Page 5 of Stripped Bare

“What did she hear?”he asked.

Stace took a deep breath and tried to relax her body.It was hard to think of her sister in the moment before she was taken.Had she been aware enough to be afraid?

“The lock clicked open.She knew someone was there, and it wasn’t from her call.Two voices, masculine, speaking about drugging her.One took her.The other searched her vehicle and shut off her phone off when he found it.”

“Her car was here when the first responder arrived,” Shep said.“Doors locked.Phone in the driver’s seat.Purse and schoolbag still on the passenger seat.They took nothing but her.”

“And?”She needed to know what he was getting at.

“According to her file, Chloe was well liked.No angry ex.No known enemies.”

“Everyone loves Chloe.She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet,” Stace agreed.

“Then either she caught the wrong person’s attention or someone came looking for her.Do you have any enemies we should know about?Anyone who might take your sister to send you a message?”

She stared at him for a full minute.“No.My life is fully separate from hers.Only one person knows what I do because he sets up everything for me.”

“You trust him?”

“Without reservation,” Stace replied immediately.She didn’t need to think about it.“He wouldn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.If he’d known, if he’d even suspected anything, Chloe would have been well protected while I was gone.”

Shep nodded, but she saw more questions in his gaze.“How long do you have before your next job?”

“My last one was just that.My last one.I’m done.”

Shep nodded then pulled back onto the road and headed toward Stace’s house.She rolled around everything in her head while he drove.She figured he was sorting through his thoughts, as well.She wasn’t sure whether he’d share what he was thinking or not.

Stace decided she’d share a little about the dynamic between her and Chloe.“My sister is twelve years younger than me.We’re not as close as I’d like.”

“Twelve years is a lot,” Shep agreed.“You would have left home while she was still a young girl.”

“I did.Then our parents died in a car wreck while I was serving my last year in the Marines.I came home long enough to set things in order, then I left her in the care of her best friend’s family while I finished my year.When I came home, we moved into the farmhouse.”

“How old were you both?”Shep asked.

“I was twenty-six,” Stace said.“Chloe was fourteen.”

“Her parents had just been killed, and her sister came home only long enough to pawn her off on someone else,” Shep mused.“I can see how that wouldn’t help you be close.”

“Nah.”Stace shook her head and smiled.“Chloe had a mad case of hero worship of me back then.Thought it was the bomb that I was in the Marines, bragged about it to all her friends.She was a good kid, smart.She was the one who approached me with the idea of living with Nicole and her family while I finished out my tour.”

“You weren’t going to?”Shep asked.

“I would have requested a discharge.I didn’t want to leave her,” Stace admitted.“She told me I had to.”

“Smart girl.”

“Incredible,” Stace agreed.“And, yeah, she probably could have easily kept secrets from me.I know she suspected I traveled for reasons other than being multilingual.”

“How many languages do you speak?”

“Twelve though only six fluently and one is a dead language.”

“Impressive.Handy, too, I’d assume.”

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