Читать книгу Holiday Homecoming Secrets - Lynette Eason - Страница 16

Heather opened the door on the third knock, her bleary blue eyes blinking rapidly. Jade noticed she held her service weapon in her right hand. “Jade?”

“Hi, Heather,” Bryce said.

“Bryce? Bryce Kingsley?” Heather launched herself into Bryce’s arms and hugged him. He returned the hug until Heather leaned back and cupped his face. “Wow, is that really you?”

“It’s me.”

“Frank said he’d been talking to you and that you were coming home to open a PI business.”

“Yeah. At some point.”

“Well...um...it’s good to see you.”

Heather gave him one more hug, then motioned them inside. Jade swallowed as Bryce shut the door behind him. She didn’t want to admit she was a little jealous of Heather’s enthusiastic greeting. She’d wanted to do the very same thing when she’d first seen Bryce in the mill. Throw herself against him and hug him, run her hands over his features and reassure herself that he was real. But she hadn’t. The fact that she’d wanted to scared her silly. Bryce had walked out of her life and she’d managed to survive. The fact that he was back in it didn’t mean anything had to change.

You’re lying to yourself. Everything’s going to change.

It was just a matter of when. But there wasn’t a thing she could do about it right now.

Heather set her gun on the counter just inside the door to the kitchen that was next to the small foyer, where they now stood a bit awkwardly. “What are you guys doing? It’s the middle of the night.” Her eyes sharpened. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“We hope nothing,” Jade said. “Let’s go into the den and we’ll explain.”

“No,” Heather said. Jade froze at the sharpness and Heather held up a hand. “Sorry. Can we go in the kitchen, please? I’ve torn up the floor in there to start fixing the place up to put it on the market. Frank and I don’t need two places. And besides, I’m thirsty.”

The three of them took a seat at the kitchen table while Heather retrieved water bottles from the refrigerator.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she said, unscrewing the cap and taking a long swig from the bottle.

Jade explained about the attack at the old mill and finding the jersey with the autograph on the left shoulder. “It has to be Frank’s,” she said. “Do you know where he is?”

“Well, before you asked, I would have assumed he was home in bed. Obviously he’s not.” She rubbed her eyes, a slow fear building in them. “What are you not telling me? Is he okay?”

“We’re not sure,” Jade said. She should have known better than to try to leave out details. “That jersey we found at the mill? It...ah...it had two bullet holes in the front and is covered with dried blood.”

“What?” Heather paled. “His Panthers jersey?”

“Yes.”

“But...no. It can’t be his.” A short, humorless laugh escaped her. “I mean, he just wore it the other day.” She snagged her phone from her robe pocket and tapped the screen. From her seat, Jade heard it go straight to voice mail. “Frank, this is Heather. I know it’s the middle of the night, but I don’t care. Call me as soon as you get this message.” She hung up and tried four more times before she finally set the phone on the table and clasped her hands in front of her. Her gaze bounced between Jade and Bryce. “There’s got to be some explanation.” She stood. “I’ll get dressed and head to his house.”

“We’ve already been there,” Bryce said, and Heather froze. “I’m sorry, Heather, but he’s not there.”

“But his car is,” Jade said. “I know that when he flies, he sometimes takes a car service, but I don’t recall him saying anything about taking a trip anytime soon—outside of your honeymoon.”

Heather shook her head. “No trips scheduled. At least, none that I know of. Every so often he takes off and calls me from the road if it’s a last-minute thing with the paper, but—” She checked her phone. “Nothing but your missed calls. He’s got to be here in town somewhere.” She raised her brows. “Or he went to see Lisa.” His sister lived an hour away in Charlotte. As soon as the words left her mouth, she was shaking her head. “But he would have taken his car, so that can’t be. And he would have left me a message that he was going.” She paced from one end of the kitchen to the other, arms crossed, features taut and pale. She turned. “What about his office?”

Frank worked out of the newspaper office downtown. Jade nodded. “But he’d still have to drive.”

“Unless one of his coworkers picked him up.”

“Let’s find out,” Bryce said. “You have their numbers?”

