Come Back to Me

Chapter 10 Present Day

"I thought you said you were engaged?"

"We were."

"But you can't tell me where he lived?"

Officer Gregory Boyd was on my last nerve. And since so many of them were already on fire from various bruises and abrasions, sacrificing my last one to his increasingly condescending questions was irritating the hell out of me.

"No, Greg, I cannot."

"I've asked you repeatedly to call me Officer Boyd." He sighed and scraped a hand over his closely shorn dark hair, some of his frustration leaving on the long exhalation. He looked down at me with a little more sympathy. "You're not giving me too much to work with here, Regan."

"Sorry, Greg, old habits die hard."

We had been in school together our entire lives – like literally. We were in diapers together in daycare and graduated high school together. The Boyds were our closest neighbor out here on the edge of town. And while Greg hadn't been part of our close-knit group – he had run with the Football or Die crowd – he and I had always been friendly with each other.

I was glad he had been the one to respond to Beth's call. Trying to explain some of this to a stranger would have gone a lot worse and it's not like this was going well. But with Greg's easygoing demeanor and big teddy bear-type presence, despite his growing frustration with me, this was the best I could have asked for.

Greg had also been the one to show up at my door a little over two weeks ago and let me know Riley was dead. I knew part of his struggle now was because he didn't want to come off like too much of a hardass since I had just lost my brother.

I appreciated the effort.

"I'm not trying to be difficult," I pretty much whined at him. I wanted to be helpful, wanted to give the police anything and everything they would need to find Stephen and taser him to death. Taser him for each and every one of the scrapes and bruises he had inflicted on me. Then a kick to the balls for each time the paramedic had winced as he tended to them all.

"Explain how you could be engaged to someone – plan on marrying him – and not know where he lived?" He flipped his notebook shut, done trying to take notes on absolutely nothing.

Shifting, I winced as my shoulders protested the small movement. Should I have realized that Stephen not wanting me to see his place was a red flag? Yeah. But he said he had some seriously shitty roommates and I believed him. He had been so embarrassed whenever I asked to see his place and seemed mortified that his living situation was so bad he couldn't bring his girlfriend home. I felt so bad for him, that I just stopped asking.

"You were together for two years."

"Yes. And I lived alone so we always ended up at my place."

Greg moved on to ask me about his friends, family, and anyone who could give them more information. There wasn't anyone I could point him towards. When we met, he said he was new to the city, hadn't really made any friends yet and most of his close friends were back home. I couldn't tell them where back home was. Stephen had never said, mentioning he moved around a lot when he was kid, his dad had been in the military. No mention of any other family.

So stupid, Regan. Really great.

I had never felt so idiotic in my entire life. How could I have dated someone for two years and have absolutely no information about him? It was beginning to sink in how much of a con artist Stephen was. He seemed to know everything about me and offered no information in return without me even noticing. Which was perfect for stalking and hunting me down to do God knows what to me.