Chapter 3

Noah held his breathin the darkness. He could feel Maggie trembling against the curve of his arm. He pulled her closer against him. The feel of her soft body tight against his and her delicious, enticing scent momentarily distracted him despite the imminent danger they suddenly found themselves in.

Footsteps clomped against the hardwood floor, then suddenly stopped. "What the—"

"Where is she?" This was another voice, deeper with a more gravelly timbre than the first.

Noah could hear the two men as they began moving through the living room and dining area, then down the hallway, clearly searching the rooms for Valentina.

In the darkness of the closet, Noah patted the dog's head to help keep him calm while also trying to give Maggie a reassuring squeeze. Even as he tried to soothe them both through these actions, he was terrified. He had no idea what he'd do if they were discovered.

The two men now stood in the hallway just outside the bedroom where they hid.

"Do you think it's the boyfriend? Did he do something to her?" This was gravel voice.

"I don't know." A long pause. "Something doesn't feel right about all this though. Something's off."

"No kidding, Nick!" Gravel's voice was sarcastic. "The place is trashed, Tina's missing, and she's not answering her cell!"

"That's not what I mean," the man called Nick replied in a growl. "First, there was the whole thing with Clarissa claiming she knew nothing about any bachelorette party vacation. And now..." There was another long pause, then, "We need to give Dom an update. We'll start with that and go from there."

The sound of the two men's footsteps grew quieter as they made their way back through the condo and then out the front door.

Noah continued patting the dog and kept his arm firmly around Maggie. "Just wait." He breathed the words, not trusting that the two intruders were truly gone.

Eventually, all that remained was an eerie stillness.

Several long moments of silence passed before Noah finally whispered, "I think it's safe to get out of here now."

Slowly, he turned the door handle of the closet and swung it open. The three of them stepped out of the closet, and he heard Maggie let out her breath at the same time that he did.

Boon looked up at them accusingly.

"I'm sorry, buddy!" Noah said, giving the dog a scratch behind his flopped-over ear. I know you've got to be sick of that closet." The pup seemed to accept his apology without hesitation, offering a quick lick in response.

Maggie was still visibly shaking. She moved over to sink onto the bed, covering her face with her hands.

"Are you okay?" Noah said softly.

"No, I'm not okay!" she hissed, still keeping her voice quiet. "Who were those men?"

Noah looked helpless.

"Arrrghh!" Maggie groaned, shaking her head and frowning. "I can't even believe this is happening. Do you think we should—" Her words were abruptly cut off as Boon suddenly jumped up onto the bed and climbed onto Maggie, forcing her backward on the bed by laying his furry body across hers.

Maggie was only a smidgeon over five feet tall. Her bare legs and sandal-clad feet dangled over the edge of the bed as she lay there sputtering protests at the dog's fervent attempts to lick her face.

Noah choked down his urge to laugh at the sight of tiny Maggie lying there beneath an eighty-pound dog who looked like a thick, fuzzy blanket thrown over the top of her.

He approached the bed, about to make a joke. But instead, Noah felt conflicting emotions swell inside him as he looked down at her. She was so undeniably beautiful, her amber eyes wide, golden curls splayed out across the bed, framing her delicate features. She took his breath away. And part of him wanted to tell her so. But a much bigger part of him held back, uncertain how his words would be received.

While he stood there, Maggie made several failed attempts to move the massive dog off her prone body, her face growing red with effort. Finally, she looked at the frozen Noah. "Uh...a little help, please?"

"Oh, sorry!" He snapped out of his reverie and picked up Boon's leash. "C'mon, boy, off!"

Boon instantly obeyed, jumping back onto the floor. He sat down quietly next to Noah as if nothing unusual had happened. But he was still watching Maggie, and she was eyeing him back with uncertainty.

"What was that about?" she said.

"I dunno. Maybe he thought you could use a hug?" Noah offered.

"Hmph." Maggie stood up and began brushing the dog fur off her dress. "What I was going to say is, do you think we should call the police?"

"Oh. Uhhh..."

She looked up, clearly surprised at his reaction. "I mean, it's clear that Valentina is missing, right?"

Noah nodded slowly.

"And it's also clear that something," she waved her hand to encompass the entire condo, "er, bad happened here..." she trailed off.

Something bad. Right. Noah didn't need to hear her say out loud what they were both thinking. What if he'd done something to Valentina?

Now, it was his turn to sink onto the bed.

"Are you sure you can't remember anything from last night?" Maggie asked, genuine concern etched on her face.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his already mussed-up hair. Then he looked up at her. "I remember meeting Valentina at Lakeside Latté yesterday at three-thirty. We had coffee, and I remember thinking that our date wasn't going so great. But then..." Here he frowned.

"Then what?" Maggie said.

"Then..." He squeezed his eyes shut for several long moments before opening them and lifting his palms. "Then nothing. It's just a big blank."

Maggie stood looking at him, lips compressed as she thought. He felt helpless, wishing he could ease the worry he saw flickering in her eyes. Several long moments ticked past. Finally, keeping her eye on Boon, she eased herself down to sit beside him on the edge of the bed.

"Noah," she said, her voice quiet. "I know what you're thinking, but there's no way you did anything harmful to Valentina."

