A wealthy business owner teams up with a bumbling investigator to uncover the reason his girlfriend died four years earlier. Will he get the answers he seeks? Or will his obsessive pursuit of the truth lead to his own demise?
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The flashy BMW looked out of place parked behind the blue and white city bus. A few teens waiting at the bus stop began taking pictures of the car on their phones. Cole Hollister leaned toward his girlfriend, Lisa Cruz.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?"
She bristled at his question while rifling through her bag. He hadn't seen her with it before. It was shiny, black, too small to be practical, and had a long thin strap to go over her shoulder. It wasn't something Lisa would normally pick out for herself. Had it been a gift?
"Did I miss your birthday?" The question blurted out of his mouth, and he grimaced, turning his face away in shame.
She laughed. "What?"
Cole's hand tightened around the leather steering wheel. He turned back to her, his blue eyes meeting the brown eyes that always reminded him of warm honey. "Did I miss your birthday? Is that why you've been in such a pissy mood since yesterday?"
The corners of her mouth tightened. She removed an imaginary piece of lint from the oversized sweater she was wearing. "I'm not in a pissy mood. I have a lot on my mind."
"Like what?"
"You wouldn't understand," she muttered, zipping up her purse.
"Not if you don't tell me. I won't."
"It's not a big deal. I'll get over it."
He pressed a hand on her shoulder as she reached for the door handle.
"Is it because I drank last night? I told you the guys and I were celebrating. We landed a huge contract, and we got a little carried away. I forgot you were coming over. Alcohol is the devil." He placed his hand on her thigh. "Please don't be mad. I love you, Lisa."
She closed her eyes and huffed out a breath before turning back to him. "I'm not mad. I'm not. I just-I have a lot on my mind. Are you ever going to move out of your parent's house?"
He flinched and leaned back. "What? Where's that coming from?"
"N-nowhere, but you're twenty-five now, Cole. Shouldn't you be living on your own?" Lisa asked. "I mean, you and I hardly ever get any privacy."
"You never complained about this before. Besides, I have my own penthouse and a four-bedroom home in the country. I stay with my parents because they're my family. My uncle Eddie is the same way. He has his own estate, but he's always at our place. The mansion is huge. I stay in the pool house so I can come and go as I please without disturbing them."
She cleared her throat. "I know. I understand your family is close."
"Babe, what's bringing this on? Did something happen? Did my mom say something to you? She promised-"
Lisa shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I was just venting. I'm sorry. I'm in a bad mood and I'm taking it out on you, and I shouldn't do that."
"So, I really didn't miss your birthday? Or some sort of anniversary? Wait. Did we have an anniversary last night? Did I get drunk on an anniversary night? It's not our yearly anniversary. Is it a six-month anniversary? We can never let our future kids discover how I forgot an anniversary."
