Page 71 of Exposed

“We’ll search his family’s yacht company first.” Ashley punched the address in the GPS and eased into traffic. Carlos wouldn’t be stupid enough to take her there. Especially if he knew she was an informant. But they had to rule it out, and maybe, just maybe, they’d find a clue to another location.

He scrubbed his hands over his face as the late afternoon sun dipped low in the sky. Ashley’s voice droned on but he couldn’t focus on anything she said.

“Nate,” she growled, snapping his attention from the skin at his palms. “Get your shit together and think. Hadn’t Maddie hinted to you that she suspected Carlos owned another business in the city?”

He dropped his hands to his lap, but tension turned his veins to lead. “Yeah, she thought maybe he has a nightclub here like the one in Miami.”

And that whoever had made the cocaine deal with him could be involved in the nightclub as a partner. But Nate had come up empty handed with any other business in Carlos’s name, and he still hadn’t heard from Josh.

Her mouth set into a grim line. “And I take it that was a dead end?”

He nodded. “So far.”

“Well he had to take her somewhere. We need to look at properties his family owns, or…”

“Done all that.” He pressed the knuckles of his closed fist to his forehead. The air inside the vehicle was oppressive, and sweat layered on top of the sheen that was already pasted to his body.

Ethan’s face filled his head. A memory flashed before him of Maddie at her sister Dana’s wedding, dancing with her big brother. Ethan and his family would be devastated. He’d never recover from this, and he’d never forgive Nate for being a part of it. Guilt clawed at him and the need to purge the weeks of lies, to somehow find comfort, overwhelmed him.

Ashley was right, he had to focus on this like a case and not let his emotions turn off his training. Wallowing wouldn’t help. Right now, Maddie was in the clutches of a murderous drug lord. If he didn’t get his head back on, he’d lose her for good. But first, he needed to do what he’d been avoiding all along. Tell the truth.

He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. No new messages. He swallowed. “I need to make a call. Can you do me a favor and be quiet?”

Ashley nodded, her eyes wide with worry. “We’re five minutes from the yacht company. Who are you calling?”

“Ethan.”

Her head whipped around and the truck shot toward the sidewalk.

Nate reached out and grabbed the wheel, righting it. “Jesus, keep us on the road,” he hissed.

She nodded, the planes of her face tense as she repositioned her hands on the wheel and kept her eyes on the road. He let go and returned his attention to his phone, and pulled up Ethan’s contact.

“You’re calling Ethan?”

“Yup. Should have a long time ago.” What difference did it make? Finding Maddie now would be nothing short of a miracle. If he didn’t have her, he had nothing. Losing a decade-old friendship paled in comparison to letting Maddie fall into the hands of a murderer.

The phone rang in his ear. He wasn’t answering, and Nate sure as hell couldn’t blame him, when he’d been treating Ethan like the plague.

“Well, look who it is.” Ethan said into the phone, his annoyance prickled Nate’s senses.

His skin grew cold and the whizzing of cars and buildings fell away from him. “Do you have a minute?”

Ethan let out a long, slow breath. “You know, I should be a prick and tell you I’m busy, but I’m going to take the high road.”

Nate’s mouth twitched. Damn, he was going to miss Ethan. His eyes misted and his throat tightened, almost preventing the words from bubbling up from his conscience. “I appreciate that,” he said softly.

“Whoa, I think we have a delay in our connection. Where the hell are you?”

He needed to get this over with. The longer he dragged it out, the harder it was going to be. Best to admit all of his lies. “I’m in San Juan.”

“San Juan? In Puerto-fucking-Rico? I thought you were in Arizona!”

“Yeah, I lied. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” His voice was dull and heavy. Ethan made an annoyed sound in his ears.

Nate sucked in his breath. All he could do was speak from his heart and hope to God Ethan could one day forgive him.

“You’re going to hate me in a minute, and I won’t blame you. No one hates me right now more than I do. I just want to tell you that you’ve always been a good friend to me, and you don’t deserve to hear what I’m about to tell you.”

---