Lieutenant Gomez drove away. Erikka looked down at her phone and turned away from the doorway. Six hours after Rachel called her, the police gave back her confiscated phone, and even with the experts doing their job, there was no news.

No pings, no more calls, no location of Rachel's phone.

"I don't understand this." Erikka put the phone on the end table and turned to Chuck. "They had a record of Rachel up until she went missing. They knew who she called, where she went, and the last time she sent a text and the location she was at when she sat in her car, typed a message, and sent it to my phone. But, as soon as she goes missing, they can't find out anything. How can they not find her?"

"Like Gomez said, they're going to assume the calls were made from out of the country. They're approaching the judge to go forward and contact international phone servers or whatever bullshit they call it. All of that takes time and unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do but wait while the police and Galeeno and Sons continue searching." Chuck walked into the kitchen and came back into the living room with two water bottles, passing one to Erikka.

"In the meantime, they expect me to just sit here and wait like a good little girl." She cracked the top and drank. "I should go to Cabo San Lucas. I have my passport. I can afford the trip. I'll find Rachel myself."

"How are you going to deal with Stoddard?" He sat down on the couch.

She lacked patience, and no matter how many times Chuck or the lieutenant told her to try and be patient, she was ready to go off half-cocked. There had to be something she could do.

"I don't know." She paced in front of him. "I'll shoot him with my pistol."

"Is your CWP valid outside the U.S.?"

She stopped. "No."

"There will be a problem using the airlines with a pistol in your carry-on bag," he said.

She made a face and shook her head. "I'll call the police when I find Stoddard."

"That's what Galeeno & Sons are trying to do."

"Well, they're not doing their job very well if they haven't found her, and they've been there for days." She plopped down on the chair across from him. "I need to do something."

The roar of a single motorcycle cut off in front of his house. She looked at Chuck to see if he was expecting anyone. He shrugged and stood from the couch. She stayed where she was and rubbed her hands over her face. She must look a sight. No makeup and the lack of sleep gave her bags under her eyes. She didn't have to look in a mirror to know they were there.

Chuck moved away from the window, and the doorbell rang. Hidden out of sight of the door, she stared at the wall. When were things going to start going Rachel's way?

Soft voices floated into the living room. Erikka cocked her head. Was that a female?

She stood and walked over to the door. Clara and Gracie talked with Chuck. Her chest tightened. Could Gracie not go a day without Chuck?

"Come here, love," said Chuck in his deep, rough voice, looking over his shoulder at her.

She walked to him and slipped her finger through his belt loop below his lower back, consciously aware that she was marking her territory no better than a neighborhood dog wandering around the block, pissing on every bush. Her already frazzled mind pushed her to look at the twins.

"We wanted to bring this over to you." One of them held out a wicker basket. "It's only a few things we put together but thought it might help while you wait for news about your sister."

She let go of Chuck and took the basket filled with lotion, notepad, pens, an electric photo viewer, bath salt, slippers, and a few more things she couldn't see at a glance. Humbled by their generosity, she struggled with understanding why they'd be nice to her when all she'd done was take their men away from them to help her find Rachel.

The lump in her throat grew, and she looked past them trying to gain control of her emotions. Wayne sat on his motorcycle at the curb behind a car. They'd made the visit as a group.

"I don't know what to say," she whispered, looking at the twins again. "Thank you."

"I'm Clara." Clara reached out and stroked Erikka's arm, helping her figure out who was who. "You're welcome. I know how hard it is to wait and all of these things are meaningless when you're worried about your sister, but if it helps to pass even three minutes of the time, I hope it helps."

Erikka looked back and forth between the twins. Clara had a red shirt on. Gracie had a white blouse. She'd never remember because her wayward thoughts had already pressed in on her. How would Clara know what it felt like to lose her sister when Gracie was standing right beside her.

"Don't give up hope." Gracie's serious expression further confused her.

