Finally E-Book

Mary E. Thompson

• Herausgeber: BluEyed Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Liam Johnson has always been the quiet one of the group. He hides behind a screen and watches as life unfolds for people all around the world. He served his country and now serves his team, but he’s never been the one people run to for help, especially not women. 
Caitlyn Powers was born with the world at her beck and call. As a child model, she had everything she could have ever wanted. She never understood the word no, and she never cared to. But everything changed when her entire world came crashing down around her and the one person she always counted on disappeared. 
Liam expects his trip home for his parents’ 40th anniversary party to be quick and uneventful. The curvy waitress who serves him dinner looks just like his high school crush. When she gives him her phone number and asks him to meet her after the party, Liam knows there’s no way it’s Caitlyn. 
Except he’s wrong. And meeting her might be the most dangerous thing he’s ever done.

Leseprobe

FINALLY

F-BOMB: SEALS LOVE CURVES, BOOK 9

MARY E THOMPSON

Finally

F-BOMB: SEALs Love Curves, book 9

Copyright © 2021 Mary E Thompson

Cover Copyright © 2021 Mary E Thompson

Cover Photo from depositphotos, Copyright © Wavebreakmedia

Published by BluEyed Press, All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, businesses, locations, and events are either products of the author’s creative imagination or are used in a fictitious sense. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-953879-08-0

Print ISBN: 978-1-953879-09-7

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-953879-10-3

Created with Vellum

F-BOMB: SEALS LOVE CURVES

Welcome to the world of F-BOMB where a group of former SEALs have come together to protect the curvy women they love and the country they call home from the dangers of the world. They have the training and the knowledge, and they have the ability to kick some ass when needed. And it’ll be needed.

F-BOMB: SEALs LOVE CURVES

Freedom

Fiancée (subscriber exclusive)

Forgotten

First

Failure

Friends

Family

Forbidden

Future

Finally

SUBSCRIBE NOW AT MARYETHOMPSON.COM

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

About the Author

To you…for sticking with me through this series. I love these men and women, and bringing them to life has been a true joy. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

1

Welcome to Vermont. Those three simple words shouldn’t have been enough to make every cell in Liam Johnson’s body tense up, but they were. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and everything in him screamed to turn around. But that wasn’t an option. Not when a woman’s life was on the line.

His childhood wasn’t horrible, but he promised himself years ago that he’d never return to the minuscule town he called home for eighteen years. A town that was rundown and worn out long before he was born and had no chance of being more than a passthrough on the way to Canada.

But that was exactly where Liam was headed. Back to East Charlottesville. Back to his past. Back to all the memories of why he wanted to get out of there in the first place.

Liam, English to his friends and teammates, took the next turn into the parking lot of the makeshift welcome center. It was almost three o’clock, and even though he wasn’t far from his destination, he needed to stretch his legs.

He parked far from the entrance to the old home that was used as a welcome center and walked out onto the grass. He looked back at the cars drifting by on the small road that wound through Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. The lake was always a fantasy vacation spot. The kind of place his handful of classmates with money would go. English had never been there, and driving through on his way into Vermont was not as appealing as he’d hoped it would be. Nothing about being back in Vermont was appealing.

English kept walking until he could almost pretend the occasional traffic was the soothing hum of a computer instead of the irritating buzz of vehicles. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He held it, then let it out slowly, willing the tension to leave his body. Each breath soothed the rattled parts inside him. Until his phone buzzed.

“Yeah.”

“Are you almost there?” Dex. English’s roommate. Soon to be former roommate once he officially moved in with his girlfriend. And English’s friend.

“About an hour to go. Maybe a little less.”

“You doing okay?”

English nodded to himself, hoping the action helped his words to be more believable. “I’m good.”

“I should have gone with you.”

“I’m a big boy,” English said. He was the baby of the group, the one the rest of them treated like a kid brother half the time. He was smart and capable, but he was also young and they acted like he couldn’t be on his own.

“That’s not why and you know it.”

The sympathy in Dex’s voice said it all. He knew English didn’t want to go home. Each of the men on their team had their demons, and because of that, they all understood each other’s.

“I’ll be fine.”

“And you’ll call if you’re not.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t owe anyone anything,” Dex said, his voice softer, like he was speaking to a child instead of a grown ass thirty-three year old man.

“It’s a job. That’s all. I’ll be there for a few days and head home. They can’t get into my head in a week.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true.”

