Free His Heart Aflame (Beach Haven Book 2) by A.J. Goode

glamorous Maeve Renault had met with some sort of violent fate.
    “Network publicist Lindsay Newman has turned over recordings of a phone call she received from Renault late yesterday,” the reporter continued. “We have obtained copies of those recordings.”
    “I- I don’t like this, Lindsay. I’m afraid --”
    Maggie winced at the sound of her own voice. She sounded pathetic and weak, and she had to admit that it sounded really bad without the rest of the conversation that had surrounded it.
    The camera cut to a scene of Devon and Lindsay walking into the network office building, surrounded by paparazzi. At one point, Devon sank weakly to his knees and buried his face in his hands, as though overcome with grief. Lindsay bent over him and waved the cameras away while making sure that they all caught the most flattering angle of her client.
    Maggie stopped in mid eye-roll as the camera panned down for a close-up of the actor’s over-the-top reaction. Lindsay’s took a step out of the way, but not before the lens caught a quick flash of the tiny, delicate tattoo on her ankle.
    It was a daffodil.
    She had seen that tattoo once before. It was on the ankle of the legs wrapped around Devon Rock in a Sunday School room just moments before Maggie and Devon were supposed to say their vows.

Chapter Twelve
     
    There was only one person Sean could talk to when his mind was reeling like this.  Only one person who would open the door for him and be willing to listen no matter how late the hour, and Sean could have kicked himself for not turning to his friend earlier.
    “What’s wrong?”  Ethan asked, standing in the doorway of his home, a tidy beach cottage with a large sign proclaiming its name as The Seashell .
    “What makes you think anything is wrong?”  Sean asked.  He smiled weakly and instantly wished he hadn’t.
    “Because it’s the middle of the night and you look like you’re going to cry.  Is this about your ghost?”
    Sean struggled to answer but finally gave up and simply nodded.  His friend took his arm and guided him to a comfortable wicker rocking chair on the front porch before taking the other for himself.  The two men sat in silence for a long while, staring at the cool, smooth waters of Lake Michigan while the firefighter fought to regain his composure.
    “She’s real, Ethan,” he finally said.  “Her name is Maeve Renault.”  
    “From Battle of the Brides ?”
    Sean gaped at him.
    “Tara made me watch it,” Ethan said defensively.
    Sean told him everything then.  He described the black car hidden behind Ben Jacobs’ barn and explained every last detail about the mess inside the car, from the smears of blood to the ripped duct tape and the strands of long blonde hair.  He estimated the distance from the barn to the stretch of road where he had seen her.
    “It had to be her,” he finished.  “She must have been running away from her kidnapper when I saw her.  That explains why she didn’t answer me.  He must have found her, Ethan.  If only I’d tried a little harder to find her –“
    “You can’t blame yourself, buddy.  You couldn’t have known.”
    “I should have called it in, insisted on a search of the area.  Damn it, I should have done something .”  Sean pounded his fist against the porch railing in frustration.
    “Did you tell Griswold?”
    “Not yet.  I’m not ready to hand over my shield yet.”
    Ethan rested a hand on his shoulder.
    “You know I’ll have to hand it over,” Sean said miserably.  “I failed to report an incident.  Even if Griswold doesn’t make me hand it over, I have to.  I don’t deserve to be a firefighter.  I’m a horrible person.”
    To his surprise, Ethan laughed.
    “Sean, you are not a horrible person,” he chuckled.  “You’re the opposite of horrible.  You’re the world’s biggest Boy Scout.  Sure, you made a terrible mistake here, but that doesn’t make you a horrible person.  It makes you