The woman he hadn’t seen in over a year.
How had she ever found him on this secluded island?
It didn’t matter. Colton knew with certainty that the only reason she would come here was if she was in trouble.
Chapter Two
Something shattered inside Colton at the sight of Elise sitting there, looking so broken.
She tried to stand, only to nearly collapse. Colton’s arms caught her just in time. She quaked beneath his touch, turning limp.
“I was hoping I’d find you.” Her voice cracked as she said the words. “I drove straight here from Virginia Beach.”
“Let’s get you inside,” Colton muttered.
She nodded, but her eyes were glazed. Something was wrong. The thought felt like a punch in the gut.
Colton unlocked the door, took her inside, and lowered her to the couch. “Can I get you something? Some coffee? Water?”
“Coffee would be great. I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I’ve been on the road for hours, and I didn’t get hardly any sleep.”
Colton quickly made a cup for her, his mind racing. Elise. Beautiful Elise, with her dark, chin-length hair. Her pert nose, bright eyes, and smattering of freckles.
Daniel’s wife. The woman who haunted his thoughts at night. The woman who made guilt fill him so completely he thought he might drown in the emotion.
Now she was here.
Colton set a steaming mug in front of her and lowered himself beside her on the couch.
In all the years he had known Elise, Colton had never seen her like this. She was always put-together, calm, down-to-earth.
Right now, she wore a sweatshirt and yoga pants. Her eyes look red, as if she’d been crying. And when she shifted, Colton saw the painful gouge on her forehead.
“I’m sorry.” Elise ran her sleeve beneath her eyes before meeting his gaze. “But I didn’t know where else to go.”
“You know you can always come to me if you need anything. Always. What’s going on?”
She wiped beneath her eyes again, and her gaze scrambled back-and-forth, as if she struggled to find what to say. Instead, she reached for her coffee.
Her hands trembled so badly she couldn’t bring the mug to her lips. She finally gave up and set it back on the coffee table. She drew in a deep breath, and her gaze met Colton’s.
“I’m in trouble,” she finally said. “Someone is trying to kill me, and they almost succeeded.”
A jolt of concern shot through Colton. Someone trying to kill Elise?
“Is it one of your patients?” It was the only thing that made sense to Colton.
As a psychologist, Elise dealt with people who had severe mental health issues, issues that sometimes affected their judgment. Had one of them decided to take out their grievances on Elise? It was the only explanation Colton could fathom.
He remembered Daniel once telling him about some threats Elise had received from her patients. She’d always brushed them off, called the threats displaced anger. Daniel had said he’d like to displace a few of the people who’d given her so much grief.
Colton understood the notion.
“It’s not one of my patients.” Elise pulled her legs beneath her, looking more like a little girl than a professional.
Seeing her like this caused something to crack inside him. This was not normal—and that bothered Colton far more than anything else. Whatever happened had obviously rocked Elise’s world.
“What’s going on, Elise?”
Her wide eyes met his. “I found some information out about Daniel. Now, the wrong person wants it and will do anything to get his hands on it.”
Elise watched as Colton’s eyes widened. He looked just as she remembered . . . except something she couldn’t quite pinpoint seemed different.
It was his eyes, she thought. They were shadowed, full of much more depth than when they’d first met. Not just depth, though.
Was that anguish? Why? It was too soon to lead with that question.
The man was well over six feet tall, with strapping muscles. His brown hair was a little darker now than it had been when she’d last seen him, and he’d cut it short.
He wasn’t the kind of guy people wanted to mess with.
Peeking out from his sleeve, she saw the reminder of the skin graft he’d had after an IED had exploded near him a couple years ago. The injury had almost ended his career, but he’d persevered and joined his SEAL team again.
That fact showed just how strong and determined he was.
Did Colton have any idea what Elise had discovered? Or was he also in the dark about the hidden secrets that waited like a viper ready to strike?
Elise had no clue. But she knew that her husband had always trusted Colton. She knew she could trust the man too.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Colton leaned forward, his jaw tight and his brown eyes intense as he waited.
Elise drew in a shaky breath. On the way here, she’d been reviewing everything she knew. She’d been trying to formulate the best way to share the information without coming across sounding paranoid.
She hadn’t figured out a good solution. No matter how she tried to frame what she had to say, the facts were going to sound dramatic.
That was because the situation felt more like a Hollywood blockbuster than real life.
She rubbed her trembling hands on her pants and dragged in a deep breath. Her eyes hit the clock in the distance, and she realized the time. Real life flooded back to her.
“I’ll tell you everything,” she said. “I just need to call into my office first. Let them know I won’t be in today. I have patients lined up and—”
“Why don’t you use my phone?” Colton pulled it from his pocket. “Tell your staff you’re under the weather. Keep it simple.”
Elise nodded and took the phone from him. But, before she could dial, someone else walked into the house. “You’re never going to believe this.”
Elise turned and saw Griff McIntyre standing in the doorway, looking like the bad boy he’d always been. Blond hair a little too long. Toothpick in his mouth. A hardened look in his eyes.
Griff . . . another familiar face. Showing up here was almost like a homecoming for Elise . . . if only circumstances were different.
He stared at his phone, not even looking to see who was in the room. Whatever he saw on the screen obviously consumed him.
“Last night there was a—” Griff froze when he noticed her, and his face lost some of its color. “Elise.”
She nodded, her head clearing just a little. “Hi, Griff.”
“I thought you were . . .” He looked at his phone and frowned.
Elise sensed something wasn’t as it seemed. “You thought I was what?”
His frown deepened. “I thought you were dead.”
Chapter Three
I thought you were dead. What in the world was Griff talking about?
Colton stared at his friend, anxious to hear his explanation. “Why would you think that, Griff?”
Griff swallowed hard and held up his phone. “I was coming in here to tell you about an article I just read. I have alerts set up on my account. Whenever there’s a new article connected with someone from our platoon—or a spouse—I get a notification.”