She whirled and raced into the apartment. She returned with a rifle slung over her shoulder, pair of socks in one hand, and three envelopes in the other. The ferocity in her eyes alarmed Danny. “Go ahead. Take a look. I’ve been lying all along. You can hate me, but don’t get in my way.”

Danny slid papers out of the envelopes.

Holy shit. Pictures of Bill with threats scrawled across them—and a photo of Mandy and Nathan locked in a passionate kiss.

“When did you get these?” Betrayal sliced through him like the sharpest of blades. Not much pain yet, but the knowledge that when it came, it would be devastating.

Jed gaped. In his eyes Danny saw his own shock and betrayal reflected back at him.

Her voice went monotone. “One came the day after Nathan disappeared. The other note came the day you arrived. I got the third after you moved into the inn.”

His head whipped up. Mandy wouldn’t look at him or Jed. Her jaw jutted forward. Her lack of expression warned him that she’d mentally gone somewhere without emotion. A place where a person functioned on autopilot to get the job done. A place where there was no room for feelings or the reactions they induced. He knew because he’d been there.

And with the evidence that she’d been lying to him right in his face, he was thinking about paying that special place a visit.

Mandy snatched the photos from him, stuffed them back into the envelopes, and stomped back to the kitchen. She tossed them on the map and weighed them down with the camera.

Guess she had no reason to lie anymore. Nathan had taken Bill. She had no one to protect. In fact, she was probably blaming herself right now. Hindsight was a relentless bitch.

Mandy picked up her pack. Rifle in hand, she went out the back door. Jed shook himself like one of his retrievers and started after her. Guess he could fake it as well. The dog trotted after them.

Danny grabbed his pack and joined Mandy and Jed in the truck. He and the dog shared the backseat. How could she have lied to him all this time? Her deception burned through his gut. No woman had ever sparked such a deep response from him. Was she lying about anything else? Had everything between them been an act? How could he ever trust her again? Danny squeezed his eyes shut and banged a fist on his thigh. Now wasn’t the time. Even though Mandy had betrayed him, people were missing. Poor Bill was out there somewhere, alone and scared. The betrayal that hung between him and Mandy would have to wait. Iraq had taught him to compartmentalize with the best of them.

His phone buzzed.

Conor. “I’m on my way there. What’s going on?”