Page 30 of Forged in Secrets

Wait. Was that an actual crow’s foot?

She leaned closer to the mirror to examine her eye in closer detail, but before she could discern how much money she’d need to spend on new anti-aging skincare, she heard Ben knocking on her door again.

“Okay, okay,” she muttered under her breath, giving her hair a final toss before leaving the bathroom andpulling the door open. She was about to tell Ben off for being so impatient, but the sight of him left her momentarily speechless.

“Hi,” he said, raising an eyebrow as she stared at him. “Sleep well?”

“Er, yeah, thanks,” she said, sliding her feet into a pair of flower-print flip-flops.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said, clearing her throat. “You just look different, that’s all.”

“Oh, well I figured since we’re going to–”

“Did you style your hair?” Grace interrupted him, reaching up to try and touch his gel-slicked auburn strands. Of course, he was tall enough to keep his head away from her without much effort. “Is that product?”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Technically? It’s called Dippity-Do and they sell it for two dollars at the grocery store.”

Grace made a face. Of course the man would look for hair products in the same place he bought beef jerky and milk.

Like the rest of the Forge brothers, he was effortlessly handsome and had excellent skin, and she would bet that he washed his face with dollar store shampoo or something. It really wasn’t fair.

They headed out of the hotel, and despite the morning hour, a small crowd was beginning to trickle toward the beach. Ben had figured that they may as well talk to some of the less wild partiers, seeing as they were more likely to have been at least somewhat sober on the night of Katie’s disappearance.

Grace looked over him as he scanned the stretch of beach near the Mistflower Resort. She admired hisinvestigative mind. She really did. But at the moment, all she could think about was how thankful she was that he wasn’t the type to take his t-shirt off in public, because her staring would have probably caused her to crash into the side of a building by now. He may have been a total computer nerd, but no one would ever guess as much based on his physique.

All of the guys at FBS had to be in good shape, but Ben took the gym more seriously than anyone else Grace had ever met.

“Okay, you’re the college kid whisperer,” Ben said, gesturing toward a group of girls in matching neon pink tank tops. “Shall we start with them?”

“Sure,” Grace said brightly, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She knew that it hardly mattered what these girls thought of her, but she found it difficult not to be intimidated by the group.

Okay, she was a little jealous. Not so much of their perfect hair, tans, and flat abs, per se, but of the fact that Ben might stare.

“Good morning, ladies,” she started, walking up to the group like she belonged there. “I love your matching shirts! So cute.”

To her relief, no one started throwing tomatoes at her or calling her old. Instead, a skinny blonde who seemed to be the head of the group stepped forward with a friendly smile.

“Thank you so much. We’re from Sigma Sigma Chi. It’s easier to keep track of all of our sisters when we match.”

“I totally get it,” Grace said, beaming at her as she rattled off her own sorority credentials, ignoring the eye roll gesture that Ben was almost certainly making.

After they chatted for another minute or so, Ben stepped forward, pulling up his phone and showing the women a picture of Katie Fairman.

“Have you seen her?” he asked bluntly.

Grace watched as one of the girls jabbed another with her elbow, giggling as she whispered something. There was no doubt she was talking about Ben.

To her relief, he hardly seemed to notice.

None of the women had seen Katie Fairman. They didn’t have a photo of Jade, but they had described her, and no one remembered running into her, either.

They spent the next two hours or so talking to dozens of people, including bartenders, food truck operators, and beach maintenance staff. Several had seen Katie, and Ben had been taking careful notes, trying to map out her movements the day she’d disappeared. So far, though, they hadn’t learned anything new.

Jade was more difficult. Quite a few people had seen a tall black woman with long, straight hair, but since they didn’t have a photo, they couldn’t be sure it was actually her. Still, Ben took note of the information and took the contact info of anyone who might be able to help them later.

“It’s really interesting getting to see how you actually work a case,” Grace said as they sat down for a quick lunch break. “I mean, I know the FBS procedures, but I’ve never really seen them in action.”

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