English sighed. It wasn’t, but he wanted to believe it. His parents were good people, not monsters, but they never supported his choices and weren’t shy about letting him know that. His dad wanted him to go to work at the factory in town when he finished high school. Hell, he wanted him to work there before he finished high school. That was the way of life in East Charlottesville. Finish high school, get a job at the factory, marry a local, have kids, rinse and repeat.

English never wanted that life. He knew it for as long as he could remember. But he also knew he couldn’t tell his parents until he had another plan in place. Not that it mattered. They were still angry.

“Have you learned anything new about this woman?” English asked. He needed a subject change. And to get his game face on.

“Nothing. We’ve gone through the basics you found, but there hasn’t been much of anything on her. She worked at a church, but I think you know that. She was also a waitress. Lived alone, no family. The friend who reported her missing said it’s not like her to go so long without contact. Her bosses said they’ve had others do this and they usually send in an address to mail their last check. Local PD doesn’t seem concerned. No forced entry at her place, nothing out of place. Her car is gone, so the assumption is she left town and didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“Anything on the friend?”

“Nah. She looks clean. No flags.”

“Is she a local?”

“Yeah, her name is⁠—”

English waited. His team just got a new case that was taking all of them. He should be there to help, but instead, he was looking into the missing person case. “Dex?”

“Sorry, man. Meeting. We’ll talk later.”

“Yeah.” English stared at his phone as it went dark. He was alone. His team was swamped, and English was on his own to find Jeanine Waterford. And face his past.

It wouldn’t have made sense to bring anyone else. Going in alone under the cover of his parents’ party was easy. He knew the town, and he knew anyone else would draw attention. If he was going to get any answers, he needed to draw as little attention to himself as possible.

It was a good thing English was a pro at being invisible.

* * *

The closer English got to his hometown, the more he wanted to turn the SUV around and go home. He pulled over to the side of the road a few times just so he could close his eyes and breathe, but he kept going. There was a missing woman, and English didn’t turn his back on people in need.

He finally reached the edge of town. The stop sign in the middle of nowhere was out of place, but so was everything else there. Going straight would send him into the heart of East Charlottesville. A right would take him to his parents’ house. A left would send him past the high school and the old factory. None of them were appealing.

If he was only there for the job, English knew the left would make the most sense. Get a feel for the area and see the entire town. He flipped his blinker and made the turn. He wasn’t the same kid he was when he left more than fifteen years ago. He was successful and strong. It was likely he wouldn’t be recognized by anyone because he’d changed so much. And⁠—

“Fuck me,” English mumbled.

The old factory sat to his left, a gleaming beacon on the hill. The sign at the road proclaimed it was now West Textiles. The colorful metal and stone declaration said the new owners took tremendous pride in the factory, and the shiny exterior said that extended to the facility itself.

English took a left, curiosity getting the better of him. He had a vague recollection of his parents mentioning the factory was bought years ago, but he put it out of his head, assuming it didn’t mean much. The look of the place said that assumption was wrong.

English drove down the long driveway to the parking lot, passing signs celebrating ten years in business. At four-thirty on a Friday, there were a lot of people leaving. All of them smiling.

He got a few curious looks, and some narrowed gazes, as he drove through the lot, pretending to be looking for a spot. His brand new Lincoln SUV stood out against the trucks and cars and SUVs that, in many cases, were older than him.

English swung back out of the lot and onto the main road. The factory was the biggest employer in town, but it had never been well maintained. The pay was not great, and the working conditions weren’t any better. But the new look of the place made English wonder if the rest of the town had gotten the same facelift. If the owners had enough money to clean, paint, and spit-shine the factory, it meant more money would be going into the town to do the same to the old buildings there.

Before the thought could fully form, English came up on the high school. The old brick building had green stains from years of skipped pressure washings. The parking lot boasted potholes and cracks that could swallow a small child. Lines were nonexistent on both the parking lot and the athletic fields just past the small school. Kids ran around on the football field and jogged the worn path that served as a track. Just like he remembered.

The factory and the school sitting so close together and looking so different was jarring. Nothing in East Charlottesville was ever fancy like the factory. Nothing. But that wealth clearly didn’t translate to the rest of the town.

English kept driving, down the center of town on C Drive. The old movie theater still stood, with a marquee sign telling him the movie playing was six months old. The diner on the corner hadn’t changed. The small shops were open, but the faded and cracked paint on the storefront picture windows told English nothing had been taken care of in East Charlottesville.

