Chapter 20

Harry felt sick to his stomach as they knocked on the door to Rory’s place. Lucia had come with them and showed them exactly where she lived. No one answered, and the longer it went on, the worse he felt.

“Her car is in the lot,” Lucia said.

Bear glanced around, then pulled something from his pocket. It took him about a minute, and then he flashed a smile. “Oh look, the door is open.”

They entered the place, and he called out for Rory. No one answered. He was looking around the den when Lucia opened the bedroom door. “Guys, look at this. I think that’s blood.”

He moved closer and glanced in, looking over her shoulder. A sick feeling slid through him. “Shit. This isn’t good.”

They had to call this in. Had she not shown up for work? Who the hell would know? He wasn’t sure what would happen with him and Rory having a relationship, but her being attacked wasn’t how the Navy would discipline either of them .

It took a while for the ball to get rolling, but by ten that evening, there was a full-blown investigation into what happened to Rory. Obviously, something violent had happened. Now, he would have to tell people they’d had a relationship. So far, he’d just said they were friends, but stuff like this had a way of coming out, and no doubt, the man sleeping with the victim always was first to be a suspect.

Maybe he should keep it to himself that they’d had sex. He didn’t want to hinder the investigation, but how would his telling the authorities that he’d slept with Rory help? Whoever had taken her had nothing to do with him. But if they found out at a later date that he’d had sex with Rory, he would be in deep trouble.

He didn’t get home until midnight, and they had no answers to their questions. He had Lucia’s personal number now. He promised to contact her if he found anything out. He wanted Rory home. Even if she didn’t want a relationship with him, he still wanted her to be okay.

The next day, after he’d run PT and cleaned his space, he was called in to talk to his commanding officer, Hamilton. He was nervous because he knew he’d messed up.

He still hadn’t told anyone that he and Rory had sex. He shouldn’t tell Hamilton, but guilt swirled through him like a hurricane. The truth usually surfaced, but he still held the belief that the truth in this matter wouldn’t help anyone find Rory.

Wild had already spoken with Hamilton, but that didn’t mean his buddy had told their CO that he’d had sex with Rory. Harry entered the office, his stomach tight with nerves.

“Chief Petty Officer Harrison, I spoke with Petty Officer Ochoa. She is worried that Captain Holmes is missing. How did you know Captain Holmes?”

“We ran a few trails together. She liked the challenge of running with a SEAL.”

“I see. The police were worried that you were involved. They looked at the security footage where you live, and it looks like you were at home the night she was taken.” Hamilton took a seat and looked up at him, a frown on his face. “She’s not in your chain of command. She’s not even in the Navy, but you’re playing with fire.”

“Yes, sir.” Heat washed over him. He didn’t want to lose his place in the SEALs, but he would leave the Navy in a heartbeat if it meant Rory was okay.

“Where do you think she is?”

“Sir, I have no idea. I don’t have any clue what is going on. I didn’t even know her place had been broken into or that she slept at the hotel the other night. Someone seems to be out to get her, but no one knows why.”

“If you find out anything else, please bring it to my attention. We need to keep on this and figure out what is going on. The Marines are doing their own investigation. She was on loan to the Center for two years because of her expertise. We were lucky to have her instructing our sailors in the intricate matters of security and safety. I hope this doesn’t make the Navy look bad.”

“If I find anything, I’ll make sure you know. I want her found, not only for her own safety but for Lucia too. I can’t imagine her being missing this long is good.”

“No, Harry, it can’t be good. Go take care of what you need to do, and then make yourself available if the police have any further questions.”

“Yes, sir.” Harry left his CO office, relief pouring through him. It could have gone much worse for him. He was lucky Hamilton was levelheaded and not a jerk. Once Rory was found, they would need to have a discussion about holding off on their relationship until she left the Marines.

He stepped into the area his team worked in and found them hunched around Andy, who had a browser up on his computer.

“What’s up?” Harry asked.

“We’re trying to figure out what happened. So far, there’s nothing anyplace we’ve looked. We need to look in more spaces on the dark web,” Andy said.

Harry shook his head. “So nothing. Fuck. Where the hell did she go?”

Bear squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. There has to be something out there. We’ll find her and bring her home.”

Harry sucked in a slow breath as heat washed over him. If something bad happened to her, he would make the person pay. They would regret doing anything to Rory. He would make sure of it.