Faceless (Sinister Secrets Book 2) by Candle Sutton (best motivational novels txt) 📕

As a former police officer, JD had maintained friendships with the local PD, something that had opened more than one door for them.

JD shook his head. “Nope. They’ve been canvassing the area where Orson was dumped and have done a full work-up on the dump site, but there’s nothing but a few tire tracks. They’re still working to match the tread, but don’t really expect that to go anywhere.”

Without a suspect vehicle to match it to, it wasn’t likely to lead them to the kidnappers. Unless the tires were some sort of specialty tire and they could trace the purchase, but who puts specialty tires on a cargo van?

“Traffic cams traced the van to I-5, headed north, but lost it after that. License plate was too dirty to make out.”

Well, that was more than they had gotten from the previous two abductions. “Let’s circle back and double check those same cameras for around the time Boggess and Andrews went missing. I’m especially interested in those closest to the on-ramp. Maybe our kidnappers took a different route to get there.”

Or maybe it wasn’t even the same group. He didn’t want to consider the possibility, no matter how remote, that they had two sets of kidnappers operating at the same time.

Silence descended, signaling the end of the updates.

Time to call it a night. “All right guys. Let’s all head out. Rest up this weekend, ‘cause we’ll be back at this full force come Monday morning.”

Unless something happened before then. The entire team would get called in if someone else went missing.

Or a body was found.

₪   ₪   ₪

Kevyn twisted the deadbolt behind her and leaned against the door.

Any energy she’d possessed earlier had vanished.

So much so that she’d cancelled her night out with Pete. He hadn’t sounded thrilled to be left hanging at the last minute, but he’d get over it.

Probably by going to the bar without her and hitting on someone.

She hoped he did. Not like the two of them were dating or anything.

After depositing her badge and gun in the hidden drawer of the antique table nestled beside the stairs and kicking off her shoes, she plodded into the kitchen.

Her stomach grumbled at the thought of dinner.

What could she make that was super easy and fast?

She should’ve picked up a pizza on the way home.

Well, she had some leftover stir fry in the freezer. Shouldn’t take long to thaw that out in the microwave.

She pulled the container out, then ran some hot water into the sink and deposited the container in the water.

The quietness of the house settled around her.

Still no word from Mitch.

After all the trouble he’d gone through to track her down, why the disappearing act? It didn’t make sense.

Then again, nothing he’d ever done made sense.

Chimes echoed through the house.

Someone was at the door.

Tension snaked across her shoulders, tightening the muscles. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Who would be ringing her doorbell at seven on a Friday night?

Mitch.

Well, if it was him, he’d find the door slammed in his face.

Or maybe handcuffs on his wrists.

Yeah. Handcuffs.

She’d ring Dak and OPR and turn Mitch in. Regain some of the credibility she’d lost.

If she could.

A second chime spurred her into motion.

Oh, she’d let him have it all right.

Handcuff him to the porch and give him the tongue lashing she’d held inside all these years. He’d regret the day he left. Or, at the very least, the day he decided to pop back into her life as if everything was fine.

Reaching the door, she peeked out the sidelight window.

Dak?

Holding the pizza she wished she’d picked up.

She twisted the deadbolt and swung open the door. “Hey.”

He held up the pizza box with a small smile. “Peace offering?”

From her perspective, she ought to be the one bringing a peace offering but she wasn’t about to turn down pizza after a week like she’d had. She waved him in, locking the door behind him.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry. I came down on you pretty hard–”

“No.” She held up her hand. “You were absolutely right. You trusted me and I…” Tightness swelled in her chest and her throat closed. “I let you down.”

The smell of zesty tomatoes, pepperoni, and cheese wafted to her.

Her stomach rumbled again, reminding her that she was still hungry. “Let’s eat that before it gets cold.”

In the kitchen, she grabbed two plates while Dak set the pizza box on the island and opened it to reveal a perfectly golden deep-dish.

Oh man. This was precisely what she needed.

They each took a barstool and grabbed a slice.

“I’m sorry. Really.” Kevyn studied Dak’s face. His strong cheekbones and jawline were firm, but not tense. His dark brown eyes serious, but not narrowed. His lips not smiling, but not frowning either. “I think I would do things differently if I could.”

A black eyebrow arched. “That’s not what you said earlier.”

“I didn’t know the whole story earlier.” She sighed, leaning against the island’s granite countertop. “Honestly, I thought your whole obsession with full disclosure and the truth was a bit over the top until you told me what happened. It all makes sense now and I’m sorry I betrayed your trust.”

He slowly chewed the bite in his mouth and swallowed. “Thank you. I try not to talk about that too much, but you needed to know.”

She did. She only wished she’d known sooner. It would’ve impacted her actions.

Probably.

She shoved the doubt aside and took a bite of pizza. Perfection.

“I wasn’t sure you’d even be home.” Dak commented casually as he lifted a slice of pizza for another bite.

“I was supposed to play pool with Pete, but the idea of hanging out in that loud bar wasn’t appealing