Missing at Christmas

by K. D. Richards

  “Look, why don’t you go on back to New York? Most likely your sister will turn up there a few days from now. I’ll call you if I have anything to report.”

  The sheriff sent her a tight smile that Addy interpreted to mean he was done with both the Williams sisters and their problems.

  Addy leaned forward, pressing her palms into the table and enunciating each word so the sheriff didn’t miss a syllable.

  “My sister did not just leave this town of her own volition. She’s in trouble, and I’m not going anywhere until I’ve found her.”

  Chapter Three

  It was nearly midnight by the time Shawn had settled into his room at the Madison Hotel. He would have to pay a fee since he’d canceled his original reservation at a nearby hotel so late, but instinct urged him to stick close to Addy. Something in his gut told him the attack on her tonight hadn’t been a run-of-the-mill mugging.

  Not that Addy’s life was any of his business. She’d made that pretty clear by not returning any of the phone calls or texts he’d sent after their night together.

  So why had he gotten a room at her hotel?

  His phone rang before he could work out a satisfactory answer to that question. He didn’t need to see the screen to know the call came from his older brother Ryan.

  “’Ello,” Shawn answered.

  “Why haven’t you been answering your phone? Are you there yet?” Ryan asked without preamble.

  “I’m great, thanks. The drive was lovely,” Shawn deadpanned, attempting to cut through some of the tension coming from Ryan’s end of the call.

  The loud, exaggerated sigh on the other end of the line was an increasingly familiar, and annoying, sound.

  Ryan was indisputably the most serious of his brothers, which made him well suited to the position of president of West Investigations, but Ryan was also the most dramatic of the four West brothers.

  Their father, James West Sr., had founded West Investigations, although he was semiretired and only saw a select few clients now. James Sr. liked to joke he’d reached the age where he could earn his money on the golf course, and Shawn and Ryan didn’t disagree. They’d taken over the reins at West since their two older brothers’ interests lay elsewhere.

  Maybe it was the added pressure of being newly married with a baby on the way, but Ryan had been riding everyone at West harder than usual, Shawn in particular.

  “Shawn, this is serious. Intellus Communications is one of our largest clients, and they will be in major legal and financial trouble if they don’t find out who’s counterfeiting their computer chips.”

  Shawn rolled his eyes even though his brother couldn’t see it.

  “Relax, Ry. I’m here and everything is under control.”

  He’d been scoping out the headquarters of Spectrum Industries, one of the businesses West had identified as possibly being involved in the corporate espionage against Intellus, when he’d seen Addy being attacked. Spectrum had two other business addresses, warehouses where they made their computer chips, that he still needed to check out.

  “Good. Whoever’s behind this has to have knowledge of and regular access to the manufacturing side of things as well as the management side. That suggests someone fairly high up in the company if Spectrum is behind this.”

  Shawn didn’t bother responding. They’d gone over all this before he left for Bentham.

  Zelig Ernst, CEO of Intellus and longtime client of West Security, had called Shawn from Intellus’s headquarters in Silicon Valley this morning in a panic. Counterfeit computer chips with Intellus’s logo had popped up all over the country. Ernst had ordered an investigation into their factory’s production that had determined that the chips weren’t coming from Intellus. Based upon the geographic location where most of the chips appeared to have entered the sales stream, Intellus had narrowed the possible source to two competitors in the market, one of which was Spectrum.

  Intellus had hired West to investigate the two suspect companies and obtain proof of the guilty party. Ernst wanted to go to the police and the public with evidence that Intellus was a victim and had nothing to do with the fraud. So far Intellus’s clients that had received fraudulent chips were willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt and a little bit of time to figure things out. Ernst wasn’t sure that would hold if another batch of counterfeits made it into the market.

  Shawn hesitated for a moment, considering whether to tell Ryan about the earlier incident with Addy. Before he could make up his mind, Ryan began speaking again.

  “We don’t have a lot of time. There’s likely to be another batch of counterfeits in the market in a few days.” The counterfeits appeared to flow into the market like clockwork every six weeks for the last three months, which only gave Intellus three days before the next batch of chips were scheduled to show up if the counterfeiters stayed on schedule.

  Shawn bit back his irritation. He’d be the first to admit that Ryan shouldered more of the administrative weight of running the company. But Shawn knew he was a damn good private investigator and had brought several new clients into the firm, including Intellus, in the four years since James Sr.’s retirement.

  “I know that, Ry. I was on the call with Ernst just like you were. I’m on it. Gideon is checking out the other possible source, and I’m already in Bentham. If either of these companies is the source of the counterfeits, we’ll nail them.”

  Ryan blew out a breath. “Good. When we find these guys, every company in the city will look to us for corporate cybersecurity.”

  Shawn worked his jaw, trying to lessen the tension there. “I know. I got this. You know I care about the company as much as you do.”

  “You need to be laser focused on this case.”

  “I got it, Ry,” Shawn bit out. “It’s late. I’m turning in for the night.” He ended the call without saying goodbye.

  They were long overdue for a discussion about Shawn’s role within the company, but it would have to wait. He’d handle his job, hopefully finding out quickly if Spectrum was involved in the fraud.

