Walter turned to look at Jack and tilted his head toward the interrogation room. "Inside, Stratton."

Jack brushed by him.

"Have a seat." Walter held his hand out.

"I'm good."

"No, you're not. We may have a problem, Jack. Have a seat."

Jack folded his arms as he glared at the man.

"Fine. Be a hard-a.s.s. I just spent an hour of my life talking to a fruit loop, and you want to cop an att.i.tude?"

"Listen. I know Thaddeus is out there-"

"Out there? Out there is believing reality TV is real. Totally nuts is what that guy is." He jerked his thumb back toward the door.

"There's more to it than what Thaddeus told you." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "With your access as a federal agent, if you look into Marisa's background-"

"What about her background?" Walter c.o.c.ked his head.

"If you have access, you need to look. It's all there."

The door opened as Jennifer walked in. Walter turned toward her, and Jack caught the slight shake of his head. Jennifer walked over to sit down.

"Jack, I just spoke with Sheriff Collins, and he said you had more information. What is it?" Jennifer asked.

Jack looked down at her but didn't say anything.

"You have to be kidding me," Walter snapped.

Jennifer held up a hand. "She told you?"

Jack tried to get a read on her, but her expression was neutral.

They have to know. Why else would they have come out so fast?

Jack nodded. Walter walked forward and placed his hands on the table. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, Officer Stratton."

"Ask away."

"Right now I have a witness who's been in and out of inst.i.tutions. All he's saying is Marisa Vitagliano left with two guys. That doesn't even register as far as sending out a beat cop. So, how do you know Marisa, Jack?"

"We're friends."

"Friends?" Walter nodded. "Have you slept with her?"

"Yes."

"Are you and Marisa still a thing?" Walter walked closer to the table.

"No."

"Jack." It was Jennifer's turn to speak. "Can you try to see how this looks from our side?"

"It's not just Thaddeus." Jack shook his head. "She was nervous. We were supposed to talk about why she was scared. Marisa Vitagliano isn't her real name. She has a past. If someone found out who and where she was, it would be dangerous for her."

Jennifer looked at Walter.

Walter nodded, and then rapped his knuckles on the table. "I know all about her past. I'm the guy who put her here. But I don't think that's what's going on right now."

"Hold on." Jennifer held up her hand. "We can go back and forth all night, Jack." She shot Walter a shut-up look and turned back to Jack. "How about I start, and you finish. Angelica..."

"Mancini." Jack sighed. "Now you know why I'm worried."

Walter leaned down so he could whisper something to Jennifer. Her lips pursed; she crossed her legs.

"I'll tell you what I think, Jack." Walter's rock-chewing voice was back. "I think I've got a crazy homeless guy who was furious he didn't get his ham sandwich and cappuccino. He goes to the cops, but they laugh at him, so he gets real mad. Then he comes to you, the jilted ex-boyfriend. You strike me as the hot-headed, jealous type. You get paranoid, and want us to track her down because you think she ran off and is banging her new guy."

"You're an idiot," Jack snarled.

Jennifer stood up so she could walk between the two men. "Marisa is Severino Mancini's daughter. She went underground eleven years ago. She's had no contact with him, and nothing about her has been raised on any agency's radar."

"Until last night, when you guys contacted the state and her name tripped a flag. That's why we're here, Jack. We even went so far as to make inquiries with Severino himself. Just to do our due diligence and for Angelica's sake. Guess what? No one's been in touch. Nothing. And that's what this looks to be-a big fat load of nothing."

Jennifer folded her hands. "Jack, I understand your concern, but that is what this looks like. Right now all we have-"

"All he has is his ex-girlfriend got in a car with her new Asian boyfriend."

As Jack took a step forward, Walter grinned.

"Go ahead, smart guy. You're already walking a beat. Take a swing and see what kind of duty you'll be pulling." The two men stared at each other before Walter growled, "I'm gone." Then he turned and stormed out the door.

Jennifer put her hand on Jack's arm. "Jack, please sit down."

He looked at her for a moment before he pulled out a chair to sit down.

"I know you're concerned about Marisa, but we'll handle this from here," Jennifer rea.s.sured him.

"If you think I'm just going to sit back and do nothing, you don't know me. I can't just leave her out there."

Jennifer frowned. "Jack, let me talk to Walter and Sheriff Collins to see what we can do about it. Did you tell the sheriff who she really is?"

Jack shook his head. "I haven't told anyone."

"Good. I know you think something happened, but sometimes a lady just needs to get away. If that's what's going on, we want to make sure she has a place to come back to, so we need to keep this low profile. Give me a minute?"

Jennifer walked to the door. Jack got up and paced the small room.

Could she have just gone away? All I'm going on is Thaddeus...

Jack stopped, but the dull pain in his chest continued.

No. She was frightened. Something spooked her. Thaddeus saw she was scared.

