Page 7 of Untamed Sinner

Three minutes later, another email arrives. Large file—encrypted—with a note that says, Time is critical. The client requires the woman found within seven days.

Seven days is more than enough time to find a person. Most people don’t know how to disappear. They know how to leave. Those two aren’t the same thing. Give me seven days and I could find the lost Ark.

I open the file. The decryption takes thirty seconds, then the case summary loads.

Client name: Thomas Ashford.

I sit back in my chair, staring at the screen. Thomas Ashford is one of the richest men in the country—old money, political connections that span generations, the kind of power that doesn't need to advertise itself. He owns half the eastern seaboard and has his fingers in energy, tech, and defense contracts. Men like Ashford don't hire independent contractors for missing persons cases. They have entire security firms on retainer.

Which means this isn't a standard recovery.

I scroll down.

Missing person: Mandy Reed. Age 34. Last seen Billings, MT.

I don't move.

The photo loads next, removing any doubt that it's someone with the same name. The angle of her jaw. That strand of hair that doesn’t seem to stay where it’s supposed to. Those eyes that look like they’re daring the world to come closer at its peril.

Ashford's paying me six figures to find her, and from what I know of Mandy, it’s not because she’s in danger—it’s because she poses one.

“What did you do?” I murmur, going through the file. It lacks information. Basic surveillance photos, a few known addresses, nothing substantial and all of it raising more questions than they answer.

What the hell was she doing in Billings? A quick, simple search online tells me exactly what she was doing: Richard Pemberton, private equity executive. The man was found dead in his home this morning. Another quick search and I pull up a picture of Ashford and Pemberton at a charity function in Los Angeles together.

“What have you stirred up, Mandy?” I murmur as I save the photo to her file.

Yes, I already have an in-depth file on her. I know she has a sister, Lily Carter, a veterinarian in Iron Ridge, partner to Mason Rivera of the Blackthorn Ranch. I know her known associate: Gabriel Reyes, enforcer for the Reyes family. I know she’s involved in tactical operations against trafficking networks. Five weeks ago, she assisted on a mission the Blackthorn boys called me in on.

Pemberton must have been involved in the trade. The question: is Thomas Ashford, head of an affluent family that rivals the Rockefellers, involved in trafficking too? Or is he protecting someone who is?

I sit back in my chair and stretch my arms over my head. I should turn this down—email Crowley and tell him I’m not interested.

Except if I turn it down, they’ll take it to the next bounty hunter on their list, one who won’t mind exercising his professional judgment.

"Fuck." I pick up the phone. I don’t take the commission to find Mandy Reed. I take the job to find out why Thomas Ashford wants her.

6

MANDY

The café in Billings I’m at is the kind of place where the waitress refills your cup without asking and doesn't care if you sit for three hours nursing the same lukewarm sludge. No one looks at anyone else too long, which makes it the perfect place to disappear in plain sight.

They also have donuts. Sure, they’re stale, but a stale donut is better than no donut.

I'm tucked into a corner booth with a view of the door and the parking lot beyond—not that anyone will find me here. I have my phone in my hand and the notebook hidden on my lap, open to the photograph on the last page. I’ve spent two hours trying to match her face to wedding announcements, fundraising galas, and ribbon cuttings in Washington. After I ran Montana, I’ve been going through every state alphabetically. No luck for far, but I’ve got three states to go.

It’s been five weeks since I found the notebook. Why a man like Cole Turner has a notebook like this, I have no idea. For kicks? To keep some sort of fucked-up journal of his special girls? I don’t know.

But it’s here, and I’ve tried everything to figure out who she is. I’ve searched police, hospital, and FBI databases. I’ve reverse searched the image using facial recognition and AI software.

Nothing. And I’m running out of time.

I close the notebook and set it on the table. I open the Billings Gazette on my phone to do my daily cursory search. As I reach for what’s left of the second glazed old-fashioned donut I ordered, the main headline catches my eye.

LOCAL MAN FOUND DEAD IN HOME

Richard Pemberton, 52, head of Pemberton Vale Capital, a private equity firm, was discovered deceased in his residence in the hills outside Billings early this morning. Authorities are investigating the death as suspicious. No further details have been released at this time.