  And he’d keep an eye out for Addy while he was in Bentham, because something told him she was going to need it.

  * * *

  CRISP EARLY-MORNING AIR swept over Shawn’s face as he walked back to the hotel from the café where he’d picked up breakfast. He strolled through the lobby without drawing so much as a glance from the desk clerk, having made a mental note of the room number Addy gave Donovan at the police station the evening before.

  The sheriff had received an emergency call right after Addy had declared she wasn’t leaving Bentham without Cassie, and Shawn had given her a lift back to the hotel. She’d remained stoic, her fury at Donovan still hot on the drive to the hotel. Not that he blamed her. Donovan certainly didn’t appear to be taking Cassie Williams’s disappearance too seriously. Still, Shawn had figured it wasn’t the best time to explain his impromptu fib or to convince Addy to continue playing along with it.

  After getting over the shock of seeing Addy again, he’d realized his plan for keeping a low profile while in Bentham was blown. He’d had no choice but to reveal his occupation when Donovan collected his personal information for the formal statement. Although he’d declined to give specifics regarding his stay in Bentham, New York City private investigators didn’t just turn up in small-town Bentham for no reason.

  Shawn’s concern now wasn’t just with finding the source of Intellus’s fraudulent chips, but also helping Addy find her missing sister and keep her out of danger. After all, he wasn’t about to leave Addy to investigate on her own, even though she was clearly able to handle herself. He’d been surprised and impressed with how she’d taken on her attacker. There was nothing sexier than a beautiful woman who could take care of herself.

  Shawn gave himself a mental slap. He wasn’t going to go there. Addy clearly wasn’t interested in him, and he wasn�
��t about to put himself out there a second time and have her dance all over his heart. She needed help finding her sister, and quite possibly protection. Those were jobs he knew how to do, so he’d offer his help, but that was all.

  He balanced the coffee holder and a bag of food in one hand and rapped on Addy’s door with his free hand. A full minute passed without any sound from within the room. He knocked again, harder this time, worry furrowing his brow. It was early, not quite eight, but he’d wanted to make sure he caught her. Maybe she’d gone down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

  After a moment more, he turned away from the room, heading for the restaurant, when the locks clicked open. The door swung inward, and Addy peered around the side of the door at him.

  “What are you doing here?” Addy asked in a voice still heavy with sleep.

  His blood heated at her sultry rasp.

  Ignoring the spark of attraction, he flashed a smile. “Just being a good neighbor. My room is down the hall. I bought breakfast,” he said, holding up the coffees and the bag.

  “What time is it?” She swung the door open, and he just about stopped breathing.

  Her New York Knicks T-shirt stopped at midthigh, revealing what seemed like miles of smooth brown skin ending in fiery-red toenails. She crossed her arms, pulling her shirt tight across her chest and revealing curves that had his mouth feeling like it had been stuffed with cotton.

  He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “Ah, it’s almost eight.”

  Addy’s eyes widened. “I never sleep this late.”

  “Can I come in?”

  Her eyes narrowed, and he shifted so he wouldn’t get hit if she slammed the door in his face.

  He thrust one of the coffees at her, hoping the offering would tip her calculus in his favor. He was rewarded.

  She grabbed the coffee, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply before taking a long sip.

  “Okay.” Addy’s dark brown eyes fluttered open, sending an electric charge through him. “You can come in.”

  She turned away from the door and strode to the round table pushed into a corner of the room.

  He blew out a ragged breath and followed.

  Unlike the suite he’d reserved three floors above, Addy’s room needed renovations, but it was clean and had all the expected amenities—two queen beds; a square side table between them; a flat-screen television atop a wide, six-drawer dresser; Wi-Fi and USB hookups. One of the two beds had a laptop at its center with a handful of papers scattered around it. Rumpled bedsheets covered the other mattress.

  Addy set her coffee on the table. “I need a minute,” she said, grabbing her travel bag and carrying it to the bathroom.

  He caught a glimpse of a large rectangular mirror over a white countertop before the bathroom door closed.

  Shawn sat at the table and reached in the bag for one of the two breakfast sandwiches he’d picked up on the way to the hotel. The small stack of papers perched on the edge of the table fluttered to the floor.

  He picked them up, glancing at the sheet on top. A copy of the missing person report for Cassie Williams, dated five days earlier.

  Shawn’s eye traveled down the page, drawn to the name of Cassie’s employer.

  Spectrum Industries.

  From the bathroom, he heard the sound of the toilet flushing and the sink faucet turning on. Addy would be back any second.

  He righted the stack of papers, searching his memory for whether Addy had mentioned her sister worked at Spectrum during their chat with the sheriff last evening. He recalled her saying Cassie had moved to Bentham for an internship, but not where. Cassie’s disappearance could be unconnected to his case, but he didn’t believe in coincidence.

  The bathroom door opened, leaving him no more time to ponder the information he’d just learned.

  Addy walked back across the room to the table, and Shawn couldn’t help being disappointed that she’d pulled a pair of yoga pants over her shapely legs.

