his door one morning. He had a rare weekday off from the firehouse and had slept in.
He was still shirtless and barefoot, having just come out of the shower. He reached for a t-shirt, then decided that Kate wouldn’t mind a look at his bare chest. He’d seen the way she snuck glances at him. Besides, he had to seize every opportunity to remind her of what had almost happened between them. And what could happen, if they chose it.
But when he opened the door, he found himself facing a man instead of a feisty brunette. The stranger was almost as tall as he was, with alert eyes that sounded an alarm for Darius. Despite his friendly smile, this man had an agenda. A law-enforcement-related agenda. Even though he wore jeans and a hunter’s jacket, he clearly wasn’t a local. Something about his hair and clean-shaven look signaled “not from around here.”
“Sorry to bother you so early. My name is Ethan James.” The man pulled out a plastic ID case and flipped it open. “I’m a private investigator from California. Nothing alarming, I promise.”
Doing his due diligence, Darius took the ID and studied it. The James Agency, based in Los Angeles, California. No reason to doubt it.
No reason to start off on a bad foot, either. As the fire chief, he too was part of the law enforcement system.
“Darius Boone.” He offered his hand and they shared a firm handshake. “Give me a second, I’ll be right with you.” He stepped aside and pulled on his t-shirt. “Want some coffee?”
“Nope, I just grabbed some at Gretel’s Cafe. Didn’t it used to be called something else?” Ethan stayed at the threshold of the door, which Darius appreciated.
“You can come on in,” he offered. Ethan took a few steps inside, revealing a slight limp as he did so.
With a mug of coffee in hand, Darius sat on the arm of his sofa and scrutinized his unexpected guest. “You’ve been to Lost Harbor before?”
“Yeah, I played bodyguard to a friend for a few days. Fell in love with this little town.”
“Let me guess. Padric Jeffers?”
Padric was the only real celebrity from Lost Harbor who might conceivably need a bodyguard. He was a globally famous rock star who had grown up here and recently returned, at least part time.
Ethan just smiled slightly, which was another point in his favor in Darius’ book. He wasn’t here to discuss his clients, obviously.
“So how can I help you?” Darius asked after a sip of his coffee, black and scorching the way he liked it.
“I’m looking for someone. A woman.”
Darius tried to keep his expression neutral, but he must have shown some kind of reaction, because Ethan quickly continued.
“She’s not in any kind of trouble or danger. I was hired by a law firm to find her because her testimony could be useful for a case they’re building.”
“Must be really useful, to send someone all the way to Lost Harbor.”
Ethan smiled. “I’m not privy to the details. I’m just doing my part.”
“What’s her name?”
“Her birth name is Catriona Robinson. But she’s also known as Catriona Fletcher.”
Darius kept his expression completely neutral. Kate had more than one name? That was a bit of a shocker, and he didn’t like it one bit. He wanted to find out more before he gave away any information to this investigator.
“Never heard of a Catriona Fletcher. But I’m relatively new in town. You might have better luck talking to Maya Badger, the police chief. She knows everyone. That’s not an exaggeration.”
Ethan nodded amiably. “Always an option. But my information led me to this location.”
“Well, sorry. Give me your card, I’ll call you if anything comes to mind.” He got to his feet, ready to be done with this conversation.
Ethan pulled out his phone and clicked on a photo. “I have a picture of her. She might be using a different name.” He aimed the phone in Darius’ direction.
A woman’s face filled the screen. It was the kind of photo taken for work ID purposes—no smile, straight to camera. She wore a black blazer over a light gray silk top—it looked expensive. In the unflattering lighting, it was hard to see the color of her eyes.
But it was definitely Kate. A professional career woman version of Kate.
“This photo is a few years old,” Ethan said as Darius stared at it. “Keep that in mind.”
It might be plausible that he didn’t put “Catriona Fletcher” and “Kate Robinson” together. But to say he didn’t recognize the