Heather’s lips quirked even though the action didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m a cop. I don’t think getting their numbers is going to be a problem.” The smile didn’t last long. “But I’ll call his boss. If anyone would know what Frank was up to, it’d be him.”

“If Frank told him,” Bryce muttered.

Heather scowled. “Why would he not tell him? His boss is the one who approves the stories that he works on.”

“I’m not sure he was working just one story.”

“Then his boss can tell us that.” Heather dialed the man’s number and waited. “Hi, Larry, it’s Heather.” She tapped the screen to put him on speakerphone. “I’m so sorry to wake you, but I have reason to believe that Frank’s in trouble. Can you tell me if he had to go out of town suddenly?”

“Ah, no, not on the paper’s dime.” He cleared his throat. “What makes you think he’s in trouble?”

Heather explained. “What was he working on?”

“A couple of things. Nothing I can discuss with you. I’m sorry.”

“Larry—”

“No, I’m not budging on that. Frank’s probably just looking into something. And truthfully, he didn’t tell me a lot of details, just that he was on to something big and hoped to have the full story on my desk sometime next week. Seriously, Heather, he’ll most likely turn up when he’s good and ready. Now, go back to sleep and quit worrying.”

Click.

Heather slumped, frustration stamped on her drawn features. “Okay, that was a dead end. Hold on a second.” She left and returned with her laptop. “Coworkers would be the next step, right? Let’s see who we can find that might be able to tell us something useful.”

Thirty minutes later, they were no closer to having an answer about Frank’s whereabouts, and Heather’s emotional state had quickly gone south. She turned to Bryce. “What was he working on?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. He asked me not to.”

“Well, he’s not here, so...”

“I can’t. I gave him my word that I’d keep his confidence.”

“Is it something that could land him in trouble? At least tell me that.”

Bryce sighed. “Yeah. If certain people discovered he was doing some snooping into their business, then they wouldn’t be happy about it. But I don’t see how they could know.”

She snapped her lips shut. “He never said he was doing anything dangerous.”

“He was protecting you,” Jade said softly. “He didn’t want you to know he was putting himself in that kind of situation because it would have distracted you.”

“So, you know what he was working on?” Heather asked.

“No. I just know if it was something dangerous, he would have kept it from you. You and I walk into potentially dangerous situations every day. He wouldn’t want you worried about him, too.”

Heather shook her head and lasered Bryce with a hard look. “It’s up to you to help us find him.”

“Heather—”

Her friend lifted her chin and gave Jade a stony glare. Jade sighed and snapped her lips shut. There wasn’t any sense in telling Heather there would be no “us.” Heather wouldn’t be working the case. If there even was a case.

In her mind, there was. All evidence pointed toward Frank being missing. Or worse.

“I’ve already said more than I should have,” Bryce said, “but I’m worried.”

“So am I.” Heather rose. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Where are you going?” Jade asked.

“To get dressed, then I’m going to find my fiancé.” She paused. “Stay in here, will you? Like I said, the den’s a mess.” She blew out a breath. “And I know that’s just not important right now, but it’s a stressor.”

Jade held up a hand. “We’ll stay here.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.”

True to her word, Heather returned to the kitchen in record time, dressed to face the day. After several more unproductive phone calls, she dropped into the nearest chair and raked a hand through her still mussed hair. “What are we going to do? We’ve called everyone. His sister hasn’t heard from him since he stayed over at her house last weekend. His parents talked to him yesterday, and he didn’t say anything about going on a trip. Where could he be?”

Jade stood. “I think it’s time to put a BOLO out on him and get help.”

“I agree,” Heather said with a slow nod. “I’ll do it.”

While Heather made the call, Jade walked over to stand in front of Bryce, who leaned against the sink, sipping his second cup of coffee. “What was he working on, Bryce?” she asked softly. “We need to know so we have some direction.”

Bryce set his coffee down and pursed his lips. “He made me promise not to say anything. I don’t want to betray that confidence.”

“Not even if it means helping us figure out if he’s in trouble or not?”

He closed his eyes, obviously torn. “What if I tell you and he’s fine?”

