after I picked her up.”

“She wasn’t there?”

“No.”

“When was the last time you talked to her?”

I sat back and ran my hands through my hair. “When I dropped her off.”

“Is that normal?”

I shook my head. “We usually connect at least once during the day, but I was busy, so I didn’t reach out. If she has a lot of traffic in the shop, she doesn’t always reach out to me. I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

“When did you?”

“When I went home. I thought maybe she took a cab. Maybe she got sick. It wasn’t adding up, but what other explanation could it be? The place was locked up. Nothing was out of order, and her purse and keys were gone.”

“What happened when you went home?”

“She wasn’t there.”

“What about her stuff?”

“Most of it was there.”

He put his arm down. “Most of it? What was missing?”

“She had a bag in the trunk of her car, but it wasn’t there when I got home.” I looked up to the ceiling. He wasn’t going to believe me. It sounded as if she left on her own even to myself. “She packed the bag to get me to elope with her. Her father doesn’t like me very much, so she wanted to leave and get married. I should’ve let her talk me into it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I just want everything to be perfect for her. Life with me hasn’t been perfect.” I wasn’t going to explain that. What we’d been through was none of his business.

“Why do you think it’s more than just her leaving?”

“Because she wouldn’t leave me. The woman who straddled me in the car that morning didn’t suddenly fall out of love with me. We want to spend the rest of our lives together. It just makes no sense. None of it does.”

“Is there more?”

I scratched my cheek and rubbed my jaw. “I don’t want to get into any trouble, and what I’m about to tell you could land me in some very hot water.”

He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees as he looked directly into my eyes. “Did you take Laney Mosley? Did you hurt her in any way?”

“No. I want her back.”

“Okay, then. What you tell me next will be off the record, and if it starts to get to a point where I think you’ll need an attorney, I will stop you from speaking. I’m not here to bust your balls. I want Joshua Mosley.”

It was against my better judgment to trust the man in front of me, but I wanted Laney back no matter the cost. I needed to know she was safe. That was all that mattered to me. If it landed me in jail or worse, I didn’t care. I needed to know she was safe.

“I work at the bank. Joshua was kind enough to get me a job there after he got me fired from the teaching job I worked my ass off to get. He told me she left to get our dream wedding planned She’s in some remote tropical area and that’s why she can’t contact me.”

“You don’t believe him.”

“No. I believe he had everything to do with it, but I don’t believe he sent her away on a vacation or to get our wedding set up as he tried to tell me a few days later after I told him I didn’t buy the vacation bullshit. He’s done everything in his power to destroy our chances at getting married and living a happy life together.”

“What does that have to do with the bank?”

I swiveled the chair to face the table and leaned forward. “I looked into her accounts to see if she spent money anywhere and where she spent it. I’m desperate to find her. I know it was wrong—”

“Did you find anything?”

I turned my head toward him. “Yeah, but not what I was looking for.”

“What did you find?”

“She never spent a dime.” I twisted the chair back to face him. “Not in any of her accounts.”

“Any?” He leaned forward. “How many accounts are we talking about?”

“More than she knows about.” I stood and paced the room. “Look, I know she’s not planning our wedding. What I don’t know is what her father did to her or said to her to get her to leave.” I turned and leaned on the table. “Did you know he’s taken over her shop, too? He hated that thing, but he wants to keep it running for her? What a load of shit.” I pushed myself off the table and paced the room again.

Ryan ignored everything I said except for one thing. “How do you know she doesn’t know about the other accounts?”

I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. “Because I never opened the accounts I found in my name, either.”

He sat back and resumed his original position with his chin in his hand. “How many people know you looked at these accounts?”

“Only you. No one else would listen to me anyway.”

“Let’s keep it that way.”