Page 45 of The Deadly Shallows

“Noah next door with Brooke?” Rissi asked.

“Yep. Apparently, Gabby’s riding over with Finn, and she is going to hang with her.”

“I think I’ll pop in and say hi before we start the meeting,” Rissi said.

“Sounds good,” Mason said.

Rissi smiled back at him, a woman deep in love.

Mason was a good guy. Caleb was truly happy for them. And, looking back, he could see that what he’d felt for Rissi had been basic affection. Nothing more, and certainly not love. Not like the love she and Mason shared.

His feelings for Rissi had completely ceased a few months back. Right around the time Austin—no matter how infuriating the woman was at first—entered his life like a whirlwind.

“Hey, guys,” Finn said as he and Gabby entered.

Everyone murmured their greetings, and after a minute, Gabby gestured in the direction of Brooke’s room and said, “I’m going to head on over.”

Finn pressed a kiss on her lips. “Love you, babe.”

Noah looked up to see his sister entering the room with a coffee-carrying tray and two duffels—their straps slung across her body.

“I brought coffee,” Gabby said as she set the drink carrier on the side shelf and the duffels in the cubby beneath it.

He gave his sister a look, knowing she’d understand what he was silently asking, and she nodded. Good. He would surprise Brooke tonight. It was nothing fancy, but he prayed it would be enough to distract her from the pain she’d been enduring—both mentally and physically.

“Those are beautiful,” Gabby said, gesturing to the sunflowers.

“Austin brought them.” Brooke smiled.

Really smiled, and it warmed Noah’s heart.

Speaking of his heart, he hated leaving her, but he needed to be at the case-board meeting, and she was in loving hands. Besides, she might feel more comfortable confiding in a female friend about certain aspects of what she went through than with a man.

“I’ll leave you ladies alone,” he said, his gaze fixed on Brooke. “I’ll be right next door if you need anything.”

“Okay, shoo,” Gabby said, signaling with hand motions for him to scoot. “We’re good.”

He headed next door, a hollow ache in his gut at leaving Brooke.

TWENTY-FOUR

Noah entered his hospital room—his for at least another day. Everyone was present except Emmy, who was supposed to have the entire day off but had, of course, refused to take it until Brooke was found and safe. He’d insisted she take the rest of the day off, and she very begrudgingly listened, but only once she was assured that Logan would fill her in on what they discussed during the meeting.

“I can’t believe Emmy actually agreed to take the afternoon off,” Caleb said.

“I didn’t give her a choice.” Noah looked directly at Caleb. “Just like I won’t give you one tomorrow.”

“With so much going on . . .” Caleb said, tapping his pen against his notepad.

“No ifs, ands, or buts. You’re off,” Noah said. “This case has so many facets, it’s going to take a while to solve—and plenty of other agencies are working with us. We can afford one person off a day in rotation.”

Caleb nodded in agreement, but his tight jaw said he still wasn’t happy about it.

“Okay.” Noah rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get started. We have a lot to cover. Finn, how about you start us out?”

Finn started by explaining he’d processed most of the evidence collected from Brooke and the rowboat and had some interesting leads, but because they had not yet found the site of her interrogation and any evidence on her clothing had been compromised by her swim, most leads were dead ends.

“It’s difficult to determine the influence of the river’s current,” Finn continued, “but considering the approximate time Brooke was in the rowboat and swimming in the water, I’m guessing we are on the right track with this area of the warehouse district.” He pointed to an enlarged section of the map.