He reached the end of C Drive and made his left to head toward his parents’ house. He was almost there when he thought about Jeanine Waterford. She worked at the diner, but she also worked at the church. English took a quick left and headed toward the border where the church sat.

Holy Trinity Christian Church was one of the oldest churches in the country. It sat on the border of Vermont and Quebec and offered access to both the US and Canada without documentation. A line down the center told visitors where the border was, letting people wander in and out of each country at will. It was only when someone left that they had to show the ticket they received on entry to make sure they went back to the country they entered from.

English parked in the lot and went into the church. A small chapel was holding an afternoon service, but the gift shop and museum were open. Jeanine Waterford worked in the gift shop.

Trinkets sat on shelves next to religious souvenirs. The place was a popular tourist attraction, as much as anything in East Charlottesville could be. The bored-looking woman behind the register chewed gum and watched her phone while English wandered aimlessly. He picked up a postcard with the church on it and a visor clip for his SUV and carried them to the register.

“Did you find everything you needed?” the cashier asked, barely looking away from her phone as she reached for his items.

“I did. I was wondering if Jeanine is working today?”

The woman shook her head, still ignoring him. “Nope. Hasn’t been here in a week or so. She quit.”

“Really? She told you that?”

“No, but that’s what happens. People work here for a few years, sometimes less, then realize this job sucks, this town sucks, and life sucks, so they get out before they lose their minds.” The woman looked up at him, vehemence in her eyes. “That or they go crazy.”

“Crazy?” English asked. He didn’t know what this woman meant. She was younger than him, mid-twenties at the oldest. He didn’t know many women that age, but her clear hatred for her job surprised him.

She shrugged. “There was one woman who worked here like, forever ago. She was crazy. Kept saying she saw people who weren’t there. Or things that weren’t there.”

“Like what?”

She shrugged again, her voice fading back to boredom. “I don’t know. I never met her. All I know is I’m not sticking around here long enough to lose my mind. I’m going to New York City to be a star.”

English resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Congratulations.”

She flashed him her first genuine smile and bagged his items. He handed her cash and stuffed his change in the bag with his purchase. On his way out, he took note of all the places someone could hide, or could hide something, before he left.

He got in his SUV and sent Dex a text to look into the church and former employees, especially one who went crazy. Dex texted back that he’d report when he had something.

English put his phone back in his pocket and accepted that he couldn’t stall any longer. His parents’ party was at seven, and it was getting close to five after his detour through town. If he knew his parents, they were going to want to be at the party by six, which meant he needed to clean up fast.

He parked in front of the house he grew up in and turned off the SUV. The yard was trimmed neatly, but the beds around the house were overgrown. The paint on the siding was chipped and peeling. The roof was missing a few shingles. Gauzy white curtains fluttered in the windows, showcasing the lack of air conditioning no matter how warm it was outside for early September.

English grabbed his duffle from the front seat and stepped out. He closed the door and locked the vehicle out of habit. He was halfway to the front door when it opened to his mom drying her hands on a dishtowel.

“Oh, my God, Liam? Is that you?”

“Hi, Mom.”

“William! Liam is here!”

“Liam?”

His mom waved English closer, holding the door open while he closed the distance between them. She was in a blue dress he had seen her in before with a white apron around her waist. Her hair was up in her signature bun at the base of her neck with gray streaks throughout. English made it to her and leaned down to hug his mother, inhaling her pencil shavings and freshly baked bread scent.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, Liam, I’m so happy you’re here. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

English chuckled. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise visit.”

“This is the best surprise ever.”

“I was hoping. It’s been a long time since I’ve been home.”

“Too long,” his dad said from behind them. “Your mother’s been upset.”

“Sorry. I should have visited. You guys can come to Niagara Falls sometime. I think you’d like it.”

“You know we aren’t city people,” his mom said quickly.

“Yeah, but it’s beautiful there.”

“Can’t beat here,” his dad said roughly. It was the same old argument. Everything a person ever needed was right there in East Charlottesville. Why would anyone ever want to leave?

English simply nodded, not engaging with his dad. He knew it wouldn’t end well since neither of them would change their minds. It wasn’t worth the fight.

“Good to see you, Dad.”

“You’re gaining weight. Sitting in front of that computer all the time isn’t good for you. Don’t you know sitting is the new smoking?”