"I won't...thank you." She turned and carried the basket into the kitchen.

Humbled, she fingered the items. While she dealt with Rachel missing, the women attached to Notus members also had things going on in their lives. They worked, they supported each other, and one of them had a baby and was in the hospital. Yet, Clara and Gracie took time to shop for her and present her with a gift that was meant to be emotionally supportive. Why would they go out of their way, especially if Gracie had a problem with her being with Chuck?

The thud of boots walking toward her brought her head up. Chuck raised his brow. She blew out her breath. Maybe the problem was her. She was jealous of the others, especially Gracie.

"That was really nice of them. I should've told them how much it means to me that they came over." She swallowed. "I'm not used to others reaching out. It's always been just Rachel and me, and our dad. He was never into pampering our feelings, so Rachel and I leaned on each other for support."

Chuck hopped up on the counter and sat. "Where was your mom?"

"She was never there." She shrugged. "Her and dad were never married. By the time we were three, she had given custody to my dad and walked out of our lives. Last I heard she'd gotten married and had her own family."

"She never reached out to you?"

"Phone calls and birthday cards stopped when we were in high school. She lives in Rhode Island, or she did the last time we received cards. I think she was too young or too carefree to have a family. When she finally matured, it was natural that we all moved on."

"Hurts, love," he muttered.

"Not really. Not anymore." She leaned against the counter. "Dad was a great parent. We were loved, protected, and provided for. We were used to his ways, and we all became who we are because of the way we lived. Not having a mom in our lives bothered Rachel more than me. I never really saw it for something different than kids who grew up with divorced parents. It's just...normal."

He grunted, acknowledging her but keeping his opinion to himself. She'd noticed his tight control over his words a lot when talking about different things. If he disagreed, he never argued. He let it slide off his back.

"What about your parents?" She studied him.

He exhaled. "Normal child of divorce. Both parents have passed away. They were older when they had me. One of the pitfalls, I guess."

"No brothers or sisters?"

"I had Notus my whole life. They're my family." He reached out, hooked the collar of her shirt and pulled her between his thighs.

At his height advantage sitting on the counter, he guided her head forward. Her cheek pressed against the middle of his chest. Closing her eyes, she let him hold her.

"You need to lay off the attitude with Gracie." His hands held her tighter when she tried to pull away. "Not because I think you were rude. You weren't, and she understands what you're going through. But, you're stressing yourself out for no reason. What we have between us is not what I have with Gracie. It's up to me to take care of us. Let me."

Unable to move away, she blurted, "She knows you better than I do."

"In some ways." His fingers sprawled on the back of her head. "But, you're in my bed, and I want you in my life, which means you will get to know me the best. Remember that."

"I'm not the jealous type," she muttered.

His chest rumbled underneath her cheek, and she pinched his side. He pulled back and tilted her head, forcing her to look at him. "You're my type."

"How do you know?" She wanted to question everything until she had no doubts.

Chuck inhaled deeply and gazed at her, using his fingers to smooth out the bags under her eyes that she was self-conscious about already. "Because it took me forty-five years to figure out what I wanted through a lot of experience and mistakes."

"Maybe you're wrong. Maybe you only want sex, and I am living with you which makes it awfully convenient for you to say whatever you believe will keep me interested in you." Because she couldn't move, she raised her brows.

"Are you interested in me?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point."

"Answer me."

"Why?"

"Because I think when this is all over and I can stop babying you and fuck that jealousy streak out of you for good, I'll realize that I'm already half in love with you." His voice had gone low enough she'd strained to hear. "I'm going to be here when this is all over, and then if you want to push me away or second guess my feelings, you better be ready for me to push back because I'm not going to let you get away."

Holy.

Shit.

She gulped.

For her, because she loved a dominant man and was too headstrong for her own good, she wanted someone to take control and force her to accept changes. Her chest warmed. Other women got excited over diamonds and a weekend away. Not her.