Page 101 of Beast

She ended the call and looked out the window.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

I knew her dad must’ve given her a hard time. “What did he say?”

“That you were just a typical SEAL who was going to leave me and cheat on me. ‘Remember where you met him, Annie. That’s not the kind of man you want to get involved with or the type of role model you want for your son.’ Whatever, I don’t care. They’ll get over it. They can’t really pretend to try to protect me from anything. I’ve already survived the worst life imaginable.”

“My offer stands, you both can stay here.”

She reached up and kissed me. “I’d like that.”

We popped in a movie for Gabriel, Turbo. He eventually fell asleep in front of the television.

I opened the door and leashed up Trigger for a quick walk. “I’ll be right back.”

“Can I take a shower?”

I was tempted to jump in with her and see the beads of water glisten off her body. “Make yourself at home.”

Trigger was grateful to spend time with me. Some would say it was stupid to get a dog when I was deployed so much. But Trigger was my family. His loyalty was boundless.

We entered the courtyard and Trigger sniffed a tree. I took my phone out and saw I’d had missed a call from Kyle. I called him back and he picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?” his voice sounded groggy.

“Hey, man. Sorry I missed your call. Annie and Gabriel are here.”

“How’s it going?”

“Yesterday I met her family. Her dad tried to bribe me to stay away from her.”

“What an asshole. You said no, right?”

“Of course I did. But that’s not it. There’s something going on with her parents.”

Kyle’s voice deepened. “Keep talking.”

“I don’t have anything yet, but something doesn’t add up. I mean, I found her and I wasn’t even looking. And Dave mentioned those contractors were looking for her. You’d think with all that money they could find her?”

“I thought they also hired some guy who took their money?” Kyle said.

“That’s what the news stories say, but her dad’s a former Naval Officer—he couldn’t check out this guy’s credentials before giving him three hundred thousand dollars?”

“You’re right. That makes no sense,” Kyle said.

I nodded. “I’m going to put some calls in with some friends who work in security contracting firms. See if they know anything.”

“Let me know if you need anything.” Kyle paused. “I’ll text Dave.” I heard a girl’s voice in the background.

Trigger had done his business and was now flirting with a pug. “Sounds good. Later.”

“Bye.”

I took Trigger back into the apartment, hoping maybe Annie would meet me at the door naked. But she was sitting on my bedspread, wearing a silky blue nightie, and texting on her phone.

I unleashed Trigger. “Anything important?”