LITMIR.BIZ

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looked in Jenny’s room to see if she might have left a note for me there, but I didn’t find one.”

      “Which room is hers?”

      She gestured down the hallway. “Second door on the right.”

      She didn’t follow him, but instead moved back to the front door as if she could make them appear on the doorstep by sheer willpower alone.

      Mariah’s house was exactly what he’d imagined it would be—slightly old-fashioned and immaculately clean. As he grabbed the doorknob to Jenny’s room he steeled himself for the chaos inside.

      He adored his baby sister, but Jenny had always seemed most comfortable in the middle of chaos and drama. He hoped like hell she hadn’t orchestrated this to get attention. It was one thing to be a drama queen in your own life. It was quite another to involve an eight-year-old boy.

      Her room was actually fairly neat, except the bed hadn’t been made and a pair of jeans had been thrown across a chair in the corner. He looked on the nightstand, checked the small desk but found no note, no clue as to where she might have gone with a little boy in tow.

      Billy’s room was next door. Bunk beds stood against one wall, the lower bunk not made. A small toy box sat beneath a window. Lucas walked to the window and checked it out. The screen was in place and nothing seemed to be amiss.

      The third bedroom had to be Mariah’s. He opened the door and paused in surprise at the sight of the king-size bed covered with a scarlet spread and plump matching pillows. Fat candles stood on the nightstand, their dark wicks letting him know they weren’t just for decoration but were burned regularly.

      So, the cool and distant Ms. Harrington had a sensual side. Lucas was surprised by the little burst of heat that filled his stomach at the thought of her in the bed, candlelight stroking her features.

      He frowned and shut the door behind him. He flipped open his cell phone and called his office.

      “Deputy Ellis,” a deep voice boomed.

      “Hey, Wally, it’s me,” Lucas said.

      “Hi, boss, what’s up?”

      “I want you to get a couple of the guys and check out the café, the bowling alley, the movie theater, places like that. I’m looking for my sister.”

      “Problems?”

      Lucas hesitated. “Jenny’s late getting back to the Harrington house and we don’t know where she is. I wouldn’t be so worried, but she’s got Mariah’s little boy with her.”

      “Sure, no problem. I’ll call you back when we find them.”

      Lucas tucked his cell phone back into his pocket, then walked back down the hallway.

      He found Mariah where he’d left her, standing sentry at the front door. She didn’t hear his approach, and he paused at the end of the hallway to study her.

      Though she’d been in town for almost a year, he knew almost nothing about her. He’d heard through the grapevine that she was a widow, and he knew she was a formidable barrier he often had to bulldoze through to speak with the dolt who called himself mayor. But he had no idea where she’d come from before she’d landed in Conja Creek.

      As he watched, she tapped two slender fingers against the glass door, as if sending an SOS message in Morse code. Standing at the door, peering out into the deepening night, she looked smaller, more fragile than he could have imagined.

      A protectiveness surged inside him and he reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped and whirled around, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

      “No, I just …” Her eyes darkened to a midnight blue. “Where could they be?”

      “Why don’t we go into the kitchen. Maybe you could make some coffee while we wait.”

      “Wait? Shouldn’t you be rallying the troops? Getting together a search party?” Her chin rose a notch even as a sheen of tears misted her eyes. “You expect me to just sit and drink coffee while my son is someplace out there in the dark?”

      “I’ve already rallied the troops. I’ve got my men looking now and yeah, there’s nothing much to do but have some coffee and wait.” He swallowed a sigh. “Look, Mariah, right now all we know is that Billy and Jenny are late getting home. There’s no evidence that a crime occurred, no indication that this is anything more than my sister’s thoughtlessness. Maybe she took Billy to a movie and lost track of time. I’m sure she’s going to waltz in here before long, and she’ll be shocked that you were so worried. Now, how about that coffee?”

      She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded and headed for the kitchen. As she began the coffee preparations Lucas sat at the oak table.

      “I thought Billy went to a babysitter on the days you worked in the summer,” he said.

      “Normally he does, but he woke up this morning with a sore throat. Jenny offered to stay home with him.”

      “I thought she had those job interviews today.” Lucas frowned. He’d been the one to set up the two interviews for his sister for that afternoon.

      “She called yesterday and canceled. She didn’t feel like either job was what she was looking for,” Mariah explained.

      Lucas tamped down an edge of familiar frustration. “Did you speak to Jenny at all today?”

      As the coffee began to drip into the carafe Mariah walked over to the table but didn’t sit. “I spoke to her around ten this morning.” Nervous energy rolled off her as her gaze shot to the kitchen window.

      “Did she mention any plans for tonight?”

      She focused her gaze back on him, and he saw a desperate fear screaming from the depths of her eyes. “No … nothing. Please, you need to do something. Jenny wouldn’t do this to me. Something is wrong.”

      Lucas looked at his watch. Almost ten-thirty. He hadn’t realized how late it had become. For the first time since he’d gotten the call from Mariah, a whisper of deep concern swept through him.

      Sure, Jenny had pulled some stunts in the past that had made him want to wring her neck, but he couldn’t imagine her pulling this kind of disappearing act with eight-year-old Billy in tow.

      She turned back to the counter to pour them each a cup of coffee, but Lucas was suddenly in no mood to sit idle. The fact that his phone remained silent indicated that none of his deputies had run across them. Conja Creek was a small town, and it shouldn’t take this long for his men to find her … if she was someplace where she could be found.

      He drew a breath of relief as his cell phone rang. He grabbed it from his shirt pocket and flipped it open. “Sheriff Jamison,” he said. There was a moment of silence. “Hello?”

      “Twinkle twinkle little star, only I know where they are. A game of hide-and-seek we’ll play. Let’s see if you can save the day.” The voice was deep, guttural and sent shock waves through Lucas. Before he could reply, the caller clicked off.

       Chapter Two

      Mariah saw the blood leave Lucas’s face as he checked the caller ID box, then slowly closed his phone and placed it on the table. Rich, raw fear invaded her, chilling her to the bone. She sank into the chair opposite him, afraid her legs would no longer hold her up.

      “Did they find them?” Her head pounded with nauseating tension. “Please, tell me. Is he … are they …” She couldn’t say the word.

      “No! No, that wasn’t one of my deputies,” Lucas said hurriedly. A muscle ticked in his taut jaw, and for the first time since he’d arrived, she saw a touch of something deep and dark in his eyes. That frightened her as much as anything.

      “Then who was on the phone?” She didn’t want to know, was afraid of what he

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