Page 70 of Deadly Waves

“That makes two of us,” Sophie said.

“Make that three,” Mandy said, following the women toward the door. “Let’s find her. The faster this is over with, the faster James and I can play sexy mermaid games.”

Ally snorted. “You guys really are sick.”

“I can live with that.”

“I’M SORRYabout upsetting Tabitha,” James said, reclining in his chair as he studied Will’s impassive face. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“Mr. Hardy, let’s not play games,” Will suggested. “You might not have set out to upset my daughter, but you certainly wanted to gauge her reaction. Why is that?”

“I … wanted to see how she felt about Peterson,” James admitted. Even though Will was a father and their host, he was also a client and James refused to lie. “The things we’ve found in Peterson’s past are worrisome.”

“And this is about more than the girl who ended up pregnant, isn’t it?”

“There’s another girl from about three years ago who ended up pregnant, too,” James explained. “She disappeared after naming Peterson. She didn’t do it formally, though, and no charges were pursued because her testimony was never taken on the record.”

Will visibly swallowed. “Do you think Jon killed her?”

“I can’t answer that,” James said. “I don’t like jumping to conclusions and we have no proof where Peterson is concerned. What we do have is a trail of … coincidences, so to speak … that when put together make him look like a potential murderer.”

“At the very least, he’s a slime ball,” Grady said. “At the worst, he’s a murderer.”

“That’s on top of the teacher who he openly dated,” James added. “She went missing a few months ago. That’s two people in close proximity to Peterson who have simply disappeared. Do you know the odds of that?”

“And that’s just what we know about because there’s a paper trail,” Grady added. “I’m sure there are stories out there that have never hit official channels and are therefore unsearchable. If Peterson is a predator, it’s doubtful he can stop himself.”

“You think he has a sexual relationship with my daughter, don’t you?” Will was matter-of-fact instead of reactionary. “That’s what you’re really getting at, isn’t it?”

“I honestly don’t know,” James said. “Tabitha took up for him, which could mean he’s a good guy.”

“But?”

“It could also mean that she’s been brainwashed and pretending she’s in love with the man is the only way she can rationalize what’s happening in her head,” James conceded. “I’ve seen that numerous times. It’s impossible to tell unless she’s willing to open up.”

“Let’s say I believe this,” Will said. “How does any of it play into Zoe’s disappearance?”

“That’s an extremely good question,” James said. “I can’t guarantee that Peterson has anything to do with Zoe Walters’ disappearance because we have nothing concrete to go on where she’s concerned. We ran a background check on her, too. She seems clean and there are no red flags in her past. It’s impossible to go really deep without access to friends and family, though, and due to the nature of the case, we simply don’t have the access that we need.”

“Then why focus on Jon Peterson?”

“Because we need to start somewhere,” James replied. “We ran background checks on all of your employees and got a few hits. I want to go over those with you before anything else. We’re not focused on Peterson to the detriment of everyone else. We can’t rule him out, though.”

“What about Tabitha?” Will asked. “Perhaps I should talk to her.”

“Mandy, Sophie, and Ally are looking for her right now,” Grady supplied. “They’re going to attempt a conversation with her first.”

Will balked. “But she won’t talk to them.”

“She might not talk to her father either,” James said. “At least they’re women. They’re good sounding boards. You might be surprised at what they’re capable of.”

“Well, I’ll let them give it a try,” Will said. “Tell me about these other employees and we’ll go from there. If I haven’t seen Tabitha in thirty minutes, though, I’m going to insist we find her.”

“I think that’s a probably a good idea,” James said, reaching for his iPad. “Let’s get this party started, shall we?”

“IT LOOKSlike it’s going to storm.”

Sophie’s eyes were keen as they scanned the horizon and noticed the clouds rolling in.