English almost laughed at his father’s words. Sure, English knew it, but he was surprised his father knew the latest medical advice doctors were sharing. English agreed with it, but that was why he made sure to get in a run every day, lifted weights, and used the punching bag in the office. He was not hurting for exercise. And he hadn’t gained weight since he left the military.

“I’ll be careful,” English told his dad, knowing it wouldn’t silence him but was the best he could do.

“If you’d have come to work at the factory, you’d be using your hands and would be on your feet all day. You wouldn’t have a chance to get fat.”

English resisted the urge to show his father the six-pack under his shirt and simply nodded. “Is it okay if I stay here while I’m in town?”

His father grunted, but his mother was quick to pull him inside and agree. “We wouldn’t have it any other way. Would we, William?”

His dad grunted again and stepped back to let English pass. “We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

“I’ll be ready. I’m going to take a quick shower and get changed.” English didn’t wait for a reply before he headed down the short hallway toward the bedrooms. His parents’ room was at the end of the hall with a private bathroom. His room was to the left with a full bathroom on the opposite side.

English put his stuff in his room and groaned internally at how little had changed. His science awards and movie posters still decorated his room. The space themed bedding he picked out when he was nine covered the bed. The same thin curtains that were in the front of the house covered the closed windows in his stuffy bedroom. He was already suffocating. But he had a job to do.

English grabbed the clothes he packed for the party and went across the hall. He showered quickly, getting out in less than five minutes. He dressed in the clean clothes and grabbed his dirty ones. He put his phone, keys, and wallet into his pockets, then went back across the hall to drop off his clothes and grab his boots.

It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since he walked into the house, but his parents were at the front door waiting for him anyway. His dad made a point of looking at his watch when English walked out. “Glad you could join us.”

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” English replied, his tone just as frustrated as his dad’s.

“That giant vehicle you parked in the driveway is blocking me in.”

“I thought the truck was yours.”

“It is, but since there are three of us now, we need to take your mother’s car.”

“Why don’t I drive?”

“That big, fancy thing?” The disdain was more than clear in his tone. He wasn’t getting in English’s brand new Lincoln if his life depended on it.

“I’ll park it on the street.”

His dad shook his head and mumbled something about being late to their own party when English walked by. He backed his SUV out and parked in front of the house. His dad backed out right behind him and barely stopped long enough for English to fold himself into the backseat.

“Everyone is going to be so happy to see you, Liam. They’ve all missed you.”

“It’ll be good to see everyone,” English lied. “Hey, speaking of missing, I read about a woman who went missing last week. Jeanine Waterford. Did you know her?”

His mother shook her head. “Jeanine was a little bit of a wild one. She probably took off with someone driving through town.”

“Without telling anyone?”

“She wasn’t really a part of this town. She didn’t work at the school or the factory,” his mom said. For a town of less than a thousand people, it amazed English that there were still classes. If you worked at the school or the factory, you were part of the in-crowd. If you didn’t, you might as well not exist.

“I heard she worked at the church. I stopped by there on my way into⁠—”

“That woman skipping town is nothing you need to concern yourself with, Liam. She was nobody, and there ain’t nobody looking for her. The town’s better off without a woman like her trying to get half the married men into trouble.”

Well, that was something he hadn’t read about the woman online. And it just gave him a pool of subjects. All the married people in town.

2

Caitlyn Powers glared at Officer Pattinson and tried not to let out her claws. The man was as useless as tits on a bull, as her mother used to say. Not that Caitlyn ever wanted to be compared to the heartless bitch her mother was.

“So, you’re not doing anything to find Jeanine? At all?” Caitlyn asked, proud of herself for how calm her voice sounded.

The cop shrugged. “There’s nothing for us to do. It looks like she left town.”

“But forgot to take all her stuff?” Sarcasm dripped from Caitlyn’s words and poured all over the desk.

The cop leaned back and leveled her with a glare of his own. “Ms. Waterford’s apartment is a crime scene. No one is supposed to enter. Are you admitting to breaking and entering, Ms. Powers?”

“If it’s a crime scene, then why aren’t you looking for her? It’s either a crime scene or she left. It can’t be both!”

“There is no sign Ms. Waterford did not leave. But, like I told you three days ago, we turned the case over to the FBI. They’re the ones in charge of missing persons cases.”

