“Faith’s not coming in this morning,” Pop said. “Connor and I are going out on a bid, and Micah and Nathan won’t be in until later. Can you sort the mail and hang around here for a phone call I’m expecting? I have to be back around ten for a conference call with an important client, so I could use the help around the office.”

Gray blinked in surprise. “Faith’s not coming in?”

“Yeah, I know; no one knows where a damn thing is but her,” Pop grumbled. “She’s spoiled us rotten. Gonna be a bitch without her today.”

“Is she okay?” Gray asked, half fearing the answer to that. Had he upset her? That was an asinine question. Of course he’d upset her, but was he why she wasn’t in, or was it something completely unrelated?

Pop shrugged. “Said she wasn’t coming in. She doesn’t call in enough for me to question her the one time she does.”

Gray frowned then said, “Sure, I can get the mail and hang around here. It’s not a problem.”

“Thanks. I’m expecting a call from Sherman Winston. When he calls, patch him through to my cell. I’d originally planned to be here, but this bid came up, and I need to handle it.”

Gray waved and headed on to his office. He guessed Faith had enough of his shitting on her. Not that he could blame her. He had a lot of groveling to do, and that was only if she’d even speak to him after he told her the truth about why he was here.

At nine, the postman carried in a white tub full of mail and heaved it onto Faith’s desk. Gray thanked him then grabbed handfuls of envelopes and began sorting out the obvious checks from the other correspondence.

He was halfway through the pile when he came across an envelope addressed to Faith Martin. He frowned as he took in the scrawled name and address. There was no return address, and it obviously wasn’t from a business.

Faith Martin? Martin was Faith’s mom’s last name. No one who had any dealings with Faith would have called her anything but Malone.

The hair on his neck stood up. Not sparing an ounce of guilt for opening her mail, he eased a letter opener into the corner and sliced the top. He didn’t want to disturb the seal in case DNA could be taken.

He was careful to only handle the corners of the paper as he opened it. His gaze darted over the nearly illegible handwriting, and as he took it in, red-hot rage billowed over him.

Give us the money, bitch. Your old man has a lot of it from what I hear, and I bet he’d be willing to part with quite a bit of it to keep his pretty daughter from being hurt. We can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. Either way, we’ll end up with the money. Your choice.

Gray stuffed the paper back into the envelope then folded it and shoved it into his pocket. Goddamn bastard had just threatened Faith. He had to get to her apartment right away. Make sure she was okay and then make sure she wasn’t left alone. There was no time like the present to have their come to Jesus moment.

Faith leaned back in the leather seat and lazily watched the scenery fly by in a blur. It was a beautiful morning. Already hot, but the sun was shining, and the farther they got out of Houston, the bluer the sky got.

They drove through Galveston and headed west. The traffic and number of houses lessened as they got farther down the island. Finally, they pulled into the drive of a large beach house, the only house for at least a mile stretch of the coastline.

She stepped out and breathed in the salty air. It was perfect. She’d have complete privacy. No one to bug her or intrude. It was heaven.

The driver, who had identified himself as Sam, carried her suitcase up the two flights of stairs to the front door and unlocked it for her.

He set the luggage inside the door then dug in his pocket for a card. “Here’s my number. If you need anything, just give me a call.”

She took it from his hand and smiled. “Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate this.”

He nodded and headed down the stairs back to the Bentley, leaving her alone in the spacious house.

She walked through the living room to the back deck and stepped out of the sliding glass doors. The breeze caught her hair and flipped it around her head.

The gentle sounds of the waves rolling in soothed fraught nerves. She raised her shoulders then relaxed them with a great big sigh.

A lawn chair beckoned, and she couldn’t resist sinking down onto it. She propped her feet up and gazed out over the stained waters of the gulf.

Remembering she needed to call Pop and give him a better explanation than that she just wasn’t coming in, she dug around in her pocket for her cell phone and hoped she got service this far out of Galveston.

“Why are you calling on the cell?” Pop asked when he answered.

She smiled. “Because I’m not at home.”

“Everything okay? I assumed you were sick. You don’t sound sick, but you don’t sound okay either.”

“I’m fine,” she managed in a wavery voice. “I just need…I need a vacation, Pop. I hope you don’t mind me taking a few days. I know I should have planned ahead but—”

He cut her off before she could delve further into her explanation. “You don’t need to justify a vacation to me, girl,” he said gruffly. “You deserve one, and you should take it. I don’t want to see you in here for a week at least.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, though she’d already committed to doing just that.

“We’ll manage just fine around here. Coffee won’t be worth a damn, but we’ll get by.”

She laughed. “Thanks, Pop. You’re the best.”

“You just take care. You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“I love you,” she said softly.

“Love you too, girl.”

Gray left the office and tore out of the parking lot like he was heading to a fire. He needed to call Mick and tell him things had escalated and that Samuels was most assuredly in Houston or close, but first, he had to make sure Faith was okay and square things with her.

He saw her car still in the parking lot and wheeled in beside it. He rushed to her door and knocked loudly. When he got no response, he knocked again. “Faith, it’s Gray. Open the door. It’s important.”

Again he waited but got no response. Dread tightened his chest. Her car was here. Why wasn’t she answering the door?

He knocked one more time in case she was in the shower and waited several long seconds. Then he did what any other cop would do in the situation. He kicked the door in.