She planted her hands on her hips. “What if you don’t tell me and he’s in trouble?”

More than anything, Bryce wanted to tell her, because not for a moment did he think she would be involved in what had Frank investigating the local police department. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jade. Rather, it was a matter of confidentiality.

But she was right.

What if by keeping his promise, he was putting Frank in further danger? He couldn’t think how that might be, but...what if?

Before he had a chance to decide what he should do, Heather returned to the kitchen. “The BOLO is out and my brain is so scrambled, I can’t for the life of me think what we should do next. How’s that for being a detective for you? I’ll never judge family members of a missing person ever again.”

“You should stay here,” Jade said, “in case Frank shows up. Bryce and I will call you if we find him. And you call us if you hear from him.”

“Just sit here and worry?” Heather scoffed. “Not happening.”

“Come on, Heather, you know you need to stay. Just in case he shows up.”

“He’s not going to show up here, I don’t think. He’d go home.”

“Well, you can’t go there. If he’s truly missing, his house will be treated like a crime scene. Bryce and I were careful, but even our searching may have disturbed something. Don’t add to it.” She knew she sounded bossy, but she also knew Heather might be tempted to throw caution to the wind in her desperation to find Frank.

Heather pursed her lips and looked like she wanted to argue, but finally nodded. “If I decide to go over there, I won’t go inside. I may just sit and watch the house.”

Jade nodded. “If you feel like you have to be there, then yeah...okay. I don’t think we’re going to be doing much of anything else tonight.”

Heather hesitated, then gave a groan and a nod. “Fine. But please stay in touch.”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, so, tomorrow...we need to what?” Heather gave a short laugh. “See? I told you I couldn’t think.”

“We need to find out where he was last seen.”

Heather rubbed her forehead. “No one seemed to be able to tell us that,” she muttered.

“I talked to him on the phone around ten o’clock this morning,” Bryce said. He glanced at the clock. “Or, rather, yesterday morning. So we just need to find anyone who saw him after that.”

“Heather,” Jade said, “why would Frank have Tony Swift’s name written down? Was he meeting with him for something?”

“At the shooting range?” Heather shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything to me if he was. He could have just been practicing.”

“True.” Jade looked at her watch. “All right. I need to grab a couple of hours of sleep before we get started looking for him again—assuming he doesn’t show up in the next little bit.”

Heather nodded. “I won’t be able to sleep, but I can make a list of more people and places to check with.”

“Do you want me to stay here?” Jade asked. “I can crash on your couch.”

“No. It’s not that comfortable. We’re getting a new one, but not until after the wedding. Just go home. You have to help your mom in the morning with the kids anyway, don’t you?”

“Kids?” Bryce asked. “Are your parents still taking in foster children?”

Her face blanked for an instant. Then she nodded. “They are.” She rubbed her eyes, then narrowed them at her friend. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

“Yes. Go and help your mom. I think we should get some sleep if we can. None of us will be any good if we’re so tired we get sloppy and miss something. Besides, there’s probably some logical explanation for where he is. Missing sleep isn’t going to help finding out what that is.”

She had a point, but Bryce was itching to keep looking. The only lead they had was the shooting range. He glanced at his watch. Three o’clock in the morning. It had been seventeen hours since he’d talked to Frank, and he needed to know his friend was okay. Even if he went back to his sister’s and tried to sleep, he knew he’d be tossing and turning.

He kept his mouth shut until they were back in her vehicle, but once he clipped his seat belt, he said, “I want to go find Tony Swift, ASAP.”

She gave a slow nod. “I was thinking the same thing. Let me see if I can call him and give him a heads up. No need to wake the whole family.” Using the laptop mounted on the dash to her right, she pulled up Tony’s license and noted the address. Next, she dialed his number.

“Hello?”

The groggy Southern voice came through the squad car’s Bluetooth. “Tony, this is Detective Jade Hollis with the Cedar Canyon PD. I’m so sorry to be calling this late, but we’re looking for Frank Shipman. Can you tell us the last time you saw him?”

Click.

