Page 18 of Baited

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s your interest in her?”

He snorted. Where should he start? “You can stop looking at me like I have any ulterior motives. Nothing is going on, but I need to ask you something.”

She sighed. “Can you hurry please? I have things to do before the breakfast rush comes in.”

He nodded. “First of all, I saw her at a bar last week, with some random dude. He was feeding her shots and she was downing them. Something didn’t feel right.” Jenny leaned forward, her eyes wide and riveted to his.

He took a breath and continued. “I followed them outside, with the intent to intervene if I needed to. She fell in the parking lot, which alerted me to how intoxicated she was. I approached them and she got really pissed. She accused me of…er…interfering with her”—he cleared his throat—“sex life. Our argument got pretty heated. My biggest concern is that she seemed completely unconcerned about what was on the douchebag’s agenda. Obviously I don’t know her well, but from what I do know, this kind of behavior seems out of character.”

Jenny’s creased brow deepened. She flattened her palms on the table. “I can’t say I’m surprised by all this. You’re right, it is out of character for her, but there’s a lot more to it than that.” She straightened in her seat, her eyes bore into his.

“You’re a nice guy, but take my advice: forget about Riley Reynolds. She’s…troubled. It’s in your best interest to enjoy what time you have left here, and go home.” She stood up.

Ethan caught her wrist. “What do you mean she’s troubled?”

“I can’t talk about it. Especially here.” She brought her pen to the pad of paper and scribbled something. She tore it off and pressed it face down on the table. “I’ll be back to take your order.”

His hand inched over the piece of paper. “Sure, thanks.”

The door opened and people milled in. He slid the paper closer to him and tapped his fingers against it.

Whatever was on the other side of the paper would change the rest of his days here—that he knew for certain. It’d only further drive him deep into the rabbit hole that was Riley.

His senses prickled. He’d come here to soul-search, to escape the constant cycle of jobs he’d chosen for himself that didn’t fit. He’d left the FBI because he couldn’t handle the cases. If he was going to be completely honest with himself, it was why he’d left the military and recon too. Watching people die, having a hand in human suffering…he couldn’t do it anymore. He’d thought the FBI would give him more control, that he’d somehow be able to save people. That hadn’t happened. Instead, he’d been bound by red tape and legalities.

He exhaled through his nose. He wouldn’t be able to walk away from the slip of paper if his life depended on it. Not when it held a clue to Riley and the jumble of puzzles that surrounded her. He flipped it over and read the blue ink scrawl.

Hanna Wilson.

Hanna Wilson… A bell sounded in his head. He’d seen that name before. But where? He pulled his phone from his pocket and typed the name in the search engine. His eyes scanned the screen as he scrolled from headline to headline. His mind worked in circles, molding together a piece of the puzzle…the puzzle that made Riley tick.

Goddammit.

Christ, he hadn’t come here for this shit. Exactly the opposite. But he couldn’t look away. Who was Hanna to Riley? And how the hell did her self-destructive behavior tie in to the missing woman?

When Jenny brought his food out he met her gaze. One eye narrowed at him and her eyebrows bobbed.

“What now?”

“Isn’t Riley working today?”

“No, she took the weekend off.” Her eyes flitted to the ground, avoiding his eye contact. She gave him a tight smile and turned away, he touched her arm.

“Her car was gone early this morning.”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah, she said something yesterday about having a flat and needing to get a new tire.”

So she was sitting at home with no car? That made no sense. “Why did she take the weekend off?”

Jenny’s shoulders drooped. “She’s going to the Beach Bash. Didn’t you hear about it?”

He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and the coffee untouched. He’d seen signs for the event around town, but it hadn’t crossed his mind once that Riley would go.

“Yeah, I heard about it. But why is she going?”

“Did you look into that name I gave you?” Her voice lowered, her eyes scanned over his shoulders as if she feared someone would overhear.

“Yes, but what does she have to do with Riley and the beach party?”

---