Seconds to Live (Scarlet Falls #3)(37)

“I didn’t want him to hit you.”

“I understand that, but you have to trust me to do my job. I was ready for him. If he’d tried to strike me, he would have found himself facedown and in handcuffs before he could blink.” But frankly, Stella would have taken the blow if it helped her find Dena Miller.

“Antagonizing him wasn’t necessary.”

Anger heated Stella’s face. “Adam Miller is controlling and arrogant, and I know he’s hiding something. But I’m not concerned with him. I want to find Dena. She’s been missing twenty-four hours. Time is running out. I need to know if Adam hurt her or some other man took her.” Stella jammed the key into the ignition. “Every minute that passes decreases the chances of finding her alive.”

Mac rubbed his face. “I’m sorry.”

Stella turned to face him. “Look, if we’re going to continue this . . .” she gestured between them, “arrangement, then you have to trust my training. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m defenseless.”

“I grew up with Hannah.” Mac snorted. “I have the utmost respect for a woman’s ability to kick ass. Trust me. I don’t think of women as defenseless.”

“I guess not.” Stella pulled away from the curb. She had nothing but respect for Mac’s sister, who really could kick butt.

Mac rubbed his chin. “Did you notice anything strange about the pictures in the Miller’s house?”

“Like what?”

“There are no other people in them. Not a single friend. No one. Every picture in that house is of Dena and/or Adam.”

“He said they don’t have any close family or friends.”

Mac shook his head. “She didn’t have a single family member? I’m not saying it’s not possible, just not probable. People who don’t have much family tend to have a few close friends.”

“Maybe she’s an introvert.”

“Maybe.” Mac nodded. “I also noticed from the photos that she’s an experienced hiker.”

“Adam says her neck injury kept her to short distances.”

Mac shrugged. “We’ve already established that they were less than honest with each other. She could be in better shape than he knows.”

“True.” Stella turned out of the development. “But you saw a naked woman four miles from her house in a storm. That seems quite a distance. And if Dena left her husband, wouldn’t she have gotten dressed first?”

Mac considered her argument. “Unless she was desperate and didn’t have time to grab clothes.”

“In which case, she wasn’t walking. She was running away. But that seems like a stretch.” Stella’s gut insisted that Dena had been violently taken from her home. But Mac was forcing her to see other possibilities.

“What now?” Mac asked.

“Now I go back to the station and fill out some paperwork.” Stella texted Brody the information on Adam’s alibi.

“Fun,” Mac teased.

“It’s exactly as exciting as it sounds.” She needed to update her files with today’s interviews, and she and Brody needed to compare notes. “Do you want me to drop you home?”

“Please. I need to head over to my brother’s house, where I will be tormented for shaving.”

“Siblings.” Stella grinned.

“Exactly.” Mac squinted out the window.

She drove out to Mac’s house.

“See you tomorrow.” His gaze dropped to her lips for a split second before he reached for the door handle, and she wondered if he wanted to kiss her.

Not professional.

But Mac seemed to bring out every inappropriate thought she could possibly have.

“Yes. Good night.” After he’d gotten out of the vehicle and disappeared inside his cabin, Stella turned the air-conditioning vents toward her face. She was halfway back to the police station when her cell buzzed. She picked it up. Gianna’s phone number was displayed on the screen.

“Hello,” Stella answered the call.

Gianna didn’t bother with niceties. “I was getting ready to go to my NA meeting tonight, and I remembered something I should have told you this morning. I saw this guy hanging around outside when I went into the last meeting.”

Stella grabbed for her notebook and pen. “Can you describe him?”

“About six feet tall,” Gianna said. “Thin, short hair.”

“Where did you see him?” Stella asked, excitement humming in her blood.

“Thursday night at the Catholic church.”

“Was he at any of the other meetings?”

“Not that I noticed.”

“Do you have a meeting schedule?” Stella asked.

“It’s posted on the local NA group website.” Gianna rattled off a web address.

Stella put the call on speaker and accessed the site on her smart phone. There were multiple meetings listed every day in the region, which covered the tri-county area. A recovering addict with a car could find a meeting every single day if that’s what he needed.

Scrolling down the list, Stella spotted the meeting at Our Lady of Sorrows at nine o’clock that night.

“Was Missy at the meeting last Thursday night?” Excitement buzzed in Stella’s veins. Missy hadn’t shown up for work on Friday. The NA meeting could be the last place she was seen alive.