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she’d tell me a name, she made me swear I wouldn’t breathe a word to anyone. And shit, at this point, I was ready to the call the police. She seemed nuts. But then she said she was looking for you.”
    â€œWhat’s her name?” Noah demanded.
    â€œCaroline,” Josh said. “I told her I knew you. I offered to give you a call. But she started to gather her bag. Said she couldn’t trust anyone. Claimed someone was after her and they would come after you too. She told me she had to warn you.”
    â€œShit,” Noah cursed.
    Josie turned to him. She’d been inching back, prepared to sneak away and finish her shift while Noah informed the Summers brothers that they’d found some crazy chick in the woods.
    â€œSo you know her?” Chad jumped in.
    â€œYeah. And if she says someone if coming for us, she’s probably right,” Noah said. “Where is she now? Did you give her a ride?”
    Josh shook his head. “No offense, Noah, but I didn’t believe her story. I went to get my cell from my truck to call you and when I turned back, she’d vanished. Just slipped away without a sound.”
    â€œCaroline’s a marine,” Noah said as he withdrew his truck key. “She’s fast and quiet. Trust me, I served with her.”
    â€œA marine,” Chad said. “Present tense?”
    â€œYes,” Noah said. “And I need to find her.”

 
    Chapter Four
    T HE SMELL OF stale beer and a ray of sunlight packed a powerful punch first thing in the morning. Josie opened her eyes to both and wished she hadn’t slept in the old Big Buck’s shirt that she’d worn for the rest of her shift—­after Noah had slipped out to search for the mysterious Caroline.
    She glanced at the window. The white curtains her mother had picked out welcomed the early-­morning light instead of blocking it out.
    â€œI should have asked for blackout drapes,” she muttered. But at five years old she’d risen with the sun.
    â€œJosie?” Her dad’s booming voice called from the other side of her door. “Are you awake?”
    â€œYes.” She tossed off the covers and slid out of bed. Thinking about her mom, about how much she’d needed her these past few years, would only lead to tears. “I’m up.”
    â€œI’m making eggs before I head back to the station,” her father announced.
    â€œI’ll be right down.” She opened her duffel bag and riffled through it, searching for a pair of pants and a clean shirt. She couldn’t sit down to breakfast with the chief of police smelling like she’d rolled in booze last night.
    She walked into the farmhouse kitchen wearing sweatpants and an old tank top. Her father stood by the stove, his gaze focused on a frying pan. With the build of a professional linebacker, her dad looked like a cartoon character wearing an apron and holding the spatula in one hand.
    â€œMorning, Dad.” She moved around the familiar space, pouring juice and setting the four-­top wooden table. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
    â€œIt’s your home.” Her father turned from the stove with two plates of scrambled eggs layered with cheese and herbs. “I would have been here yesterday, but Lewis, he’s my new deputy, his wife just had a baby.”
    â€œI managed just fine,” she said as he set a plate in front of her. She missed her father’s cooking. After the morning sickness and the initial oh-­shit-­I’m-­having-­a-­baby panic faded, she’d dreamed about coming home and eating at this table. But she’d dreaded the conversation that would follow when he saw her belly. He’d grounded her through half of high school only for her to show up pregnant once she went to college?
    Dad, I think you were right about me. I think this whole town was right. I’m always going to be the girl who needs