ANNIE AND GABRIEL SLEPT IN late, but I couldn’t rest. After making her come last night, I was worked up, so I just watched her sleep. I wanted to fuck her so badly but I had to be patient. Normally, and I know it makes me a fucking douche to say this, but I wasn’t the type to have a woman stay over at my apartment. I couldn’t afford those kinds of connections due to the amount of time I was on assignment. I simply didn’t want the complication. With Annie though, I didn’t have any objections to waking up with her shit all over my house or having her in my bed.

I snuck out to the farmer’s market, came back, and made her breakfast in bed. I wasn’t much of a chef, more of a short order cook—scrambled eggs, bacon, toast.

I told her I had to do something quick at work and that I’d be back in an hour or so. She and Gabriel decided to take Trigger to the park.

I cruised over to Kyle’s place. The lucky bastard had invested some of his NFL money in a sick townhouse overlooking the beach.

I rang the doorbell and a blonde girl opened the door wearing nothing but one of Kyle’s jerseys and purple panties.

The girl didn’t say anything, just turned and walked into the kitchen. I followed, and couldn’t help staring at her fine ass. Had I never met Annie, I’d probably be hooking up with a different girl every night since I’d been home. Kyle and I would be living it up, maybe even hit the Playboy mansion. We always were invited courtesy of a Hollywood director who loved us. We’d trained his actors for one of the many action movies about the Bin Laden raid.

Kyle was sitting at his breakfast bar, reading the paper. He wore only pajama bottoms.

The girl went into the kitchen. “Want some breakfast?” She cracked an egg into a bowl.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“My bad. Pat, this is Sara. Let her cook you breakfast.”

“Sure.” Every girl Kyle hooked up with tried to audition to be his wife. He wasn’t like me—he believed in love and wanted to get married. But he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.

Sara smiled, put some butter in the skillet. “So are you a former football player, too?”

I glared at Kyle, not knowing if he had even told this chick he was a SEAL. I doubted it. Kyle usually told people he was retired from the NFL.

“Nah, honey. Pat here’s my personal trainer. Actually, we need to discuss my plans for the upcoming season in my office. Can you bring us our omelets when you’re done?”

“Sure, babe.”

Kyle stood up and kissed her, his right hand cupping her ass. I followed him into his office.

“Upcoming season? She thinks you still play ball?”

“I told her I used to play ball, might try out again.”

“Really? That’s news to me. You’re kind of locked into a military contract.”

“True that. But who knows, I could write a book about one of our missions and get kicked out.”

I laughed. Five years ago, most SEALs wanted to remain anonymous. After the Bin Laden raid, every SEAL had a book deal, wanted to become an actor, or ran a Cross Fit. It was fucking ridiculous.

“When’d you meet her?”

“Last night. At PB Bar & Grill. She’s a preschool teacher. I dig her. She could be the one.”

“That’s what you say every time.”

Sara entered the room, carrying a tray with our food and two coffees. I thanked her. It was nice being taken care of for a change.

“Could you close the door?”

“Yup. Don’t be too long.” She licked her lips. “I’ll be upstairs, waiting. Nice to meet you, Pat.”

“You, too.”

The door shut. I took a bite of my omelet—cheese and ham. Simple, but good.

“So how’s Annie?”

“Good. She’s back at my place now.”

Kyle’s mouth widened into a smile. “I knew it.”

“Yeah, well, I caught her texting Chris. She says she’s not screwing him but who knows?”

“Man, that Marissa chick screwed you up. Women can have male friends and not fuck them. It is possible. Just give Annie a chance. She’s crazy about you, dude. And she’s a good girl. Fine, strong, sweet. Not many women could survive what she did.”

Kyle always seemed to be right. But I didn’t come here to discuss my relationship problems. “Have you heard back from Dave?”

“Yup. He’s waiting for our call. Going to conference him now.”

Kyle dialed his number, and Dave’s face popped up on Kyle’s computer screen. You have to love modern technology.

“Hi, guys. So I’ve done some searching. Everyone in Aruba knew Annie was taken, but I guess they had her hidden out in Curaçao.”

I nodded. “Yup. That’s what she told me.”

“As I told you on the ship, I’d heard of sightings of her, but nothing panned out. And, of course, all the locals know I’m a former SEAL so I’d be the last one they’d tell.”

“Understood,” Kyle said.

“Well about two years after she went missing, some contractors came around the island and asked about Annie. Flashing her picture everywhere. Rented my yacht.”

“We know this—the fake SEAL. He had people with him?”

“No, Pat. Not him. That con man never even looked for her. I have my doubts he even exists.”

I was confused. “I’m not following you.”

“I told you on the boat, these men who came looking for her were former Team guys. They were very thorough and professional. They must’ve hit every brothel here and in Aruba. Yet there has never been any mention of them by Annie’s family or the FBI.”

My mind raced. “So, you think these guys were paid by her family but didn’t find her?”

Dave’s head shook. “No. I think they found her—and left her there.”

What the fuck was he saying? “That makes no fucking sense.”

“Hear me out. You found her by accident. These men worked for someone. Not the government. Annie had vanished. There were never any ransom notes, no one saw her get taken, her boyfriend was suspected of killing her or it was a possible suicide. Someone hired these guys, whoever they were, to find Annie. I did some more digging once I returned and one of my buddies swears that one of these guys was drunk and bragging that he had found her. And that other girl, Nicole. I bet they found them. They just decided not to bring them home.”

Jesus! It made sense. There was no way with all the money her parents had that they hadn’t found legit security contractors to locate her. Which group did they hire? And if they found her, why the hell didn’t they bring her home?

Kyle took over the conversation. “What did the guys look like?”

“They looked like recently retired SEALs. Older, mid to late thirties. Clean cut, no tattoos, built. One of them was a ginger. I hope this helps.”

“Thanks, Dave, I really appreciate it. Next time we’re in town, I’ll buy you a beer.”

“Any time. Let me know if you need anything.”

I stared at the empty screen, my mind totally blown.

Finally, Kyle broke my trance, “Has Annie mentioned any other Americans she, um, ‘met’ over there?”

“Nope. She doesn’t talk about it.”

“Well, I’ll call Vic and we can start researching older Team guys—see who’s in contracting, any redheads. But you need to talk to your girlfriend, make sure we’re on to something.”

“I doubt she’ll talk, but I’ll try. Thanks, man.”

“Any time. I need to take care of some business upstairs and then I’ll get right on it.”

I gave him a high five. “I get it. I’ll let myself out.”

I walked out of the house, but instead of getting back into my truck, I headed to the ocean. I needed to clear my head.

My gut clenched. I had to interrogate Annie about her johns without her getting suspicious.