Page 90 of Knox

“Yeah?” Knox sat up, running a hand through his hair. Relief flooded his voice. “Where?”

My pulse quickened. I pulled the sheet around myself and moved closer, hope surging through my chest.

“The old lighthouse on Cooper’s Point.” Knox glanced at me. “Christ, finally.”

He listened, his free hand finding mine beneath the covers. Squeezing once. Hard.

“Shit.” Knox’s jaw tightened. “When?”

The hope crashed. I pressed against his shoulder, needing the contact. Needing to understand.

“Before you arrested him?” Knox glanced at me, his expression grim. “So she could still be alive. Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker. Sloane needs to hear this.”

He tapped the screen and the sheriff’s weary voice filled the room. “Sloane, you there?”

“I’m here.” My words came out steadier than I felt. “You caught him? You caught Walter Lehman?”

“About an hour ago,” Nash confirmed. “Found him at the abandoned lighthouse out on the point. He’s in custody, being transported to the mainland for holding. FBI’s taken over the interrogation.”

Relief weakened my limbs. “So it’s over.”

“Not quite,” Nash said. “We got a missing person report right after we brought Lehman in. Young woman, staying at one of the vacation rentals near Rodanthe. Hasn’t been seen since this afternoon. Boyfriend reported her missing when she didn’t come back from a walk.”

Knox’s hand tightened on mine. “Timeline?”

“Best we can tell, she went missing several hours before we arrested Lehman. He could have taken her, stashed her somewhere before we closed in on him.”

“Is he talking?” Knox was already moving, sliding out of bed, reaching for clothes.

I tugged him back. There wasn’t anything we could do right now. Not in the pitch blackness of the night.

He met my eyes, then reluctantly returned to bed.

“Not a word,” Sheriff Sullivan answered. “He asked for an attorney the second we cuffed him. But we’re organizing search parties at dawn—every deputy, volunteer, anyone with experience. If she’s out there, we’ll find her. I need you and your team, Knox. You know this island better than most of our newer deputies, and we need all the expertise we can get.”

“We’ll be there,” Knox said without hesitation. “All four of us.”

“Not Sloane,” the sheriff said. He sighed. “Not in the morning, at least.”

I started to nod, then stopped. “What? Why? You just said I’m safe.”

“FBI requested you come in tomorrow morning,” Nash said. “With Lehman in custody, the immediate threat to you is over, but they want to talk. They didn’t tell me much more. I’m sure they’ll reach out to set that up tomorrow. I didn’t want to wait to call.”

“Appreciated,” Knox said. “We’re going to sleep a lot better now.”

“Thought so. Sam’s being presented a lineup tomorrow morning with Lehman included,” Nash continued. “The kid who was squatting,” he clarified. “He’s been incredibly helpful. Seems like a genuinely good kid who got caught in a bad situation.”

Knox nodded, though Nash couldn’t see it. “That’s good.”

“Get some rest,” Nash said. “Both of you. We’re meeting at the station at dawn to coordinate search sectors.”

The call ended, and silence filled the bedroom.

I pulled my knees to my chest. “There’s another missing woman.”

Knox sat on the edge of the bed, his back to me. Muscles tense beneath his skin. “We’ll find her.”

“What if you don’t? What if⁠—”