Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines) by S.A. Monk

missing person?”
    Nick rubbed his forehead and shook his
head in disgust. “Dealing with those two was....”
    “Challenging?” Hanna supplied,
commiserating with him.
    “Definitely. They haven’t done either
of those things, unfortunately. They seem to think Lance either took off with
some woman, or he got a call from Elaine and left to meet her somewhere.”
    Hanna let out a breath of disgust.
Lance would never have anything to do with his ex-wife! He’d married her his
senior year in college and brought her home to Port George. No one had known
she was a cocaine user when she’d gotten pregnant with Christopher. The infant
had been born with significant seizures and subsequent developmental delays.
And his loving mother, not wanting to bother with such a demanding baby, had
walked out on her husband and son within six months of giving birth. She had
never returned or even written. No one knew where she was. Or if she was even still
living. Hanna didn’t know of any other women in Lance’s life, and he’d never
take off on his son anyway. He was much too devoted a father; much too
responsible for that kind of behavior.
    “Why would Douglas and Thomas think
that? Lance wasn’t seeing anyone, and he hasn’t talked to Elaine since she left
him.”
    “One of the temporary workers Lance
hires occasionally from Job Service told Phillip that Elaine called Lance at
work a couple of times recently. The guy said Lance was really upset afterward
and talked about finding her.”
    “Oh bullshit!” Hanna hardly ever
swore, but she was thoroughly disgusted by what Nick told her. He smiled at her
rare use of profanity. “Lance would have told me if Elaine had contacted him.
We didn’t keep those kinds of secrets from one another. Who was this temporary
hire anyway?”
    Nick told her the name of the man, but
it didn’t ring any bells for Hanna. Nick stared at her thoughtfully, his eyes
narrowed, forehead wrinkled. “You were that close to Lance that you’d know for
sure if Elaine had tried to call him?”
    “Yes! Absolutely.”
    Her answer was so emphatic, it
deepened Nick’s frown. “I don’t think Chief Douglas and Sheriff Thomas want to
concern themselves with Lance’s disappearance.”
    “Why?” Hanna couldn’t understand that
response now any more than she could when she’d first suspected it.
    “I don’t know, but something about
those two bothers me. Their willingness to settle for the easiest explanation
possible in both cases is disturbing enough, but my gut tells me that it’s more
than just incompetence and indifference that motivates them. I’m going to have
Kurt run background checks on them.”
    “But you know Phillip. You went to
high school with him. You played football with him. And wasn’t his wife an old
girlfriend?”
    His mouth slid into a partial grin.
“Hanna, your memory is too good. But men change in twenty years.”
    “Well, Phillip Douglas didn’t change
for the better. I still can’t stand him. He was an arrogant, obnoxious bully in
high school, and he still is.”
    “I remember how he used to pick on
you,” Nick stated, frowning again. “I always enjoyed hitting him a little
harder on the practice field for it. He’s not still bothering you, is he?”
    “No. He just treats me like I’m not
worth his time.”
    “He’s not worth yours. He can deal
with me from now on.”
    She’d always loved the way Nick had
championed her. If it hadn’t been for him, she would have been so much more
miserable in high school. His unwavering support had been one of the reasons
she’d fallen in love with him.
    She glanced at her watch and grimaced.
“I hate to, but I better get going. What ferry are you taking?”
    “The one o’clock. I’ll be back in time
to pick you up from work. Would you hate it if I picked you up on my bike? I
might not have time to go home and get the Jeep.”
    She looked down at her skirt. “Well, I
guess it’s a good thing I wore a full skirt. Can I