  “Thanks for the coffee,” she said, sitting in the chair across from him and pulling her legs up under her.

  “I bought breakfast, too.” He pushed the second sandwich across the table.

  She unwrapped it and frowned. “What is this?”

  “Egg whites and spinach on a whole-grain English muffin.”

  She shot a steely look across the table and slid the sandwich back toward him. “You can go now.”

  Shawn rolled his eyes. “Just try it,” he said, pushing the sandwich at her again.

  Addy’s cell phone rang, and she went to the bedside table where it lay charging. She frowned, pressing her finger to the phone’s screen and carrying it back to the table. It buzzed in her hand as she reclaimed her seat. She glanced at the phone again, her frown deepening.

  “Everything okay?”

  She smiled tightly. “Fine. You never answered my question. What are you really doing here?” She ignored the sandwich and reached for her coffee cup.

  He wasn’t ready to answer that question just yet, so he replied with his own. “How long has your sister been missing?”

  She took another sip of coffee before responding. “I haven’t heard from Cassie in more than a week. The sheriff seemed content to believe she’s just picked up and moved, but I know Cassie wouldn’t do that without telling me.”

  “How old is Cassie?” Shawn asked, unwrapping his sandwich.

  “Nineteen. She’s taking a gap year before starting MIT in the fall.”

  “And she chose to spend it in Bentham?” He failed to keep the skepticism from his voice.

  Addy chuckled. “It’s not exactly Paris, but I think she just needed a little space.”

  “You mentioned your father died recently.”

  She swallowed hard. “Yes. Cassie insisted her move from New York was about experiencing the real world before college, but I think she needed some space from all the memories of our father in the city.”

  “Could she have decided Bentham wasn’t far enough away?”

  Her hands curled into fists on top of the table. “If she was going to go somewhere, she would have told me or one of her friends. I reached out to all of them, and none have heard from her. Cassie would call to ask if I thought she should have vanilla bean ice cream or rocky road for dessert. Then eat both.” She chuckled, and the smile that lit her dark brown eyes sent his heart stuttering. “She ran everything by me or one of her other friends. No way she’d move without mentioning it to anyone.” She hit the table with her fist, punctuating the statement.

  He had no doubt she believed what she said, but everyone kept secrets, even from those they were closest to. Addy could be right about her sister, or she could be too close to the situation to see it clearly. The fact that Cassie worked for Spectrum and someone there might be engaged in major fraudulent activity added a layer of intrigue to the situation.

  A pang of guilt shot through him, but he swept it away. West had promised Intellus they’d keep the fraud on a need-to-know basis for the time being, so telling Addy the truth about why he was in Bentham was out of the question. He couldn’t be sure she’d let him stick close if she knew he thought Cassie could be involved in fraud. And he had every intention of sticking to her like glue, because if Cassie was involved, Addy could be in danger.

  “So what do you think happened? Where do you think Cassie is?” Shawn asked.

  Anguish flooded her face, and he had the sudden urge to wrap her in his arms. “I don’t know.” Her voice faltered, and she took a moment to steady herself before going on. “But Sheriff Donovan doesn’t seem to care to find out, so I’m going to have to do it myself.”

  Definitely a strong woman.

  “When you last heard from Cassie, did she sound worried or upset?”

  “No.” Addy picked at the English muffin, popping a small piece into her mouth. “Why are you so i
nterested?”

  “Questions are an occupational hazard in my line of work.”

  “Yes, but you aren’t my PI. I haven’t hired you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been known to do some pro bono work.”

  Addy tilted her head, her eyes narrowed. “You’re good at avoiding my questions. Eat your breakfast.” She eyed her own English muffin before taking a bite. “How can you eat this? It tastes like sand mixed with seaweed.”

  He swallowed. “It’s healthy. Did Cassie have a boyfriend?”

  “You get to ask questions, but I don’t?”

  “You can ask. I just may not answer.” He smiled to soften his words.

  She took another small bite of her sandwich, then tossed the rest in the trash. “Why should I answer your questions if you don’t answer mine?”

  “Because I have experience finding missing people. I can help you if you let me.” He tapped her to-do list for emphasis.

  She studied him like the sharp negotiator he knew she was. He’d googled her after Ryan’s wedding and learned she was an up-and-coming legal superstar. She’d been at the helm of a number of big mergers and acquisitions. According to the intel he’d been able to glean from his brother Brandon, Addy was on the fast track to partnership at her firm.

  Seemingly having made up her mind to let him help, Addy finally answered. “Cassie was dating a guy named Ben. They worked together at Spectrum here in Bentham.”

  “What did she do at Spectrum?”

  “I’m not sure, exactly. I know she thought the internship would help her careerwise. Cassie plans to get her degree in computer science.”

  His Spidey senses were tingling. There were way too many events converging around Spectrum—Addy’s sister’s disappearance and evidence that Spectrum was behind the fraudulent chips—to be mere coincidences.

  He could use Cassie’s disappearance as his in at Spectrum. Cassie’s coworkers were more likely to talk to him if they thought he was helping her to find Cassie. It was a decent plan, though not perfect.