Page 40 of The Archer Brothers

“He didn’t say anything either. I finally gave up and left. I couldn’t sit there and watch them shun me over something I had no control over.”

I cover my mouth and hold back a sob for Rask. “I’m so sorry, Justin.” Frannie reaches over and grabs his hand, but he lets go quickly.

“Today’s Claire’s birthday. She’s nine and I’m not there to celebrate with her,” McCoy says somberly.

“Do you have any leads?” River asks, but McCoy shakes his head.

“I have nothing. Claire isn’t enrolled in school anywhere under her name. Penni isn’t working and if she is, it’s under a different social security number. I’m starting to think they’re dead, and I just don’t want to believe that they don’t exist. Why would Penni need to hide? None of it makes sense.”

The mood quickly turns somber after McCoy’s declaration. He stares at the fire, his eyes glazed over. I can’t help but feel sorry for starting this conversation, but it’s been weighing on my mind.

“Penni never came around after the funeral. I went over a couple of times, just like I did to check on Ryley, but no one answered. About a week after, people were there cleaning out the house and there was no sign of her or Claire. I asked, but was told they didn’t know anything. I wish I remember the name on the side of the truck.”

McCoy’s head pops up. “Do you think you can remember if you saw pictures?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Frannie and River answer at the same time. She looks at him questioningly, but his eyes are focused on McCoy.

“Ryley has brought up what we’ve all been thinking. We were dropped on an airfield and our CO is conveniently missing. Her mom has been snooping around, but isn’t ready to break into anything, and your wife and daughter are missing, McCoy. I think it’s all related, and I don’t want Frannie involved until she has to be. She and Ryley, they need to stay as far away from this as possible.”

“But if I can help,” Frannie pleads with River. He shakes his head firmly.

“No, Fran. I don’t want you involved. When you finally fall asleep at night, I’m awake and sitting in the chair watching for shadows with my gun locked and loaded and my knife hidden underneath the chair cushion. Ryley is the only one brave enough to mention what she’s thinking, but the truth is, I’ve been thinking it too.”

Evan stiffens beside me and I try to ease the tension in his arm to no avail.

“We need to check in with each other daily, no excuses,” River says and the guys all agree.

“Ryley and I need to leave,” Evan says abruptly and I know better to question his decision. I get up and hug Frannie, promising to call her in the morning and she says the same thing. We’re going to follow what River says because we know it’ll give him and Evan peace of mind. Plus, we’ll leave a trace.

Evan grabs my hand and pulls me through the sand and into the parking lot. I have to jog to keep up and once we’re in the car, I lock us in. He’s speeds out of the parking lot, and heads toward home. After five minutes of silence I can’t take it anymore.

“Talk to me, Archer.” I use his last name to get a rise out of him. I’ve never really called him that except when we’re fooling around. I know he likes it, but right now I just want his attention on me.

“I’m concerned, Ry. River and I… we were discussing this earlier and the fact that you brought it up, means others are likely thinking the same thing. I don’t like it.”

I run my hand up and down his arm until he links his fingers with mine. “I don’t either. I want to get home to EJ,” I say, getting the reaction I’m looking for as Evan pushes down on the accelerator, breaking the speed limit.

The usual fifteen-minute drive takes us about eight. We’re both out of the car and by each other’s sides as quickly as we can be. When we get inside, relief washes over me as I find EJ snuggled up to my dad’s side. Both of them are sound asleep. My dad is snoring so loudly I don’t know how EJ is sleeping.

“Take EJ upstairs. I need to talk to your dad.” I know better than to argue, and I carefully remove EJ from under my dad’s arm. He grumbles, but wakes quickly and helps me lift EJ into my arms. I’m halfway upstairs when I hear the quiet whispers of Evan and my dad.

I could stay on the stairs and listen, but the truth of the matter is that I’m scared of what I brought up this evening. I wish I were the only one who felt this way. I’d feel more secure knowing it’s just me being paranoid. But the fact that Frannie has been having these feelings scares me. Not to mention the fact that Penni and Claire seem to have disappeared and the way Rask’s parents reacted.

If they’re trying to scare us into compliance, it’s working.

Whoever they are.

The next two things I hear are the front door shutting and the telltale sign of a gun being loaded. My SEAL is back.

AS SOON AS JENSEN’Sin his car and driving down the street, I call for Deefur, step back into the house and lock the door. Blinds are pulled and windows checked. I open the closet door, pull out my black case and carry it to the couch. Ryley’s upstairs putting EJ to bed and as soon as she’s done I’ll be doing a sweep of the house. Deefur follows me, keeping on my heels. I wish I hadn’t missed the time he was growing up. I wanted to train him to protect Ryley. That’s why I bought him. I wanted her to feel safe and never have to worry. It’s in a dog’s nature to protect his master, and I want to make sure he knows just how valuable her life is to me.

I look over my gun and make sure everything checks out before I load the bullets. I know Ryley can hear the gun when I move a bullet into the chamber. I’m okay with that as long as she knows she’s safe. I told Jensen about our suspicions, and he’s going to see if he can get Carole to back off a bit before anyone catches wind of what she’s doing. The last thing I want is for her to be in the middle of a hot bed of issues that she can’t escape. We need to find the pilot from the C-130 we traveled on and see if we can get him to talk. If we can, I think we’ll start uncovering a lot.

Ryley comes down the stairs in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. My eyes immediately fall onto her breasts, and I wish they hadn’t. I swallow hard and set my gun down, hoping she’ll grace me with her presence.

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