“You also said they would be keeping you updated on their progress. Is there any progress?”

“No. Because she’s not missing.”

“Then where the fuck is she?”

The cop rose at her screeched words. He leaned over the desk so quickly, Caitlyn had to back up or let him head-butt her. “You will not speak to me that way, Ms. Powers. If you don’t leave, I’ll have you arrested. And then where will your little investigation go?”

Caitlyn drew in a shaky breath and tried to calm herself down. She’d never been very good at holding back her anger. It got her into trouble more than once when she was a kid, but as an adult, it just landed her on the unemployment list. Getting arrested would give her a permanent spot there, and she couldn’t risk that.

Her hands shook with the need to punch the smug son-of-a-bitch, but Caitlyn did exactly what he wanted her to do and left the station without another word.

The bright sunshine forced her sunglasses over her eyes before the first tear fell. It wasn’t the first time she’d been on the wrong side of a plea from the police department. But when the cops were spineless assholes she went to high school with, guys who were too scared to talk to her when she was on top of the world and relished in the fact that her current place was squarely on the bottom, she knew she’d get no help at all.

“Did you hear Liam Johnson is back in town?” a woman walking by asked her friend.

“Oh, Patty’ll be so happy about that. Is he coming to the party tonight?”

“I would assume that’s why he’s here. Bob saw him…”

Their voices trailed off as they continued down the sidewalk past the police station and Caitlyn’s attempt to eavesdrop.

Liam Johnson.

Caitlyn remembered Liam. He graduated with her, too, but he was smart and kind and too good for her. She also heard he joined the military and was a part of some elite team that helped find people. Not many people made it out of their small town, and the ones who did were talked about in adoring whispers. Like Liam.

For the first time in more than a week, Caitlyn had hope that her friend might be found. Jeanine would come home, and Caitlyn would help her move on from whatever hell she’d been through. Maybe they could finally leave the shit town they lived in and start a new life. Somewhere far away from East Charlottesville.

And the memories the town held.

* * *

The last place English expected his dad to go for the anniversary party was to West Textiles. He expected dinner at a restaurant, maybe even somewhere outside of town, but not a catered event at his dad’s place of employment.

“Mr. West offered,” English’s mom said. “He’s so kind. He treats his employees like family. He says since he doesn’t have one of his own, he wants all the people who work at West Textiles to know he’s there for them if they need anything.”

“That’s…nice of him,” English said as they got out of the car. He was more than a little curious about the place, and this way, he didn’t have to break in.

The party was set up in a large, open room that looked like a banquet hall. Definitely strange for a factory. But clearly not underutilized judging by the seamless way things ran. The catering company and bar staff had everything set up and ready to go before the first guests arrived.

Everyone sang the praises of their host for throwing the party. English even heard some of them talking about Mr. West footing the bill for most of it, although English wasn’t sure his father’s pride would have allowed that.

English worked his way through the crowd, thankful he’d changed enough that few people recognized him. He could be invisible and try to pick up any information out there about Jeanine Waterford. Not that there was much.

He leaned against the bar and watched the guests. The bartender slid his beer across the temporary structure and nodded to English like he was anyone else.

Invisible was his forte.

If anyone knew anything about the missing woman, English would bet on it being the staff. He’d learned long ago that if you wanted to find out something, you always blended into the background because people would say things around you if they didn’t realize you were listening. Servers were always invisible, and always knowledgeable. He just needed to find one who might be willing to share something with him.

Bingo.

A pretty, young server on the edge of the room was watching him. She was not even close to his type, but that wasn’t the point of the mission. The point was to find out whatever he could about Jeanine Waterford.

English made his way toward her, glancing her direction enough to let her know she was the reason he was walking over there. She smiled and ducked her head, like she was embarrassed by the attention. A ploy. She was young and cute with strawberry blonde hair pulled up in an intentionally messy bun. Her eyes were wide and bright, giving her a cartoon look that was definitely perfected with makeup. Her lips were a glossy pink, tempting if he liked that kind of thing. But he didn’t.

English preferred a woman who wasn’t trying so hard. One who had curves and a biting wit. One who would roll her eyes at the man stalking her from across the room.

He reached the woman’s side and took his time looking her up and down before he simply said, “Hi.”

She giggled and batted her eyelashes at him, playing up the sweet and innocent thing so well he wondered how old she really was. “Hey.”

