Page 105 of Beast

“Last night. At PB Bar & Grill. She’s a preschool teacher. I dig her. She could be the one.”

“That’s what you say every time.”

Sara entered the room, carrying a tray with our food and two coffees. I thanked her. It was nice being taken care of for a change.

“Could you close the door?”

“Yup. Don’t be too long.” She licked her lips. “I’ll be upstairs, waiting. Nice to meet you, Pat.”

“You, too.”

The door shut. I took a bite of my omelet—cheese and ham. Simple, but good.

“So how’s Annie?”

“Good. She’s back at my place now.”

Kyle’s mouth widened into a smile. “I knew it.”

“Yeah, well, I caught her texting Chris. She says she’s not screwing him but who knows?”

“Man, that Marissa chick screwed you up. Women can have male friends and not fuck them. It is possible. Just give Annie a chance. She’s crazy about you, dude. And she’s a good girl. Fine, strong, sweet. Not many women could survive what she did.”

Kyle always seemed to be right. But I didn’t come here to discuss my relationship problems. “Have you heard back from Dave?”

“Yup. He’s waiting for our call. Going to conference him now.”

Kyle dialed his number, and Dave’s face popped up on Kyle’s computer screen. You have to love modern technology.

“Hi, guys. So I’ve done some searching. Everyone in Aruba knew Annie was taken, but I guess they had her hidden out in Curaçao.”

I nodded. “Yup. That’s what she told me.”

“As I told you on the ship, I’d heard of sightings of her, but nothing panned out. And, of course, all the locals know I’m a former SEAL so I’d be the last one they’d tell.”

“Understood,” Kyle said.

“Well about two years after she went missing, some contractors came around the island and asked about Annie. Flashing her picture everywhere. Rented my yacht.”

“We know this—the fake SEAL. He had people with him?”

“No, Pat. Not him. That con man never even looked for her. I have my doubts he even exists.”

I was confused. “I’m not following you.”

“I told you on the boat, these men who came looking for her were former Team guys. They were very thorough and professional. They must’ve hit every brothel here and in Aruba. Yet there has never been any mention of them by Annie’s family or the FBI.”

My mind raced. “So, you think these guys were paid by her family but didn’t find her?”

Dave’s head shook. “No. I think they found her—and left her there.”

What the fuck was he saying? “That makes no fucking sense.”

“Hear me out. You found her by accident. These men worked for someone. Not the government. Annie had vanished. There were never any ransom notes, no one saw her get taken, her boyfriend was suspected of killing her or it was a possible suicide. Someone hired these guys, whoever they were, to find Annie. I did some more digging once I returned and one of my buddies swears that one of these guys was drunk and bragging that he had found her. And that other girl, Nicole. I bet they found them. They just decided not to bring them home.”

Jesus! It made sense. There was no way with all the money her parents had that they hadn’t found legit security contractors to locate her. Which group did they hire? And if they found her, why the hell didn’t they bring her home?

Kyle took over the conversation. “What did the guys look like?”