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know. We’re going to figure this out.
    What’s your name?
    Nathan.
    Someone at the table whooped with joy, and I heard the sliding of a pile of chips across the table. It was Lex. I felt my lip curl in contempt as my body filled up with suppressed rage and adrenaline. I could just beat her location out of him.
    I had ways of persuasion that would surely work.
    But something inside me whispered to hold back. That a beating was letting this sicko off easy. If what I suspected was true, then he hadn’t just kidnapped one woman, but at least two… and if he did it twice, I had no doubt there was a string of violated and dead bodies behind him and plans for more in the future.
    This guy deserved something far worse than just a beating.
    Besides, Honor had been stuck God knows where for God knows how long. She was probably cold and hungry, and from the looks of her, I knew she was injured.
    I s et the still full beer on the bar and tucked my phone into my pocket. “Sorry, guys, I gotta head out.”
    “So soon?” one of the guys said, glancing at me.
    “Yeah, someone from work texted me, needed me to fill in for duty tomorrow all day.” I lied. I didn’t have to stand duty for another two weeks.
    “That sucks .”
    “You’re telling me,” I drawled. That wasn’t a lie. Duty sucked. I had to go sit at the desk all day and night, do patrols around the facility , and answer the phone in case messages came down and needed to be passed to the higher ranks I worked with. It was boring. It was endless. It was part of the job.
    “ Gotta go get my beauty sleep,” I cracked. “I’ll see you next week? Same time, same place?” I asked, stopping beside the table and glancing at Lex.
    “Absolutely, man ,” replied Patton. He was the one who introduced me to these weekly poker games. I was starting to rethink my decision of ever coming.
    “Just don’t let Lex bring the beer next time. We need that shit on time,” I said, grinning at Lex. I hoped it looked more friendly than I felt.
    Lex grunted. “A guy runs late one time,” he muttered while he dealt a new hand of cards to everyone at the table. All the guys laughed.
    “I sent you a text , man. Did you get it?” I said, watching closely for his reaction. I hadn’t seen his phone in his hands all night. Now I knew why. Part of me hoped he would pull it out of his pocket and check it for the missed message. Part of me hoped I really was wrong about what I was thinking. I couldn’t think of anyone who would want to be right.
    He made a face, like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He reached around to his back pocket where I assume d he sought out his phone. I watched the alarm pass through his eyes as he patted his pockets a little more furiously.
    Interesting.
    He stood and reached into the front pocket of his jeans. They were empty too. His eyes flashed up, meeting mine. I recognized the look that lay deep within. Panic and fear.
    Well, shit. If that wasn’t guilt , then I wasn’t a Marine. A little surge of unease rippled through me. Would he know Honor had it? Would he leave here and go seek her out? Would he punish her for what I said?
    Maybe I should have said nothing at all.
    But I had to be sure… I had to be sure that this fucker really was guilty as sin.
    And now I knew.
    I forced myself to smile, not wanting to let on that I suspected a thing. “Probably fell out of your pocket on the way over here. It’s probably in your car.”
    He relaxed , a relieved look crossing his features. “Yeah, probably.”
    “My damn phone is always disappearing on me. Too bad it hadn’t disappeared tonight before I got called in to stand duty.”
    Lex laughed. “Yeah, I think I’ll enjoy my break without it and look for it later.”
    I offered him the beer I hadn’t even bothered to take a sip of. “Refill?”
    He took it and smiled. “Hell, yeah.”
    After a few jokes, I made my way out of the house and walked toward my Wrangler. It was olive green with