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We all nod, ready to get to work this very second if that’s what the situation calls for. Waiting is by far the worst part of this job. It leaves us feeling helpless and antsy.
“The dossier in front of you has all the information we’ve been able to get on Grace Neiman,” Max says.
The name from my past makes my head jerk back. “Who did you say?”
I immediately reach for the folder in front of me, flipping the front cover open.
“Grace Neiman, known as Gracie by her aunt—”
“No fucking way,” I mutter, looking down at the image of a woman I spent many years trying to forget.
My hands tremble as I try to wrap my head around what’s going on.
“She was in the Navy for eight years after graduating college,” Max continues. “Her dog—”
“Peaches,” I whisper, feeling defeated.
Unless they know who they’re looking for, no one would’ve been able to identify the woman on the video we just watched as Grace Neiman, much less the identity of the dog. I know both of them. Knew I should say something because she’s like a ghost from my past. The woman to blame for molding me into the man I am today.
“How did you know that?” Max asks.
I clear my throat, unchecked emotions hitting me like a bolt of lightning. “I was going to marr—I knew Grace when I was stationed in California.”
I shake my head, clearing my throat for a second time, but the lump that instantly formed there with the mention of her name refuses to be dislodged. I look up at Max and Kincaid, doing my best to get a handle on myself.
I feel numb and broken to pieces all at the same time.
“Her dog, Peaches, the one you saw in the video, was picked up by animal control. That’s how her aunt knew she was missing. I wish I had more for you guys. I’ll provide you more information as it comes in.” The last part of what Kincaid just said is a dismissal, but I’m frozen in place, looking at him but not really seeing him.
I don’t know how to process this information.
This isn’t the first time we’ve worked a case so personal. Max’s sister, Mia, was abducted and held for a very long time before we were able to find her.
Did he feel like this? Utterly helpless and incompetent?
“Grinch?”
I blink rapidly, so lost in my head I’m stunned to find the room empty of everyone but Kincaid, Dominic, and Max.
Each one of them is watching me with caution, like they have no idea how I’m going to react and they’re trying to determine the best way to approach me.
“Is there anything you can add to the information we have now?” Kincaid asks, as he takes the seat in front of me.
I shake my head.
“Anything that maybe doesn’t show up in her past, things only you’d know?” Max prods.
“I haven’t seen or spoken to Grace in… fuck.” I scrape my hands over my face, wishing I could rewind time and make all of this go away. “Twelve years? Probably closer to thirteen. I met her on base a few months before I was recruited for special ops.”
“And you two were close? You were going to marry her?” Dominic asks, his voice thick with concern.
“I—” I snap my mouth closed. My history with Grace has nothing to do with what’s going on now. It doesn’t change a thing about her current circumstances. “We were hot and heavy. It burned out quickly.”
Rather, she burned me, but the finer details aren’t important.
I’m over it, over her.
If that’s the case, why does it feel like I have a hole in my chest right now, an emptiness that makes my skin burn and my lungs constrict to the point I feel the need to gasp for air?
“We’re going to find her,” Kincaid assures me, as if the outcome is already written in stone.
“The second we—” Dominic begins, but he’s cut off by a pained wail coming from the living room.
We’re on our feet in seconds, rushing to the closed conference room door. The second we pull it open, we see Colton, Dominic’s son-in-law and homicide detective, along with Aro and Scooter practically carrying Harley into the conference room.
I swallow down my own issues as Colton leans in close to speak with the devastated man, and the realization of what’s going on slams into me like a ten-ton battering ram.
Harley’s wife is gone.
I don’t think this day could get any worse.
Chapter 2
Grace
Fear is a weird emotion.
It has the ability to wrap you in tendrils that leave you weak and incapable of acting in your best interest. It’s why the woman running from the monster in movies looks back, causing her to trip and give her predator the upper hand.
Fear also has the ability to make you hone your senses.