It flew open and hit the opposing wall with a bang. He rushed in, wishing like hell he’d brought his gun. Her apartment was dark. Not a single light was on. The only sound he could hear was the humming of the refrigerator.

He hurried through the apartment, searching each room, but came up empty. Panic surged in his stomach, leaving him with a nauseated feeling. Where the fuck was she? Had Samuels already gotten to her?

He raced back out to his truck and pulled out his cell phone. He called Mick on his way back to the office. Hopefully Pop or Connor could provide a perfectly sane reason why Faith’s car was at her apartment and she was not.

When Mick picked up, Gray quickly outlined the letter he’d intercepted. Mick’s breathing hitched up several notches.

“He’s there. I knew the son of a bitch wouldn’t be able to resist hitting the daughter up for money. This is a perfect opportunity, Gray. We can use her as bait, draw Samuels out and nail his ass to the wall.”

“Whoa, wait just a damn minute, Mick. We aren’t using Faith as bait. Use your head. She’s an innocent victim here. No way I’d place her in that kind of danger.”

“You use your damn head,” Mick growled. “She’s our best chance at nailing this bastard. You shouldn’t even think twice. You know it’s a good idea.”

Gray had to swallow the angry retort. He sucked in a breath and tried to remain calm. “Mick, you’re worked up. You need to calm down and think rationally about this. No way catching Samuels is worth putting an innocent woman in harm’s way.”

“You’re thinking with your goddamn dick,” Mick said furiously.

“I will not involve Faith in this,” Gray ground out. “I think it’s best that I go to Pop and tell him everything. Get his help. He has a daughter to protect, and we have a killer to catch. We can bring in the local authorities and do this by the book.”

A string of curses erupted over the line.

Gray gritted his teeth and counted to ten. “I’m right, and you know it, Mick. I can’t believe you’d even consider using Faith like that. You’ve lost all perspective. I think you should step away and let me handle this.”

Silence fell over the line. “No, no, you’re right of course. Do what you need to do. I’m coming down there. I can be there in five hours. I’ll call you when I get in.”

Gray started to say that it wasn’t necessary, and actually preferable if Mick stayed in Dallas, but Mick had already hung up.

Gray bit out a curse and tossed the phone onto his seat.

He’d screwed everything up. Mick was way over the line, and Gray should have seen it before. He never should have let Mick talk him into this crazy-ass scheme.

But a small voice inside his head reminded him that if Mick hadn’t asked him to come down, Faith would still be in danger. A danger that no one would know about if Gray wasn’t here. If he could just find her before Samuels did, if he hadn’t already, then he could make things right. And make damn sure she stayed safe.

When he arrived back at the office, he barreled down the hallway to Pop’s doorway. He threw open the door and met with the irritated stares of Pop, Connor and Nathan.

“Where’s Faith?” Gray demanded as he strode in.

Pop quickly pushed the speakerphone button and picked up the receiver. Then he covered the mouthpiece with his hand and glared at Gray.

“This is an important call,” Pop bit out.

Gray put his hands on Pop’s desk, ignoring Nathan and Connor, and leaned toward Pop. “Faith could be in a lot of danger. Do you know where she is?”

“I’ll have to get back to you,” Pop said right before he hung up the phone.

Connor and Nathan surged to their feet about the time Pop’s feet hit the floor.

“What are you talking about, son?” Pop demanded. “I just talked to Faith a while ago. She seemed well enough.”

Gray nearly wilted in relief. He sagged into a nearby chair and blew out his breath in a deep sigh.

“I need to know where she is.”

Connor folded his arms over his chest and stared menacingly at Gray. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business where she is, but I’d sure like to know why you think it is.”

“I want to get back to the part where you think she’s in danger,” Pop interjected.

In response, Gray pulled out the letter he’d opened and flipped it onto the table. “Careful,” he said when Pop reached for it. “That’s evidence.”

Pop scowled but carefully slid the paper out of the envelope and gingerly opened it. His frown deepened as he read, and Nathan and Connor crowded over his shoulder so they could see as well.

“What the fuck?” Nathan said.

Pop’s hand shook as he set the letter back down. “What do you know about this, and where did you get it?” he asked Gray.

Gray twisted his lips and shook his head knowing he’d have to come clean with the entire story. “Faith’s mother has been calling her and asking for money,” he said, after deciding to start with the more pertinent information. He’d get to his deception in a minute.

“Goddamn it,” Connor swore. “I knew something was bothering her.”

“But what does her mother have to do with this?” Nathan asked. “You don’t think she—”

Gray shook his head. “Celia is mixed up with a man who is suspected of murdering my partner,” he said softly.

Three sets of eyes drilled holes in his skull.

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear,” Pop said in a near growl.

“No, you probably won’t,” Gray said. “I came down here as a favor to my partner’s father. Alex, my partner, was killed in the line of duty. The investigation wasn’t going anywhere, and there was a lot of finger pointing, most of it directed at my partner.

“Mick did some poking around on his own and came up with Eric Samuels, a man who happened to have hooked up with Faith’s mom right before the murder. Then they both disappeared.”

“That doesn’t explain why you came down here,” Nathan pointed out.

Gray met Nathan’s gaze then looked back at Pop. “Mick’s investigation also turned up the fact that Celia Martin liked to lean on Faith for money when she was in dire straits.”

“That much is true,” Pop muttered. “Damn bitch. I should have known better than to think she’d get out of Faith’s life permanently.”