“He’s . . . you saw at lunch. There’s something—”

He unlocked the Jeep and urged me inside. “I know. We got this. We’re going to find him. I swear we won’t sleep until he’s safe.”

Before I could reply, he shut the door and rounded the hood.

His vow dulled my terror in a way I didn’t expect. While I was crumpling inside, he was calm, collected, and determined. His confidence and unwillingness to accept any other alternative shored up my strength, and I took a deep breath.

“We got this,” I repeated to myself.

Rhett jumped in the Jeep and with a roar of the engine, we pulled away.

26

Rhett

Watching Ari’s face go white with terror was something I wouldn’t forget for a long time and never wanted to see again. I swore I had a direct line to the fear ripping through her system when that call came through.

My first instinct was to strangle Heath for letting this happen, but I knew that wasn’t fair. Neither Ari nor her brother had realized how bad their dad was until recently, and this had to be the last thing they expected. Up until a few days ago, he’d been living alone. According to Heath, there hadn’t been many warning signs except a sprained wrist from a fall.

I’d been on the hunt for more than one elderly person who had wandered away from home, but this was personal. I would do whatever it took to make sure Mr. Sampson was safe as soon as fucking possible.

Breaking every speed limit, I made my way to Heath’s house as fast as I could. When we got there, three black-and-whites were parked out front with their lights on. I wasn’t sure how I would be received by my former colleagues, but I didn’t give a damn. This was more important than bad blood.

Heath was outside, poring over a map spread across the hood of a squad car. Good, that meant they were working out the search parameters.

Ari jumped out of the Jeep before I could open her door and rushed to her brother. He caught her in a hug, looking just as panicked as she did. As I got closer, I heard him whisper “I’m sorry” to her over and over.

An officer I didn’t recognize spoke up. “We’re gonna get more units out, and we’ll notify all the news and radio stations. If you have any other friends and family that can help search, call them too.”

Ari’s expression crumpled. “It’s just us. We don’t have more family. Dad is all we have.” The pain in her voice jabbed me in the chest.

“It’s gonna be okay, Flounder. We’re gonna find him,” Heath promised. He finally looked up and noticed me. “Thanks for getting here so quick.”

The officers around the hood of the car glanced my way as well. Flashes of recognition streaked across their faces, but I wasn’t about to waste time with introductions.

“Put me to work. I can help.”

All business, the officer in charge handed out assignments and copies of the list Heath had made of all his dad’s favorite places, and we moved out.

Ari was selected to stay at Heath’s house in case her father returned. Everyone had her cell phone number to notify her as soon as someone located him.

Before I jumped in my Jeep, I stopped in front of her and gripped the back of her neck, turning her face up to mine. I pressed a hard, quick kiss to her lips.

“We’ll find him.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don’t need to thank me.”

Tears filled her eyes, and I released my hold on her neck to wipe away one that tipped over her lid. “We got this. It’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s just . . . he’s all we have left.”

“I know, Red. Hold it together.”

She swallowed and straightened her shoulders, visibly collecting herself as Heath and the units pulled away from the curb to start the search.

“I’m good. Go. Find him.”

27

Ariel

It had been an hour with no leads. I sat in my brother’s house on his beat-up leather sofa, staring at the wood-paneled wall as I waited for my phone to ring again. Each time someone called, my hopes soared. And each time, it had been the same story.

“Nothing yet. We’re still looking.”

The TV flickered with a rerun I’d muted because I couldn’t focus on the banter. Instead, my gaze drifted to the few pictures Heath had on his entertainment center in dusty frames.

One of him and me as kids. His arm was wrapped around my shoulder, squeezing me tight to his side against his Saints T-shirt. I must have been about six years old. Dad had decided I was due to see my first game, and I still remembered how safe I felt between them in a wild stadium packed with people yelling Who dat?

I’d give anything to feel the press of both their shoulders against me again right now. Grabbing my phone off the table for the seventh time, I stared at the screen, checking for missed calls.

Obviously, there weren’t any. The volume on my ringer was turned all the way up.

I sent up another prayer to the man upstairs. Please help them find my daddy. Please let him be okay. He’s a good man. He doesn’t deserve this. Please.

Tears spilled onto my cheeks as I stood and paced the room, finally stopping in front of the only complete family picture my brother had. It was taken the day my parents had brought me home from the hospital. Mom held a pink, red-faced bundle down for Heath to see, and my dad beamed at her.

She’d died less than three months later from cancer, sacrificing herself so I could live. If she’d terminated her pregnancy, she could have undergone treatments and might have survived. But on the rare occasion Dad would talk about it, he said that she wouldn’t even consider it.

Tears flowed more freely as I reached out to trail a fingertip along her face behind the glass. “Watch over him, please. Keep him safe, angel mama.”

I was convinced she’d done just that on plenty of occasions before, or maybe it was just my way of dealing with the sense of loss that ached in my chest.

Dad and Heath had both had more close calls than I wanted to think about, but somehow, they’d always come home safely at the end of their shifts. When I was young, I would wait at the Hennessys’ kitchen table while Mrs. Hennessy fed me dinner. One night, not long after the first department funeral I ever attended, I remembered asking her, “What would happen to me if my daddy didn’t come home?”