“You come here often?” The pick up line was cheesy and bad enough that English wanted to roll his eyes at it, but it was effective.

The server giggled again and shook her head. She bit her lower lip, and English let his gaze drift there. He had to play the game with her.

“I’m new. I’ve only been working for Mr. West for a few weeks. I’m Cami.”

“Hi, Cami. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Do you live in town?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I grew up here. My daddy works here. My mama’s gone, though.”

A local. Definitely someone who would have information. “Sorry about that. What is there to do around here? Aside from this party?”

She laughed. “Not much, really. Most of my friends go out to the river and drink. There’s one bar, but that’s mostly old people.”

“Wouldn’t want that.”

She giggled again. “No. My boyfriend and me prefer the river. It’s more…private out there.”

Boyfriend. Dammit. She was a flirt, but she was making it clear she wasn’t available. So much for that lead. “Makes sense. Maybe I’ll see you out there later.”

“Sounds good. I should get back to work.” She bounced away like she hadn’t just blown his chances at finding out something useful. Of course, she didn’t know that was the only reason he was talking to her.

English stayed where he was against the wall. He watched the rest of the party until he spotted his cousin approaching. English couldn’t stop the smile on his face.

“Well, shit, look what the cat dragged in,” Adam said in greeting. He clapped English’s hand and pulled him in for a hug. They were close to the same height and had both put on a few dozen pounds of muscle since high school. Adam and English were close growing up, best friends and cousins, but it had been years since they’d seen each other.

“I didn’t know you were coming to this thing.”

Adam snorted. “Couldn’t miss it if I wanted to. Mom and Dad insisted I make an appearance.”

“Lucky you.”

“I didn’t know you would be here. How are you? How’s life?”

English shrugged. Adam was the only other family member who had an interest in getting out of their hometown. He was a year younger than English, so when Adam left, it wasn’t as hard. English broke the mold. Or at least cracked it.

“Life’s good. Our team is doing well. I enjoy the work.”

“And are you here for work or just a visit?” Adam asked carefully.

English sipped his beer and looked at his cousin from the corner of his eye. He hadn’t kept in touch with Adam and had no idea what he did for a living. He was taller by an inch or two and wider by the same. His matching blond hair was cut short, and his blue-green eyes said he saw things no one else did. If English had to guess, Adam was not a civilian.

“What makes you ask?”

Adam turned with his back to the rest of the crowd. The move was casual enough that anyone who saw him would think he was facing English to say something private. Instead, he flashed a badge. An FBI badge.

“What the hell?” English blurted, the words spewing out before he could stop them.

“It’s not my case, but I saw it come through the system. I also saw it was shared with a private contractor organization.”

“As far as anyone else knows, I’m here to surprise my parents.”

“You can’t stand being here.”

English shook his head and took another sip. He limited himself to only one drink for the night, but he wanted it to last the whole night. “I’m willing to bet you aren’t much happier about this than I am.”

Adam shook his head. “Nah, but it’s par for the course for me. I go where I’m needed.”

“But this is pleasure.”

Adam shrugged. “As much as it can be. I’m assuming you have all the files, but if you need anything, let me know.”

“Do you know her?”

Adam shook his head. “Never heard of her. Mom and Dad are pretty tight-lipped about her. Tommy and Rick said they heard she skipped town.”

“It sounds to me like there’s more to all of this. Dad told me she was messing up marriages.”

Adam’s brows shot up with the new information. “Think they knew her?”

“I hope not. Aren’t we here for their anniversary?”

Adam chuckled. “How long are you in town?”

“A week. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on what I find.”

“We’re attracting attention, but we need to talk. Breakfast tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there. Seven?”

“Let’s make it eight. There’s a cute little server who’s been eyeing me all night.”

English snorted as his cousin pushed off the wall and stalked through the crowd. He walked right up to Cami and said something to her before she blushed and nodded eagerly.

Guess that boyfriend wasn’t so real after all.

Damn. English really needed to learn how to read women.

* * *

Caitlyn looked out at the crowd and grimaced. She hated working odd jobs like she was, but that was what happened when all the money she earned modeling as a kid went into a trust that her mother controlled and ran off with.

Not that Caitlyn was still bitter or anything.

Jeanine told Caitlyn over and over again that she needed to get a lawyer and find her mother, but Caitlyn had zero skills. And zero money. Which brought her right back to the event she was working. Because her goals had shifted.