"You don't know that. I told you I can't remember anything. What if I..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Noah, you are the kindest person I've ever known. Remember when you stood up to that mammoth-sized senior in the cafeteria during our junior year? He was bullying that super skinny kid from the Robotics team, and you stepped in the middle of it all, separating them. Then the jerk started threatening you, pushing you, trying to get you to fight with him. Yet somehow, without resorting to anything physical, you managed to completely defuse the situation. You even had the guy apologizing to the kid by the end of it all." She shook her head in wonder. "You were amazing, Noah. And I just don't believe the man who did that would ever willingly hurt another soul. It just wouldn't happen."

Noah was in shock. Not only did he not recall the situation Maggie had just described, but he was stunned by the fact that she was able to recall it in such detail.

He turned his head to face her and met soft, brown eyes that were now gazing at him in a way that made his heart beat faster in his chest. He wished he didn't have any doubts himself. But with no memory of what he'd said or done, anything could have happened.

He knew, however, that what Maggie was suggesting was the right thing to do. And normally, he wouldn't have hesitated, especially considering the fact that his brother Wade and new sister-in-law Cassie were both on the Whispering Pines police force. But as of two days ago, they weren't in town or even in the country. Cassie had joined the force a year ago, and she'd finally earned enough vacation so they could go on their two-week honeymoon to Greece. Without Wade in his corner, he felt much more nervous about involving the police, particularly in light of his apparent amnesia.

He took a deep breath. "Look, I know we need to call the police, but I'd like to make another phone call first."

Maggie tilted her head quizzically. "To whom?"

"A man named Hugo Garcia."

***

Hugo stood in the busted-out doorway of the small condo wearing a very similar expression to the one Maggie had worn when she'd first arrived. However, he recovered more quickly than she had.

Noah watched as Hugo's gaze swept the room with a practiced eye, then returned to examine Noah's appearance for the second time.

Hugo was his brother Wade's former beat partner and a close family friend. He was in his late fifties and had retired from the police force a year ago to spend more time with his newly adopted teenage daughter, Ani. Noah decided to call Hugo before contacting the police because he knew the situation didn't look good for him, and he also knew he could completely trust Hugo.

Noah noticed that Hugo had lost a bit of weight since the last time he'd seen him, no longer sporting the rounded belly on his stocky frame. He still wore his thick salt-and-pepper hair in a short, cropped style, and as usual, despite the circumstances, his dark eyes were kind.

"Okay, amigo, tell me what happened," Hugo said.

Noah related everything he'd already shared with Maggie, who now stood silently by his side, her hand absently petting the top of Boon's head.

"And the door?" Hugo asked, glancing back at the splintered doorframe.

Maggie shared that bit of the story, describing how they'd hidden in the bedroom closet and everything that they'd overheard the men say to each other. Hugo pulled out his phone and tapped out notes into it.

When Noah and Maggie had both finished, Hugo gave a nod, then pulled out a pair of blue latex gloves and put them on his hands. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'm going to do an inspection of the place."

Noah, Maggie, and Boon stood in silence while Hugo made his meticulous way through each room.

Twenty minutes later, he returned to them. "Well, there's a few things that don't add up. First of all, Valentina's closet is full of newly purchased clothing with the tags still on them. It doesn't look like she's ever worn anything hanging in there. Second, aside from this room," he waved a hand to indicate the space where they stood, "this place is neat as a pin. There's only one roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, and quite honestly, judging by the layers of dust everywhere, it doesn't look like anyone actually lives here."

Noah frowned and saw a similar look of perplexity on Maggie's face.

Hugo removed his gloves and shoved them into the pockets of his jeans. "Plus, aside from the photograph in the bedroom and a couple of items in the fridge, I don't see any personal items for Valentina anywhere. No purse, no cell phone, no pens, no paper, nothing."

Noah's frown deepened. "What does all that mean?"

Hugo gave a shrug. "I don't know yet." Then he looked at Boon. "Another thing, I doubt that's her dog. If it is, she has no dog supplies here at all, either. No food or dog dishes."

"His tag only has his name on it," Noah offered absently, his mind whirring.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions here," Hugo said. "Not the least of which is why you have no memory of what happened." Hugo pointed his chin in the direction of the partially drunk bottle of wine and glasses on the dining room table. "Because I know there's no way that was the cause."

Noah felt rather than saw Maggie's surprised look at him in response to Hugo's statement, but he said nothing. He felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and if he was being totally honest, a little scared. He had no idea what his next step should be, and although the nausea had now abated, the ache in his head was getting stronger. He lifted his fingertips to his temples.

"What's that?" Hugo's voice was sharp.

"What?"

"That!" Hugo reached for Noah's right hand and flipped it palm-side down. There was a smudge of dark blue ink on the back of his hand in a roughly rectangular shape with some illegible words printed inside it.

Noah looked at it in surprise. "I feel like...there's something familiar about it, but I'm not sure." He stared at it in confusion another moment, then with a resigned sigh, resumed massaging his temples.

"So, what do you think we should do now?" Maggie asked.

"To be honest, I think your first instinct was the right one, Ms. Milena," Hugo replied. "We need to call the police."