Page 4 of Deadly Sins: Lust
I nodded.
“Cade might not be talking to you about Shelby because he’s waiting for you to bring her up when you feel like you’re ready. Maybe you need to open the door and give him the chance to walk through it. Just ... something to consider.”
It was so simple and yet so profound at the same time. And to think it had only cost me one hundred fifty dollars to hear it.
CHAPTER 3
“Nick, what’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything all right?”
“I ... no, Sloane. It isn’t. I don’t mean to bother you. It’s just that I’m not sure who else to call right now.”
His breathing was tense and erratic, and Nick wasn’t the erratic type.
He blew his nose into the phone. “Sloane, you there?”
“Yeah. Tell me what’s happening.”
“It’s Marissa. I’m worried about her. She went to Australia several days back with a group of friends. Her best friend Layla lives there, in Cairns. She’s getting married and flew her bridesmaids over to celebrate for a few days. I was supposed to fly out tomorrow and join her for the wedding this weekend. Last night they were out celebrating, and somewhere along the way they got separated. I don’t have all the details yet. All I know is Marissa is missing.”
“For how long?”
“A few hours.”
A few hours?
I knew Nick had a tendency of overthinking things, but I was surprised about how worked up he was over this, given the short period of time that had passed.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Nick. I bet you’ll hear from her soon.”
“You don’t understand. I always talk to her before she goes to bed so tonight when she didn’t call I called her. It went straight to voicemail. I called Layla, and she’s not concerned. She said their other friends haven’t returned either. She thinks they’re all still out somewhere together, but I’m not buying it. It’s noon here, which makes it four in the morning over there. She wouldn’t stay out this long. She just wouldn’t. These women are her old college roommates. They attended Bentley together in Southern California. And they’re, well, a lot different than Marissa.”
I opened the car door and slid into the seat. “Different in what way?”
“They can be a bit wild from what she’s told me, staying out all night drinking, and that kind of thing.”
“It’s her friend’s bachelorette week, Nick. I’m sure she just lost track of time.”
“Something doesn’t seem right, Sloane. I know it isn’t. I can feel it.”
I’d hoped talking to him in a rational way would help things. Instead, he seemed worse, even more agitated than he was when the call began. Nick and Marissa hadn’t been married long, and part of me wondered if her being with a rowdy group of friends made him more of a control freak than usual. He was a good guy, an honest guy, a man who could be trusted. But his need to regulate every part of our relationship had led to its demise.
“When was the last time you heard from her?” I asked.
“This morning, but what really matters is she always answers my call, even when she’s busy. This is the first time I haven’t been able to reach her. I tried a few times, and after I spoke with Layla, it became clear she isn’t doing anything to track her down, so I contacted the local police.”
The police? I was shocked. “What did they tell you?”
“I didn’t get anywhere. They said if I don’t hear from her by tomorrow to call back. I tried giving them my information, and they acted like they took it down, but I don’t know if they did.”
He was in full—blown paranoia mode. I couldn’t reason with him, which meant there was only one thing left to say. “What can I do to help?”
“Can you do some digging, see what you can find out on your end?”
I’d worked a lot of private investigations over the years, but never one in another country. Given the distance, I wasn’t sure how much help I could be, but I wasn’t about to admit it. Not right now. “Sure, I’ll do what I can.”
“Thanks, Sloane. I’ll text you Layla’s number. See if you can get her to tell you where they were last night, and then call those places and press them for any details they have. I’m throwing a few things in a bag and catching the next flight out of here. Leaves in a few hours.”
“Nick?”