“Hardly. He was never around. Still never is around. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t leave much room for anything else.”

“Sounds like you resent him a little for it.”

Amy shook her head with indifference and turned her gaze to the road. At that moment, the truck passed by the Welcome to Seabrook sign. Night was falling fast; darkness had slid across the sky, and through the grimy windshield she could see a galaxy of stars waking from their daytime slumber.

“I don’t resent him. This might sound a little cold, but when it comes to Dad, I’ve just learned to manage my expectations. His work matters. People rely on him. It always seemed a little selfish of me to resent him when him not being with us meant he was out there helping people and making the world a safer place.”

“Still, he’s your dad—doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel let down.”

Amy shrugged her shoulders. “It is what it is. But, hey, if you really are desperate for a story, turns out I might have one for you.”

Ryan leaned forward in his seat. “You do?”

“It’s not much of a story, nor is it particularly ‘crazy’ or ‘exciting’—­but it is a little odd. And it’s probably gonna turn out to be nothing at all . . .”

“Go on, I’m listening.”

She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure how best to say it, but I think, maybe, that Dad might be up to something.”

“Up to something? Like what?”

“You know how I said he was down here for work?”

He nodded.

“Well . . . ugh, now I feel silly even talking about it.”

“It’s okay,” Ryan said, growing more intrigued. “What’s happened?”

Amy shared the details of her dad’s disappearance, beginning with the previous night—the moment she saw him last. “We’d just checked in to our room. I said I was going for a walk along the beach, and he said he was heading downstairs for a drink. But when I got back, he was nowhere to be found.”

“Gone? Just like that?”

She nodded. “I thought nothing of it at the time. I assumed he was down at the bar. But what’s strange is when I asked the bartender about it, she couldn’t remember him at all.” Amy then explained about her numerous failed attempts to reach him by phone.

Ryan looked across at her. “Okay, that’s a little weird.”

“I know, right?”

Ryan tapped the wheel with both thumbs, his imagination running riot as he prognosticated over the likely scenarios. “Hey, what if something’s happened and he’s had to go undercover?”

Amy would have laughed had she not already considered the very same thing. “I thought so too, but if he were here for something that serious, then why bring me along?”