Read The Siren for Free Online

of here.” I pushed my chair back. “Do you want to go out?”
    He shook his head. “No. I want to go home.” He was looking out the window.
    “Are you OK?” I asked.
    His eyes snapped to mine. “Yeah. I’m OK.” He stood up. “You ready now?”
    I nodded. “Yes, sir.” I stood and picked up my laptop case and purse. “What about dinner?”
    He took my bag from me and winked. “I’ll worry about dinner.”
    I kissed his lips again. “Best roommate ever.”
    When we got home, I changed into sweats while he started cooking. In the few minutes it took me to swap out my clothes, the first floor of my house was flooded with the savory aroma of curry mixed with cinnamon. I shuffled barefoot into the kitchen and slipped my arms around Warren’s waist. I stretched on my tip-toes to peek over his shoulder. “Want some help?”
    He was chopping up vegetables. “You can get me a beer out of the fridge.”
    “I can do that.” I released him and walked to the refrigerator. “Oh, you got the good stuff.” I pulled out two Green Man IPAs.  
    He looked over at me. “I love this city.”
    I smiled and reached for the bottle opener. “Beer capital of the US.” I opened one and handed it to him.
    “Thank you,” he said, tipping it up to his lips.
    I opened my beer and hopped on top of the counter, a safe distance away from the cutting board. “What did you do today?”
    He didn’t look up from the plump potato he was butchering.
    I nudged him with my toe. “Earth to Warren.”
    “Huh?” His head whipped toward me, and he blinked like he was trying to reset his thoughts.
    I laughed and took a sip of my beer. “What’s with you?”
    He put the knife down and took a deep breath, nervously knocking his knuckles against the counter. “I’m being reactivated with the Marines.”
    My heels hit the counter beneath me with a thud. “What?”
    He crossed his arms over his chest and cut his eyes up at me. “That’s what the whole trip to Washington was about.”
    My pulse began to pick up speed. “But you’re out. You’re not in the Marines anymore.”
    He dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling. “I screwed up when I signed my contract seven years ago. They offered me more money to take four more years of active duty and then four years on IRR if I chose to get out.”
    “IRR?” I asked, confused.
    “Inactive Ready Reserve,” he said. “It means I’m out, but for four years they can recall me for any reason they want. I have one year left before I’m completely free and clear of the military.”
    I put my beer down. “What does this mean?”
    “It means I have to report to MEPS in Charlotte in thirty days—well, twenty-nine days now.”
    I shook my head. “So many acronyms. What’s MEPS?”
    “Military Entrance Processing Station,” he said. “I’ll do a lot of paperwork, have a bunch of medical tests and shots, and then they’ll ship me out.”
    “Ship you where?”
    He shrugged. “The Middle East most likely, but they haven’t told me.”
    Tears began tickling the corners of my eyes, and he must have noticed because he closed the space between us before the tears hit my cheeks. Sandwiching his torso between my legs, he ran his strong hands down my arms. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “This is my fault.”
    I sniffed. “It’s not your fault. It’s my fault.”
    He laughed with surprise. “How do you figure?”
    “I pulled you into the case with the missing girls. I put you on the government’s radar when we landed on the news,” I said.
    He tucked my hair behind my ears. “No, you didn’t. I should never have agreed to that many years on IRR. I got greedy, I guess. At the time I didn’t have any good reason to turn the money down for a shorter term. Now I do.” He tipped my chin up to look in my eyes.
    “How long will you be gone?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be up to a year.”
    A boulder dropped into my stomach. “A year?”
    He moved his head from