Yuletide Abduction. Virginia Vaughan

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      “And why do the police think she ran away?”

      “Her best friend, Brooke Martin, told the police Candace was planning to leave home, but Candace never said anything to me to make me believe that.”

      “Fifteen-year-olds don’t always share everything with their uncles.”

      “She did. She talked to me about a lot of things. I would know if she was planning to run away.”

      Elise suspected that might not be the case, but she didn’t bother arguing the point. Her work had taught her that teenage girls were notoriously secretive with adults. What made Josh’s relationship with his niece so different? More important, what made Josh believe their relationship was different?

      He turned into the hotel and parked beside Elise’s blue SUV.

      She got out, careful not to place undue weight on her injured leg. “I’ll have to go to the office and get the spare key.”

      “That won’t be necessary.” Josh’s gaze stopped her. She followed it and saw her hotel room door standing open, the lock busted and the wood splintered.

      Movement caused them both to jump. Whoever had broken into her hotel room was still inside. Elise stumbled to her SUV and keyed in her security code. The lock released and she opened the door, grabbing her gun from beneath the seat. She ignored the pain in her leg and the dizziness raking over her and headed for the hotel room, ready to pounce on whoever was inside.

      Gun raised, she rushed into the room. “Don’t move!” she shouted, causing the short, sandy-haired man inside to jump and raise his hands quickly.

      “Don’t shoot, Agent. It’s only me, Bobby Danbar, the hotel manager.”

      Josh pushed past her. “Bobby, what are you doing in here?”

      “I saw the door was busted and I was worried about Agent Richardson, especially since I hadn’t seen her since she checked in.”

      Elise lowered her gun as the vague memory of this man filtered through her scrambled brain. She’d met him yesterday in the office. “You found my room this way?”

      “Yes. Someone must have kicked in the door. Whoever did this was gone before I came along.”

      Elise surveyed the room. Her clothes were scattered as if thrown from where she’d neatly folded and placed them into the dresser drawers. Her makeup bag was overturned on the bed and her briefcase had been cracked open.

      Josh motioned to the dresser where her badge and ID still sat. “Why didn’t they break into your car? Steal your gun or your FBI credentials?”

      “Who knows? Maybe they couldn’t break the lock on my car. Or maybe they got interrupted before they could finish ransacking the room and ran. Regardless, they got what they came for.”

      “How do you know?”

      She picked up her briefcase and held it open for Josh to see.

      “It’s empty.”

      “Exactly. My laptop is gone, and so are my case files. They’re the only things missing, as far as I can tell.” All her files on missing girls in three states. All the evidence that pointed toward a human trafficking ring operating in this area. Gone. “These intruders knew what they were looking for.”

      * * *

      “Seems like you brought some trouble to town with you, Agent,” Daniel commented.

      Elise was still dressed in the scrubs the hospital had furnished her with since she’d been careful not to move anything in her hotel room before the police arrived to work the scene for prints and trace evidence. Josh hoped she felt more confident than she looked. In truth, she looked young and vulnerable, her dark hair curling around her cheeks, her face devoid of makeup, revealing a faint but cute line of freckles on her cheeks and nose, and her hazel-colored eyes wide with surprise at the comment.

      “I’m sorry to have been such a burden to you, Chief Mills.” The bite of sarcasm in her tone belied her sincerity. “Tell me, do you treat all victims of crime in your town with this regard?”

      “I meant no harm, ma’am. It’s just that first my officers spent all morning cleaning up that mangled mess downtown and now this. It’s taking a lot of man-hours we aren’t accustomed to in our sleepy little town. Besides, now we know you’re not any ordinary crime victim, are you? When were you planning to inform the police that the FBI was conducting an investigation in our jurisdiction?”

      Elise pushed a runaway curl behind her ear, folded her arms and stared coldly at Daniel, and Josh got his answer. Even bandaged, bruised and dressed in hospital scrubs, she demanded the full respect due an FBI agent. “I am not required to inform you of anything, Chief Mills. The FBI has the jurisdiction to investigate any crimes that intersect your city line. Your duty right now is to gather and collect the evidence of two crimes that have occurred within your city limits. And I will expect and demand a full accounting of said evidence. And let me make myself clear. If I find any stone left unturned, you will wish you had never laid eyes on this FBI agent.” Her expression was firm and fierce, and Josh noticed Daniel stiffen at her threat.

      He replaced the hat on his head and nodded to her. “I already regret that, Agent Richardson.” He walked out, leaving his crew inside dusting for prints.

      Josh suddenly felt the need to apologize on behalf of his hometown and his friend. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

      She turned those green eyes on him, but they seemed to soften a bit, the golden-rimmed fire going out. She gave him a wiry smile. “He’s not wrong. I am certainly not your normal crime victim.”

      He saw no anger or bitterness in her eyes. She had compassion and he liked that. But that didn’t excuse Daniel’s behavior. “Elise, someone tried to run you over and now they’ve broken into your hotel and stolen files. FBI or not, that has to affect you.”

      She stepped out into the breezeway and gripped the guardrail as if determination alone could keep her going, but he noticed the slight tremble of her hands and the cringes of pain she tried so hard to cover. “I don’t have the luxury of letting it affect me.”

      He stared at her a long moment, impressed by her tenacity. Another time or place and his opinion of her might have grown into more than attraction, but he wasn’t interested in a relationship. And besides, this was the woman who’d taken his brother from him. No amount of tenacity and determination could ever overcome that.

      He heard her name and saw Bobby rushing toward them, waving a card in his hand.

      “Your new room is ready, Agent Richardson. It’s on the second level whenever you want to move your belongings. I just spoke to Daniel and he said we could clean this room in another hour or so. Of course, it’s no rush because I have to have the door replaced before I can rent it again.”

      Elise took the card, thanking him with a nod of her head. “I’m sorry for all this, Mr. Danbar.”

      “I’m only glad you’re okay,” he said before walking off.

      The officer dusting for prints appeared at the doorway. “We’re finished here. We found several good prints, СКАЧАТЬ