Page 28 of Deadly Scandals

The truck continued to hug the coast, and we ended up in La Jolla. Mitch valeted the car and led me into a fancy restaurant, George’s at the Cove. I studied his gaze when the stunning hostess greeted us, expecting him to give her a full-body eye fuck. I was pleasantly surprised that he showed no reaction to the beautiful woman at all and kept his hand pressed into the swell of my back.

The hostess led us to a table with an ocean view and delivered complimentary champagne to our table. I wanted to start grilling Mitch regarding what he knew about Paul, what Paul’s relationship had been like with Joaquín, even though I had asked Paul those questions last year. I needed to find out if Mitch had any idea who could be a suspect.

But instead, I took a deep breath. A moment to appreciate the beauty of the rippling waves, savor the refreshing taste of the bubbly, inhale the scent of the intoxicating man sitting in front of me, who was gazing into my eyes as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world.

But all of these wonderful things seemed empty.

I’d vowed to my mother that I would never stop looking for my sister. I was positive she was dead. But at night, my dreams were worse. Was she being held somewhere against her will? A victim of human trafficking?

Mitch’s voice broke my morose thoughts. “A toast. To the smart, sexy woman I conned into going on a date with me.”

A lump grew in my throat. If his goal was to charm my panties off, it was working. “Thanks, Mitch. This place is beautiful. Let’s have a good time.”

The waiter came and took our orders. Mitch ordered the tasting menu for us with wine pairings. I was more than a little impressed by his choice in restaurant. I had dismissed Mitch as a classless SEAL, yet he clearly had taste and appreciated some of the finer things in life.

“So, babe, why did you want to be NCIS? With a Harvard degree, you could be rich. Why waste your time investigating a bunch of crazy, messed-up sailors?”

My chest constricted. I had to make a choice right now about whether or not I should be honest with him. I was never honest with men. I was always playing a game. Either deeply undercover at work as Autumn, my alter ego, or in my personal life, as a cold, emotionless woman who had no desire for affection.

I took a big gulp of water. Mitch would easily detect my lies—he had been taught interrogation techniques. If I wanted him to open up to me about the SEALs, I had to be open with him myself.

“My baby sister was kidnapped. I lived on base at the time. She was never found. I was young when it happened, so I don’t remember much. But when I became older, I did my own research and found out that NCIS didn’t really do a great job investigating the case. They hadn’t followed up on many leads. I vowed to do better, if not to find my sister, then to spare another family the heartache that mine went through.” My mind flashed to my mom drinking herself to oblivion every night, especially after my dad left.

I finished off my own glass of champagne.

“That’s rough. Sorry to hear that.”

My turn. “Why’d you want to become a SEAL?”

“I joined the Navy just to get benefits. I got my high school girlfriend pregnant, so we married young. I just wanted to support them.” He gritted his teeth. “But once I was in, I wanted it to be more than just a job. I met a SEAL on one of the ships I was on, and he encouraged me. Really believed in me. No one had ever done that for me before.”

Oh no, there it was. So sad, but very typical with SEALs. He wasn’t lying to me; I could hear the pain in his voice. This jaded asshole SEAL had once wanted to do right by his young family. What had happened to their marriage?

Why did I even care?

“Well, you made a good choice. From what I’ve read and seen, you’re a great SEAL.”

He gazed down at his buzzing phone. “Dammit. Sorry. I have to take this.”

I nodded, and he stood up and walked away from the table. I dug into the bread basket and studied the people dining around me. Most were older, in their late forties or early fifties. A couple to my right was holding hands, both of them wearing wedding rings.

Was it possible to have a long-lasting marriage? Somehow, I always believed that even if my sister hadn’t vanished, my parents’ marriage still would’ve imploded.

Mitch walked back over to the table a few minutes later, his face red.

“What? What is it?”

He threw some cash down on the table and hustled me out of the restaurant. “Ash, I hate to do this to you, but it’s an emergency. I have to go. I can call you a cab.”

“An emergency? Work-related?” That would be great. I could maybe get a lead.

“No. I just got a call from my daughter. My ex-wife is in the hospital. She overdosed. My daughter found her and called 911. They live in Vegas.”

Oh, fuck. Now I felt bad for being excited about his emergency, thinking it could open up a lead to this case. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to fly out there and get my kids.”

I was in the middle of a hot case. I needed to be here in case there were any leads.

But at that moment, I didn’t care about my case. I ached for the helpless little girl who was worried about her mommy. I knew what she was feeling. I knew how scary it felt when the adult who was supposed to be taking care of you couldn’t take care of herself.

Vegas was just quick plane ride away. If I needed to get back here fast, I could make that happen.

“I’m coming with you.”

He stared at me. “Why?”

“Because I want to. You don’t need to go through this alone.”

A pained smile graced his face. “Thanks. I’d like that.”

Mitch handed the ticket to the valet and accepted my offer to drive while he made arrangements. After thirty minutes of frantic calls to the base, his friends, and his kids, we arrived at a private airport, where one of his friends was ready to whisk us to Vegas.

As the plane took off, Mitch grabbed my hand. “Thanks, babe. I’ll make this up to you.”

I didn’t respond. He didn’t need to make this up to me. Despite the tragic ending to our first date, Mitch had begun to do something for me that no one had done in a long time.

He had begun to defrost my cold heart.