The police visit was very short. Dakota arranged for the men to come back the next day to give their statements and potentially to see the jailed prisoner. They could do nothing more tonight.
On the promise of returning the next morning, they headed back to their vehicles. Before too long Saul drove onto a very large property. Foster waited for them outside.
“Wow,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen anything quite so fancy.”
“Richard is a doctor and runs a private hospital. He’s a really good man.”
She nodded. But she didn’t say anything else. They went in, and she was escorted to a second-floor bedroom. Saul pushed open the door, turned on the light and said, “Here is your bag you packed.”
She stared at in surprise. “So much has happened that I forgot all about this. Hell, I forgot about everything. I should have called Roger at HR and spoken to him.”
“It’s too late right now.”
She nodded. “I have his number. Maybe I’ll send him a quick text. He can get back to me in the morning.” Pulling out her phone, she sent Roger a message. “There. At least I can sleep better now.”
Her phone rang almost immediately. She shot Saul a surprised look. “It’s him.”
“Roger?”
“Are you serious about Samantha?” Roger asked. “Oh, my God. What’s going on?”
“Yes,” she said. “I have to admit, it’ll be a long time before I get the picture of her broken body out of my mind.”
“With both Tammy and Daniel missing from work, she was working really late in the evenings, making up for the shortfall. We’ll figure out exactly what’s going on here. And, of course, with you out, that’s reason for even more gossip.”
“I’m fine. But the others … I’m not so sure about.” She rubbed at the side of her forehead. “Is there anything you can tell me about Samantha’s life? I don’t even know where she lived.”
“I’m sure the cops would be on that.”
“I know. The cops will be all over you too,” she said, “but I’m working with the private security company that’s investigating Daniel’s disappearance.”
“I don’t know what I can tell you about Samantha. That department was tight. At least the men in her department were tight with her. Tammy not so much.”
“Yeah, I know that much from Tammy. Daniel’s apartment has been cleaned out. Tammy’s is untouched, as far as I could see. Mine has been completely annihilated.” She quickly explained what they’d found.
“Oh, that’s terrible,” he said. “Now you’re dragged into this mess.”
“I just want to find Tammy. I thought I had found her until the flashlights proved it was Samantha.”
“Good Lord.”
“Where did Samantha come from? What company did she used to work for?”
“Another telecommunication company back East. She was transferred here, and then, within a few months of arriving, she came to us. Look, I can give you her address. I don’t think it will help much, and I’m not sure you can get in anyway, not without the police.” But he quickly rattled off an address.
“Thanks. I won’t tell anyone where I got it from.”
“Almost anybody here could’ve told you. One of our Christmas parties was at her place. You never went or you’d know where she lived too.”
“She’s not married, doesn’t have a family, right?”
“No kids and I don’t know if she was living with anyone either. I thought something may have been between her and Daniel. Well, something was between her and Daniel for a little while, but that broke off a year ago.”
“Really? I need to know about that.” She spoke with him for another few minutes, then hung up.
“Why didn’t you go to the Christmas party?” Saul asked.
She shrugged. “Tammy and I had plans to do something together, and the last thing she wanted was to see somebody who she saw enough of at work and didn’t like to begin with.” Rebel smiled at her surroundings, her focus landing on the freshly made bed. Staring at her clothes, she said, “I need a shower first.”
He walked through the room and opened a door. “You have an en suite bath right here.” He turned on the light so she could see no one else was around. “My suite is to the right, beside yours.” He pointed to the left. “Stone is on the left.”
She managed a tired smile. “Now I should sleep the rest of the night.”
He walked up to her and dropped a light kiss on her nose. He started to walk past, stopped, came back. She still stood there, staring at him. He lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. As he lifted his head, he murmured, “Now sleep.”
And he walked out.
*
Walking out was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Yet it was necessary. Even if he wanted to stay and hold her through the night, chances were good neither would get any sleep. And she needed to rest.
He walked to the suite he shared with Dakota.
“Wasn’t sure if you would make it back,” Dakota joked.
“Of course I was coming back. No chance of it being anything other than that.” He tried to keep his voice light instead of letting Dakota know of his turmoil inside.
“But you’re interested?”
Saul shrugged. “I’m only here for another day. Like you, I now live in Texas.”
“No reason you can’t convince her to move back to Texas. Look what Harrison just did.”
“Not only Harrison. It’s amazing how many women have made the change from the West Coast to Texas.”
“Levi should set up a California office. I’m sure we SEAL men can hook up with lots of women who want to stay on the West Coast.”
Saul shook his head. “I’m enjoying living in Texas. Apparently plenty of women are already in Texas or are happy to move there.”
“But you know what? I think, once the heart reaches out, it snags whatever the hell it wants regardless.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about her. There is one thing that I really admire about her.”
Dakota said, “Loyalty.”
“Okay, so more than one thing.” He nodded. “Integrity, honesty and loyalty. They’re all the qualities we’ve cultivated over the last decade. It’s the reason we’re all happy at Levi’s company. That’s what we value.”
“And that’s what all the women who have joined us value too.”
Saul walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower. They were short enough on sleep now. And tomorrow could be another busy day. By the time he was done, Dakota was already in the far bed on his laptop. Good, because Saul wanted the bed nearest the door. “What are you looking up?”
“How long it would take you to drive from here to Texas with that Jeep of yours.”
“Yeah, I keep going back and forth over that one. I should just sell it.”
“Don’t do that. You love that thing.”
“She’s been sitting in California for months now, and it was damn nice to have it again, but I’m not even driving it while I’m here.”
“You could.”
“Not really. Not if I’ve got to keep a close eye on Rebel.” He got into his bed and turned out the light. “You should get some shut-eye. Morning is coming very damn fast.”
Dakota closed his laptop and turned out the last light. “You aren’t kidding. Our night is already over.”
“Well, I hope tomorrow is a hell of a lot better than today was.”
“If you drove the Jeep back, we could send a trailer with her belongings, although she has so little left, you might not need a trailer. She could just buy what she needs in Texas.”
“Not happening.” Saul refused to even contemplate such a move. Rebel was incredible, but that didn’t make her the one for him. At least he didn’t think so.
“You know something? I’m not so sure about that.” And on that cryptic note, Dakota rolled over and went to sleep.
The trouble was, his words left Saul thinking hard and long before he finally fell asleep himself, taking thoughts of Rebel into his dreams where she made him feel right at home.