She frowned and lifted a brow. “Well, okay, then.”

“Call him back.”

She did and it went straight to a busy signal. She tried his cell phone and got voice mail. Bryce locked his gaze on hers. “I don’t like the implications of that.”

“I don’t, either. I think we should head over to his house.” She cranked the car and backed out of Heather’s drive.

“You think Frank’s alive?” Bryce asked softly.

“I don’t know, Bryce. You saw what I saw.”

“Two bullet holes and all that blood doesn’t give me much hope.”

“It might not have been him wearing it,” she said. “That’s what I’m holding on to—and feeling guilty for doing so. I don’t want Frank to be hurt or dead, but I don’t want anyone else to be, either.”

“And yet, it’s highly likely someone is.”

“Yeah. Someone is.”

But who?

Jade slipped her weapon into her holster and rubbed her bleary eyes. Last night she and Bryce had found Tony Swift’s wife home alone. “I don’t know where he went,” she’d said. “Just bolted out of here like his tail was on fire. Didn’t even take his cell phone.”

So now, Jade planned to show up at the range and hope he had the good sense to be there. As much as he loved his business, he wouldn’t just leave the place unopened. She hoped. She’d already talked to her supervisor and he’d given her his approval for her plan for the day—after making sure she didn’t need to take the day off. As if she could. Heather had texted that Frank hadn’t shown up and she still couldn’t get him to answer his phone.

Little arms wrapped around her legs and her heart lifted. She turned and scooped her five-year-old daughter into a gentle hug, and she breathed in her sweet scent. “Good morning, little bear.”

“Morning,” Mia said. “I want eggs and bacon.”

“I think that can be arranged since that’s what I smell cooking all the way over here.”

Mia sniffed. “I don’t smell it.” She smacked her lips. “But I can almost taste it. And pancakes.”

“Wonderful.”

“And I want to decorate for Christmas. When can we do that?”

Jade smothered a small groan. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to decorate. It was just the energy decorating required. Energy she was lacking right now thanks to a still twinging head. It wasn’t pounding, but it didn’t feel great, either. “We need to do that, don’t we?”

“So, when?”

“How about tonight?”

“We can go tree shopping?” Mia asked, her eyes widening, her joy practically tangible.

“Well, as long as you bundle up really good.”

Mia frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Oh, right. It’s very cold outside, isn’t it?”

Her daughter had no use for cold weather. “Well, yes,” Jade said, “it is. What about if I just come home with the tree and you and the twins can help decorate. Is that okay?” Her heart ached for Jessica and Gage, the ten-year-old twins who’d been removed from their home and placed with her parents a little over four months ago due to neglect.

Mia nodded. “It’s okay with me. I don’t really care about getting the tree, I just want to make it pretty. I’ll ask Gage and Jessica. If they want to go, you can take them. Can we string popcorn?”

“If you can manage not to eat it all.” She tickled the little girl’s ribs, and Mia’s giggles soothed her worried heart. “Are Jessica and Gage ready to eat?”

“They’re always ready to eat.”

That was true. Jade gave thanks that they were good-natured children in spite of everything they’d been through and had adjusted well to the routine of the home—managing to steal all of their hearts in the process.

Last week she’d learned the twins’ parents had finally released them for adoption. Her parents had talked to Jade about plans to adopt them, and Jade thought it was a fabulous idea. She just hoped the twins did, too. They were happy here and made no secret of that.

Of course, the fact that there were horses on the property didn’t hurt. Jessica had already attached herself to Belle, one of the horses her parents used to teach the kids to ride. “Tell Lolly, I’ll be there in just a few minutes.” Jade’s mother was named Adelaide. When Mia started talking, all the child could manage to wrap her tongue around was Lolly. Her mom had been fine with that.

“Okay.” Mia ran down the hallway toward the stairs, her long, dark hair flying around her head. She’d go down the steps and out the bottom door that led to an enclosed walkway. At the end of that was her parents’ kitchen. Her father had closed in the area about six months ago so Mia could travel between the houses without having to go outside—and ease Jade’s mind about keeping a constant eye on her when she wanted to see her grandparents. “All by myself. I can do it, Mommy.”

