Special Deliveries Collection. Kate Hardy

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      “I suppose,” Nathan mused, his gaze scanning the TCC members as they filed out, still looking for Alex to come rushing in late. But he didn’t show. A trickle of unease rolled along Nathan’s spine. He was getting a bad feeling about this—and he’d learned to listen to those bad feelings.

      Wasn’t like Alex to miss an appointment. In the short time he’d been in Royal, the man had shown himself to be a fiend for schedules. So if he’d wanted to meet with Nathan, where the hell was he?

      “Have you seen Alex?” Nathan asked suddenly.

      “Not since a day or two ago. Saw him at the diner, talking to Amanda.”

      People got busy, Nate told himself. Maybe something had come up. But he’d made a point of setting up a private meeting with Nathan. So if he wasn’t going to show, why wouldn’t he have called to cancel? That bad feeling was getting stronger. He didn’t have a concrete reason for it, he supposed, but he couldn’t shake that niggling sensation chewing at the back of his mind. Nathan frowned to himself, because he knew a cop had to trust his instincts before anything else. “It’s not like him to miss the meeting.”

      “You know,” Chance said, as he also looked around the quickly emptying room, “now that you mention it, I had wondered where he was tonight.”

      “That’s what I’m saying.”

      Chance shrugged. “Maybe he’s on a date or something. Or maybe he just wasn’t in the mood to deal with Beau tonight. God knows I wasn’t.”

      “Yeah, but you came anyway,” Nathan said firmly. “So would Alex.” Especially since he’d wanted to speak privately with Nathan.

      “Then where is he?”

      “That’s the question,” Nathan said. “Isn’t it? I’ll go by his place see what I can find out.”

      “I’ve got another question for you.” Chance shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and started for the door, Nathan walking alongside him. “Discover anything about our gossip starter?”

      “No. Not yet.” He’d been asking discreet questions all over town, too. Trying to wheedle information out of folks without letting them know that’s what he was doing. Most he spoke to were embarrassed to talk to him about the rumors, but they all denied knowing who had started them. It was always, “I heard it from so and so who got it from what’s her name.” Didn’t seem to be a starting point.

      But there was one.

      And Nathan was going to find it.

      “A whole lot of weird going on all of a sudden,” Nathan muttered the next morning. “Alex has dropped off the radar and now this at the diner. Doesn’t feel like they’re connected, but it’s damn odd.”

      “Tell me about it.” Amanda’s stomach twisted with nerves and knots. “When I got home from your place I went up the back stairs to my apartment and took a shower. I came down after to open up the diner and found this. Then I went to your office to get you.”

      “Just the right thing,” Nathan said as he eased past her in the doorway. “You stay out here, I’ll go in and check things out.”

      “I don’t think so,” she said and walked into the diner right behind him. “This is my place, Nathan. I’m not waiting outside.”

      Grimly, he looked at her, mumbled something she didn’t quite catch, then said, “Fine. At least stay behind me and don’t touch anything.”

      They walked through the back door directly into the diner kitchen. Amanda looked around the room and still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

      The grill was smashed, as if it had been beaten with a hammer. Flour was strewn across everything, making it look like there’d been a snowstorm in the kitchen. Jars of spices lay shattered on the floor, their contents spilled across the flour in festive patterns. Plates were smashed, drawers yanked out and dumped. In essence, the kitchen was a disaster.

      “Somebody did a number on this place,” Nathan murmured more to himself than to her.

      “If I’d been upstairs last night, I would have heard them, damn it.” Anger was burning through her nerves.

      “Yeah,” he said thoughtfully, “you would have. Funny, isn’t it, that whoever did this waited until you were spending the night with me on the ranch to do this damage?”

      That clicked in immediately. Why hadn’t she thought of that? “So who knew I went to the ranch yesterday?” As soon as she asked the question, she sighed in disgust. “Half the town, probably. Everyone saw me leave with you last night.”

      “Yeah,” he said, tipping her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “But not many of them knew you’d be staying.”

      She thought about that for a minute, realized he was right, then tried to make a mental list of who actually knew she’d be gone overnight. “There’s Pam, of course. And Piper. I told her. And Terri.” She shook her head, disgusted. “They could have told people, I suppose, but I just can’t think of anyone who would do this.”

      “We’ll figure it out.” He glanced back at the mess. “I’ll have the kitchen fingerprinted, but there are so many people in and out of this diner every day I don’t know that we’ll find anything.”

      “No,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Probably not. When I first walked in and saw this, I was scared. Now, though, I’m just mad.” She kicked at some flour and watched it puff into the air before settling. “This will shut us down for days.”

      “Might not be too bad,” he said. “But you’re gonna need a new grill.”

      She sighed, then tried to look on the bright side. “Well, that grill is older than I am, so maybe we needed a new one anyway. So, once you do your fingerprint thing, I’ll call Pam and we’ll get this mess cleaned up.”

      Nathan smiled, shook his head, then grabbed her and pulled her in close for a hug. “You’re really something, Amanda Altman.”

      “Thanks, Sheriff,” she said with a smile then sobered. “This is pretty ugly, but I know how concerned you are about Alex. Finding him is important, too.”

      “Not even really sure why I’m worried,” he admitted. “The man could be off taking care of business none of us knew about.”

      “True,” she said, staring up into his eyes. “But you said yourself that he wanted to talk to you about something. Wouldn’t he have called to let you know he couldn’t make it?”

      “Yeah.” Frowning, he said, “He would have. You haven’t thought of anything else? What he talked about when he was at the diner the other day?”

      “No,” she said softly. “Ever since you asked me that last night, I’ve been thinking about it and there’s just nothing.” Shrugging, she added, “He seemed distracted. Worried about something maybe. But he didn’t say anything specific.”

      He huffed out a breath and shook his head. “Damned strange. All of it.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