Or had it been the third?
“No caller ID.” He put the phone to his ear. “Who the hell is this?”
The glow from her phone’s screen let her see the hard angles of his face.
Maisey sat up, pulling the sheet with her. They’d just gotten that phone, but it had been programmed with her old number. So anyone who knew that number could call her—or it could just be some random, spam call.
“Hung up.” Odin lowered the phone. He took a step back toward the bed.
The phone rang again.
“Sonofabitch,” Odin began. His finger swiped over the screen.
“Put it on speaker,” Maisey urged him as tension snaked through her.
He came closer to her. Tapped the screen to turn on the speaker.
“Who is this?” Maisey demanded. The clock on her phone told her it was almost one a.m.
“I need you…” A woman’s voice. A voice that was somewhat distorted, but still familiar.
Goosebumps rose on Maisey’s arms. “Who is this?”
“You have to help…” Again, the same voice. But it sounded funny. As if the voice was coming from very far away.
Maisey shook her head because this couldn’t be right. She had to be confused. The caller could not be…
“Maisey?”
Her heart squeezed in her chest. “I’m here. Tell me what I can do.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Tell me where you are. I will help you. I will do anything.”
She could feel Odin’s eyes on her, but he wasn’t saying a word.
“Have to help…” The woman’s voice was even softer.
“How?” Maisey demanded. “Tell me how, and I will. Tell me where you are—I will come to you right now! Please, tell me. Where are you—where—”
The call ended.
A tear leaked down Maisey’s cheek. “No.” She grabbed the phone from Odin’s hand. “We have to call her back.”
“Who was on the phone, Maisey?” Careful. Quiet.
The light from the screen glared up at her. “How do I call her back?” Because there wasn’t a number listed. It had been blocked. “How?”
“Who was on the phone?” Odin repeated.
Her breath came too fast. Her chest burned. And hope had her feeling dizzy. “That was Whitney’s voice.” She hadn’t thought it was possible. She’d been so horribly certain but… “My God, Odin. She’s alive. Whitney is still alive!”
And she wanted Maisey to help her.
***
“I don’t like it,” Jinx announced the next morning as he stood on Odin’s balcony and peered down at the beach. “The woman is missing and suddenly, right after your lady is nearly taken, she calls Maisey?”
Odin glanced back toward the closed balcony doors. Maisey was showering. She hadn’t been able to sleep after the call. She’d had him pull every string he had in order to try and get a trace on the caller.
So far, his strings weren’t doing any good.
But he did have a monitor on her phone now. If she got another call…
“Is Maisey sure the caller was Whitney?”
He focused back on Jinx. “She says it was her friend’s voice. Swears she is one hundred percent certain.” She’d been crying by the time the call ended. Silent tears that had leaked down her cheeks and made his chest ache.
“Sonofabitch.” Jinx shoved his hands into his pockets. “And how long has this woman been missing?”
“Two months.”
Jinx closed his eyes. “If she’s been held for that long…”
“Maisey’s coming,” he said quickly because he’d glanced back once more and seen her approaching the door. “Don’t paint any damn pictures. The last thing I need is for her to get those images in her head about what might have happened to her friend.”
The door opened. Maisey stood there, her feet bare, her hair still wet, no makeup on her face. She’d put back on the clothes that she’d worn the previous night. She looked lovely and delicate and so damn breakable.
No one will break her. Odin wouldn’t let that happen.
“What’s the plan?’ Maisey’s shoulders squared. “How do we find her?”
Jinx and Odin shared a long look.
“No,” Maisey said instantly with a shake of her head. “Not happening. You two aren’t running off and leaving me to sit and twiddle my thumbs. This is my friend.” Her voice thickened. “I’m the one who gave up hope and thought she was dead. I should have kept going, kept hoping, and I will. I swear, I will do it now.” Tears filled her eyes. “You won’t shut me out. I will help on this. I will.”
He couldn’t watch her cry. Odin reached for Maisey and pulled her into his arms. His hand patted her shoulder.
Over her head, Jinx winced. “That is like watching a bear swipe at someone. Try a gentle stroke. It will work way better.”
He was gently stroking her. Couldn’t the man see that?
“And, Maisey, I’ll be the one to say this because Odin doesn’t want to crush your dreams and tender feelings but…”
Oh, hell. Frantic, Odin tried to glare the guy into silence—
Jinx ignored his glare. “But it’s too convenient.”
Maisey’s head whipped up. She spun to face Jinx. “Excuse me?”
“Too convenient,” he repeated and enunciated it extra slowly. “Sorry, but I’m a suspicious bastard even on my best days. All of a sudden, right after you’re nearly abducted, your missing friend reaches out and calls you? Nope. Not legit.”
“It was her voice. I know Whitney’s voice.”
“And voices can be faked. They can be altered. They can be digitally changed in a thousand different ways. Give me five minutes and your phone, and I’ll download an app that lets me sound exactly like my great-grandmother.”
Her body trembled. Odin could feel her pain.
“Jinx,” he warned.
“What? I’m telling her so that you don’t have to do it. So that you don’t have to be the one to watch the hope shatter in her eyes.”
Maisey whirled to face him. “Odin?”
But Jinx wasn’t done. “Look, you contacted the cops last night. Did the whole due diligence bit after you got the mystery call, but, O, you and I both know this is shady. The odds of it actually being the missing woman calling—those odds are so low that no one would take that bet.”
Maisey’s eyes were on Odin. Hope was still clinging to her expression. He didn’t want to destroy the light in her eyes.
“Do you think it was her?” Maisey asked. Then she held her breath.
I don’t want to hurt you. He also didn’t want to lie to her. “I don’t know.”
“Fuck me,” Jinx called out. “Odin, get your balls back. You are as doubtful as I am and allowing Maisey to hope now does nothing but make her vulnerable.”
He couldn’t look away from Maisey. “Sometimes, people need hope.” Maisey needed it. “Until I see a body—”
Maisey flinched and retreated from him.
Yeah, he was back to his usual level of tact.
“Until then,” Odin added, “I can’t know for certain. None of us can.”