EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER TWO – THE SIREN

When Warren turned onto my street, a familiar tan SUV was parked in front of my house. Completely against my will, butterflies took flight in my stomach.

I looked at Warren. “Did you know he was coming?”

Warren laughed. “Do I ever?”

We parked in the driveway, and when we walked back around front, Nathan McNamara was waiting on the sidewalk. He wore camouflage pants and a black fitted shirt. On his blond head, was an olive green ball cap that had a space on the front for interchangeable embroidered patches to suit his mood. That day, the patch was a grayscale American flag signaling he was on duty.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as we approached.

He spread out his arms. “I haven’t seen you all week and that’s the kind of greeting I get?”

I nodded and walked past him up the stairs. “Yes, when you show up uninvited and unannounced.”

“Sloan, you know you’ve missed me.” He followed Warren and me up the stairs. “Warren, I’m a little surprised to see you back from Washington so soon. I figured they would have found you a nice warm bed in Area 51 by now.”

“Nate, you’re not that lucky.” Warren handed me my keychain and added some dramatic flair while pulling out his own keys from his pocket. “I’ve got the door, babe.”

Nathan noticed. “Do you have a quota of times per day you need to remind me you live here now?”

I huffed. “Not this again. Don’t even start, Nathan.” Warren was smiling, and I pointed at him. “And you quit trying to stir up crap!”

Warren laughed and pushed the door open.

There was a fine line between admiration and loathing between Warren and Nathan. They secretly liked each other, but with me in the middle, they would never admit it. Warren and I were together, but there was a very gray area with Nathan McNamara. And everyone knew it.

After kicking off my shoes at the front door, I walked around to my white sofa. I plopped down and put my socked feet up on the coffee table. “What’s up, Nathan?”

Warren went to the kitchen, and Nathan sat down next to me. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, locking his fingers in front of him. “I got your message today about Rachel Smith.”

I frowned. “You could have told me that in a text message.”

He smiled. “I thought you should know I’m going to continue to investigate her disappearance.”

“Good for you,” I said and closed my eyes.

He nudged my leg with his knee. “You know you want to help me.”

I shook my head but refused to look at him. “No, I don’t. I’m done with police work and missing people and murderers—”

He cut me off. “You want to sit behind a desk and exchange emails with reporters and government officials all day? Keep working on the county online cookbook?”

I rolled my eyes toward him. “I have to eat and pay the bills around here. You’ve used up all my personal and sick time for the next ten years.”

He opened the folder in his hand and passed me the same picture of Rachel Smith I had printed in my office earlier that day.

I passed it right back to him. “Not to sound harsh or anything, but why do you want to go chase down another dead girl? She’s not even in your jurisdiction.”

He cocked an eyebrow in question, a curious smile playing on his lips. “What if she’s not dead?”

I glared at him. “I’ve been looking at this photograph for months. She’s dead.”

He pulled another piece of paper from the folder and put it on my lap. It was a still image from the video surveillance system of a convenience store. The image was date-stamped just two days before. The exact same girl was looking directly into the camera.

“Are you sure she’s dead?” Nathan asked with a smile.

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