Caitlyn grabbed a tray and made her way around the room. She stayed to the outside so her wide hips didn’t knock over a table, or a client. Her boss had threatened not to let her work again after the last time that happened, but she talked him into letting her work when she found out they needed extra people. And now that she might be able to get some help finding Jeanine, she was even happier she did.

Liam Johnson. She remembered the nerdy guy who sat near the window in her math class. Freshman year, at least. Then he passed her and moved up and up until he was taking college courses before they graduated high school. He was easily the salutatorian of their class, probably should have been valedictorian, but he was the kind of guy who never made anyone else feel stupid in his shadow.

And the kind of guy Caitlyn found herself in need of help from.

She recognized his parents, but being the guests of honor, they were simple to spot. Caitlyn circled the room and couldn’t find Liam.

Small town rumors weren’t always right, but Caitlyn prayed this one was. He was the prodigal son. Returning home from the war, coming back to celebrate with his parents.

She spotted a man near the bar earlier that vaguely reminded her of Liam, but he was too tall and too built to be the nerdy guy from high school. Caitlyn kept looking, wondering if her quest was a waste of time, when the screech of the microphone drew her attention to the stage.

“Good evening, everyone,” Mr. Johnson’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Ooh, sorry about that. Patty and I just wanted to thank everyone for being here tonight. This is a special night for us, and we are so grateful you’re all here to celebrate. We also wanted to say thank you to our son, who made the trip home. Liam, wave.”

Caitlyn followed Mr. Johnson’s gaze to where Liam was standing against the wall. He pushed away and lifted his glass toward the crowd.

“Damn,” Caitlyn breathed. The man from the bar was Liam Johnson. The military did wonders for him. He was always adorable, but those muscles and the roughness around the edges made him every woman’s fantasy.

“You’re right, honey,” an older lady nearby said. “If I were thirty years younger, I’d be fighting you for him.” She winked and kept walking.

Caitlyn smiled back and let the woman believe what she wanted to believe. Caitlyn definitely appreciated the sexy version of Liam, but she wasn’t interested in him for his brawn. She needed his brain.

His father said a few more words, profusely thanking Daniel West for hosting them, and announced dinner would be out soon. That was Caitlyn’s cue to get back to the kitchen. She was on the far side of the dining hall, which meant she was going to be one of the last ones to get there. And would miss her chance to serve Liam and ask him for help.

Servers were already walking out of the kitchen when she got there. She spotted one of the new ones, a young one who still had the youthful glow Caitlyn watched fade from her mirror a long time ago.

“Hey, are you going to the head table?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I wanted to let you know this guy on the far side of the dining room asked me about you. He wanted to know if he could have your number.” The lie was easy enough to tell.

She blushed and grinned, then looked at her tray.

“Oh, I can take that one, and you can go get another one. He’s in that back corner. You won’t be able to miss him.”

“Thanks, Caitlyn,” she said, handing over the tray and bouncing back into the kitchen for another one.

Caitlyn made a beeline for the head table. She wasn’t going to risk anyone else getting there first. She was almost there when another server stopped next to the table. Caitlyn was supposed to start at a new table with each tray, but she didn’t care. She could lose the job that night and it wouldn’t matter.

As long as she talked to Liam.

“Liam,” she breathed when she reached his chair. She ignored the glare from the other server and set up a stand so she could put her tray down. “It’s been forever. How are you?”

He looked up at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m good. Thanks. How are you?”

“You don’t remember me, do you? I know I look a lot different than I did in school. I’m⁠—”

The other server cleared her throat loudly. She was out of time.

He nodded slowly, his gaze searching her. “You look…”

Caitlyn tugged her button-down shirt down and smoothed a hand over her round, not pregnant, belly. Caitlyn’s cheeks burned under his gaze. She was a size four when she graduated high school. As a size twenty-four, she was happier, but staring at Liam made her more than a little self-conscious.

“Um, anyway, so I was wondering if you wanted to meet up after this. We could grab a drink and catch up. Here’s my number. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Caitlyn hurried away from his table without looking back. She knew she was going to be in trouble, but she had to try to talk to him.

No one else in town believed Caitlyn. They all thought she was crazy. But she knew something happened to Jeanine. She knew her friend wouldn’t disappear without telling her where she was. She knew she was in trouble. Or worse.

And Caitlyn knew the only person who could find her friend, dead or alive, was Liam Johnson.

She just hoped he called.