Her little girl was growing up.

Jade’s throat tightened as she thought about telling Bryce he had a child. It was obvious he had no clue about Mia. Which was the way she’d originally wanted it. But then she’d felt so guilty about keeping that secret, she’d done her best to get in touch with him. Her only source had been Frank. She’d asked him to let Bryce know she really needed him to call her. Frank had said he’d told him. Obviously, Bryce hadn’t deemed it important to do so. Which really hurt. And made her mad. Maybe she should just ask him and give him a chance to explain before giving up on him. Maybe.

But first things first.

She’d wolf down the food, then head over to the shooting range and hope Tony had come to his senses. If not, she was going to have to sit down with her chief and other investigators and figure out a plan of action.

For now, she’d have breakfast with Mia, Jessica and Gage. She made her way to the kitchen and found everyone gathered around the table.

“Jessica and Gage said you could get the tree and bring it home. They don’t want to get cold, either.”

Jade smiled. “All right. Sounds like a plan.”

“Glad you could join us this morning,” her mother said.

“There’s no way I’d miss this spread.” Eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and biscuits. Her mother’s heritage might be Korean, but she cooked straight Southern when she was in the mood. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to rush through it, though.” She took Mia’s small hand in her right and Jessica’s in her left. “I’ll bless it.” She said a short prayer and, after a round of amens, looked back to her mother. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s already eaten. He had to go move the horses to the south pasture so they could start clearing the land for the new barn.”

In addition to raising foster children, her parents boarded and raised thoroughbred horses. Each week seemed to bring one or two new clients. A good problem to have, but a lot of work as well. “I’m sorry I can’t help him.”

“He’s got help. Eat your food, then go do that job you’re so good at.” She paused. “I thought today was your day off.”

“It is. Was. I’ve got some things I need to take care of that won’t wait. But I’m hoping it will be a short day.” Somehow she doubted it. Not with Frank still missing. But she could hope—and she had to bring a Christmas tree home. She winked and turned to the children. “Eat up, little people. The bus will be here in thirty minutes. And don’t forget, we’re pulling out Christmas decorations. You can start when you get home from school. It’s the last day before break and you don’t want to miss all the candy that will be passed around. And cake at the party.”

“And Christmas games,” Jessica said with a shy smile.

“Sounds like a perfect day to me.” Jade brushed the bangs from the girl’s eyes and tapped her nose. “It’s going to be fun.”

The children cheered, and Jade’s mother grinned at the happiness at her table.

Jade hadn’t told her parents about Frank. It had been so late when she’d finally slipped into bed that she hadn’t had a chance. And no time this morning. Not in front of the kids. They adored Frank—especially Mia.

“Lolly?” Jessica’s hesitant voice caught Jade’s attention as well as her mother’s.

“What is it, darling?” Her mom paused to give the child her full attention.

“Are we going to be here for Christmas?”

“Well, now, that’s a really good question.” She sighed. “I wish I could say a one hundred percent yes, but you know how this system works as well—or better—than I do.”

“Oh.” Jessica looked back at her plate, her shoulders slumping.

“But we sure hope you will be,” Mia said.

“Me too,” Jessica mumbled around a mouthful of bacon.

Gage’s bright gaze bounced from one person to the next. “I’m staying here. I don’t care what anyone else says.”

“We’ll see,” Jade said. “Just know that we all want you here more than anything.”

“Absolutely.” Her mother gave a firm nod.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

Jade’s heart stuttered with love for the little boy and his sister. She caught her mother’s eye and saw a sheen of tears hovering there just before she looked away. Bless her. Such a tenderhearted woman. All she wanted was to make the world right for kids who didn’t know what it was like to have that happen. And so did Jade. “I’m going to stop by my office first, then pay a visit to someone I need to question about a case.”

Fifteen minutes later, with her mind on Frank and Bryce and trying to keep all of her emotions under control, Jade kissed her mother and daughter goodbye, gave hugs to Jessica and Gage, and took off for the station, praying she could dig up something that would tell her where Frank was.