Page 83 of The SEAL and the Sheriff

He put his hand on the door.

Sarah’s hand landed briefly on his forearm. “I’ve got the room. You watch.”

With a nod, he let her go in first.

Cord was sitting, hands knotted on the table. He looked up with haunted eyes as Sarah and Hudson entered. This wasn’t the composed operator Hudson remembered, the man who’d been better than anyone at going still and unreadable when it counted. This was someone who hadn’t slept in days.

Cord’s sleeves were shoved past his elbows. His nails were bitten raw. Underneath the table, his foot never stopped moving. This was the man Hudson had once trusted with his life, stripped of every trace of the operator he’d been.

Hudson hated that pity arrived before rage.

Cord’s eyes landed on Hudson’s face. Emotion passed and then was gone again. “Kane.”

Hudson didn’t answer. He didn’t trust what would come out.

Sarah pulled out the chair across from Cord and sat, her badge catching the fluorescent light. Hudson took the wall by the door where he could see all of it and let her run it.

She didn’t hurry. Hudson folded his arms and waited.

“Mr. Blake. I’m Sheriff Meyer. You asked for me.”

“My wife Nora is missing. I can’t find her on my own. I need help.”

Hudson had seen seasoned investigators mistake speed for control. Sarah didn’t.

“Nora’s missing?” Her voice remained even. “Start with the last time you knew she was safe.”

“Two days ago. I watched her leave work and get home safely. Yesterday she wasn’t at the house.” Cord dragged a hand down his face. “Her car was there. Her coat was there.” His hands closed into fists on the table. “She never hurt anyone. She’ll be terrified. It’s eighteen degrees out and she has no coat.”

“Why didn’t you come sooner?”

“Because until this morning I thought she’d left to visit her mom. Then I found out they had her.”

“We searched your fishing cabin five days ago,” Sarah said. “You weren’t there.”

Cord nodded. “I knew you would.”

“So where were you?”

“Moving.” His mouth twisted. “If I stayed somewhere too long, they’d find me. Cabins. Boats. Hunting shacks. Anywhere I thought I’d bought another day.” He looked down at his hands, pushing his wedding ring around his finger with his thumb. “Turns out I wasn’t the one they were watching.”

Hudson clenched his teeth. Pieces tried to connect in his head. The man who was responsible for Ben Taggart’s death. The man falling apart over a missing woman. They shouldn’t have fit inside the same body, but here they were, three feet away, both of them true at once.

Sarah frowned. “If you knew you were in danger, why come here now?”

Cord hissed out a breath. “Because—” His thumb skimmed his wedding ring. “This wasn’t supposed to touch her. I gave them everything fifteen years ago. Took the deal, disappeared and built a clean life with Nora. Then they found me. They knew my name. My history. Where Nora worked. What time she came home.”

Sarah’s expression sharpened. “They threatened her?”

“They didn’t need to say it twice.” Cord shook his head. “The first job was supposed to buy our freedom. Then there was another. And another. Every time I did what they wanted, I told myself I’d bought her one more safe day.” His laugh held no humor. “Turns out there was always going to be one more.”

Cord looked at Sarah. “They took her because they think it’ll keep me quiet.” His gaze swiveled to Hudson. “They’re wrong. I’m done. Find Nora. After that, I’m yours.”

Hudson had imagined this moment so many times. None of those versions had ended with Cord surrendering himself to save the woman he loved.

“Who knew where she’d be?” Sarah asked. “Who knew her routine, the house, her schedule?”

“That’s not—” Cord shook his head, leaning forward, urgent now. “You’re asking the wrong questions, Sheriff. You don’t have time.”