Ten minutes later, the door opened; Jennifer walked in. Her eyebrows arched and her hands rested on her hips. "You failed to convey to me the state of damage your relationship with the sheriff is currently in." A small smirk appeared on her face but quickly vanished. "I spoke with Walter. This is off the record, okay? We have Severino's house, and all of his phones and computers, under twenty-four-hour surveillance now. All the phones are tapped. If anyone reaches out to him, we'll know. Right now, it's my opinion she's taken some time off for herself. You know her. Has she ever just gone off to be alone?"

Marisa's an artist. She could be a sentimental one. She's gone off before. Even when we were together.

"This is also off the record." Jennifer leaned forward. "Stay the h.e.l.l out of it. Collins was adamant. Stay out of it. Walter can also be a real b.a.s.t.a.r.d. But he knows his job and, beneath his crusty exterior, he cares. He placed Marisa here-he'll look out for her-but we can't tell Collins who she is. Go home, Jack. We'll look into it, and I'll let you know what we find."

"I have to go finish my paperwork." Jack started for the door, but Jennifer caught his arm.

She shook her head.

"Collins said...well, the censored version is tonight he's ordering you home. You're off for three days anyway. Just go home, Jack."

d.a.m.n.

I love that stupid bed Jack walked up to the three-story brick apartment building and took out the key Marisa had given him. The building had once been an old mill, and Marisa had fallen in love with it. Aged wood, brick, and recently added bra.s.s and gla.s.s made it an artist's dream. He headed for the third floor.

The penthouse suite. She felt safe here.

Jack tried the door.

Locked.

He opened the door and listened.

Nothing.

"Marisa?" he called out.

It's two o'clock in the morning. If she's here, she's going to kill me. Please be here.

Jack walked into the apartment and slowly shut the door behind him. The darkness in the corners of the room seemed to close in on him. He listened for the slightest sound, but he could only hear his heart pound in his chest.

"Marisa?"

Everything was how it had been when he was last there. The living area was open and cluttered. Magazines lay on the sofa; open sketchbooks and pencils covered the little table in front of it.

Clutter is normal. Marisa is messy.

He scanned the room, and then marched into the kitchen. A small pile of coins, receipts, and papers littered the counter.

Looks like she empties her pockets like me.

He picked up a receipt for coffee from two days ago. There was also a business card for a de Lorme Fine Art Galleria that he flipped over.

DON'T ENTER THAT PIECE. I'LL BUY IT NOW. NAME PRICE.

I told her people would want it. No signature.

He put the card down and kept walking. His footsteps rang out in the silence; he was intruding. Marisa was a private person and this was her sanctuary. The bedroom door was closed. Jack knocked and then pushed it open.

Empty.

The huge, king-sized bed wasn't made. Clothes lay on the floor, and the bathroom door was open. He looked in.

Empty.

He stared at the bed, picturing her lying there wrapped in a sheet, gazing longingly at him with those big brown eyes. He could see her biting her lower lip while she invitingly pulled back the sheet.

I love that stupid bed.

The mattress was soft while the running boards were hard. He'd spent more than a few nights in it, so the smell of the room now brought back memories that made his chest swell and squeezed his heart. She lay with him here, and he had been with her. They had been lovers in this room and had forged a bond. Jack hung his head.

Bonded.

Chandler had told him that. s.e.x isn't just s.e.x. Making love with someone was something more. It bonded you with the other person. Something took place. Jack had laughed when his friend told him, but the truth was he didn't want to even think about it now. There were some girls he didn't want to remember, let alone be somehow permanently connected to. Now he knew how right his friend had been. Marisa and he were joined.

She needs me. I'm her friend. I was her lover. I have to find her.

He walked over to the largest room in the house. Marisa had converted it into an artist's studio. Easels, paint, clay, and papers were everywhere. Jack stood in the middle of the floor and then hit the wall with his fist.

d.a.m.n it. On one hand, I'm glad I didn't find anything but, where the h.e.l.l is she?

Taped to the corner of a half-finished painting of a lighthouse was a flyer for the Darrington Art Festival next week. He thought about the little girl in the field from the painting and, now, his dream.

She was afraid. She was running.

Jack bowed his head.

"G.o.d, please..."

He spent the next hour looking through the apartment. He found nothing that would give him any indication of where she'd gone.

It's not surprising. You could sift my apartment and have no clue where I am.

He stopped in the living room and closed his eyes.

I didn't see a purse or her phone.

He pulled out his phone and called Marisa's number. While it rang, he walked around the apartment and listened. He finished his circle of the rooms back in her bedroom.

Nothing. All I know is she was worried and Thaddeus saw her leaving. What had she said? She felt like somebody was watching her. She was nervous.

Jack scanned the room again until he saw Marisa's Bible next to the bed. He flipped it open to the back and then took an old photograph out.