Missing at Christmas

by K. D. Richards

  Cassie fit the profile for a Spectrum employee involved in the fraud. Based on what he knew about her, Cassie seemed to have the knowledge of computer hardware and the process of chip making necessary as well as the access to carry out the fraud. Not that he thought for a minute she could carry out a fraud like this on her own. But with a boyfriend that had contacts within Spectrum spanning years? It would also explain why a nineteen-year-old from New York, on her way to one of the premier universities in the country, would put it all on hold to take an internship in a small town.

  He and Addy finally found the door with Ben’s name on it. Shawn knocked on the open door, drawing the attention of the broad-shouldered white man sitting behind the desk. He looked younger than Shawn had expected, although he knew from what Addy had told him on the way over that Ben was twenty-six. He could tell the age difference between Cassie and Ben bothered her.

  Ben’s light brown hair curled around the back of his neck to skim the top of his ill-fitting suit. He looked like a teenage kid who’d borrowed his dad’s suit for a job interview.

  Addy stepped around Shawn into the office. “Ben Konstam? My name is Addy Williams. I’m Cassie’s sister. Do you have a moment?”

  “Of course,” Ben said, rising but remaining behind his desk. “Have you heard anything from Cassie?”

  Ben’s words had been right, but there’d been no emotion behind them. A glance at the frown marring Addy’s pretty face had Shawn thinking she felt the same way.

  “No. That’s why we’re here,” Addy answered. She quickly introduced Shawn before turning to the reason they were there. “I’m hoping you can shed some light on the situation.”

  Ben spread his hands in front of him. “Anything I can do, I will. I care for Cassie very much.” He motioned for them to have a seat in the square-backed chairs positioned across from his desk.

  Shawn sank into the chair, watching Ben closely.

  “How did you and Cassie meet?” Shawn started the questioning off, taking Ben’s measure. He wanted to see if Ben’s description of his relationship with Cassie matched up with what Addy had said.

  “I was working on the loading docks when Cassie first started with Spectrum. There was a mix-up in some paperwork for one of the shipments. Cassie brought the correct invoices over.” Ben’s voice remained emotionless.

  For a man with a missing girlfriend, he was uncharacteristically nonplussed.

  “This building has loading docks?” Shawn pressed.

  Ben gave a half smile. “Not here. This is the corporate office of Spectrum. There’s another building where the sausage is made, so to speak.” Ben chuckled at his joke.

  “And where is that building?”

  Ben tilted his head to the side, his forehead scrunching. “Oh, not far, just about three miles outside town. It’s impossible to get a large enough space for a reasonable rent downtown.”

  “Of course. It’s too bad. I tinker with computers myself, and I’d hoped to get a chance to see how the sausage is made,” Shawn said, hoping to allay any wariness.

  A smug smile swelled across Ben’s face and his chest puffed out. “Anytime you want to take a tour of the facility, just give me a call, and I’ll set it up. I have an in with the guys in the warehouse since I used to be one of them. Just because I’m in the corporate suite doesn’t mean I’ll be forgetting my roots.”

  Shawn slid a glance at Addy, catching the suspicion in her eyes. Ben had just confirmed the lease that West’s property search had turned up was in fact held on the factory, which was helpful to his case but did little to find Cassie.

  “So you worked on the loading docks nine months ago. What did you do?” Shawn said, getting them back on track.

  “I loaded the trucks and then delivered the chips to customers up and down the East Coast.”

  Ben picked up a pen and began tapping it against the top of the desk.

  “From delivery driver to assistant shipping manager. That’s a hell of a success story,” Addy said.

  “I got an associate’s degree in business management,” Ben said defensively, jerking his head toward the framed diploma in the wall. “Spectrum is all about moving employees that prove themselves up through the ranks. Employee retention and all that.”

  “When was the last time you saw Cassie?” Addy questioned.

  “It’s been a few weeks now.” Ben tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling as if searching for the date up there. Or avoiding making eye contact. “Yeah, more like a month ago.”

  Shawn’s eyebrow rose. “Was it normal for you two to go that long without seeing each other?”

  Ben’s eyes darted around the room. “Normal? I mean, we weren’t married, man. I don’t know what she told you,” Ben said, looking at Addy, “but things with us were casual-like.”

  Addy opened her mouth to speak, but Shawn sensed that whatever she was going to say wouldn’t further the conversation.

  “Did Cassie seem worried?” Shawn spoke up before Addy. “Maybe preoccupied when you saw her last?”

  Ben closed one eye, squinting in thought. “No, not that I remember.”

  “Suri, Cassie’s roommate, said Cassie told her she was moving back home to New York. Did Cassie mention a move to you?” Shawn pressed on.

  “Yeah. I told the sheriff all this.” Ben tapped the pen faster. “Cassie was ready to go home.”

  “Why didn’t she tell me if she was coming back to New York?” Addy spat.

  Ben shrugged. “Maybe she wanted to surprise you. Maybe she...she wanted to be in New York but didn’t want to deal with family yet. I don’t know, but I know she said she was going home.”

  Silence ensued as Ben looked down at his desk, avoiding Addy’s disbelieving glare.

  He was hiding something.

  “What did Cassie do for Spectrum?” Shawn asked, hoping a different approach would yield more answers.

  Ben tore his attention from the desktop.

  “Filing. Answering the phone. Taking notes in meetings. She pretty much did whatever needed to be done.” His answer matched what Caroline had said.

  “Did she have problems with anyone at work bothering her? Argue with anyone?” Shawn asked.

  “No. Let’s be honest, Cassie wasn’t in a position to argue with anyone around here,” Ben snapped. “It’s not like she gave orders or was a supervisor. Look, I need to get back to work.” Ben stood, indicating the end of the conversation.

  Addy and Shawn followed suit, leaving Ben’s office and heading down the corridor toward the elevators.

  “He’s not telling the truth,” Addy said as soon as they were out of hearing distance of Ben’s office. “Cassie would not have moved without talking to me.”

  “He definitely wasn’t telling us everything, but that doesn’t mean he had anything to do with Cassie’s disappearance.”

  Addy shot him a murderous look. He was sure she was prepared to argue the point, but a petite woman stepped out of an office to their right before she could get started.

  “Excuse me. You’re Cassie’s sister, right?” the woman asked.

  “Yes. Addy Williams. This is Shawn West.”

  “I’m Claudia.” The woman’s gaze darted down the hall. She took a step back into her office, though not far enough to allow Shawn and Addy to enter.

  “I debated saying anything, but if it was my sister—” Claudia wrung her hands.

  Addy took a step forward. “Please, if you know anything that could help me find Cassie—”

  “I overheard a conversation between Cassie and Ben. An argument, really. The day before Cassie went missing.”

  Shawn assessed the woman in front of him. She twisted her hands nervously in front of her.

  “What were they arguing about?” Addy asked.

  “Well, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.” Claudia reached fo
r her office door.

  Addy slid forward, placing herself so the door could not be closed. “Please. It might help us find Cassie.”

  Claudia sighed. “I didn’t hear much. Ben asked if they could talk about ‘it,’ and Cassie said no, they’d already talked and she had nothing more to say to him about it or them. She said they were through and she was going to do the right thing.”

  Claudia shook her head and wrung her hands more.

  “And neither one of them mentioned what the ‘it’ they were talking about was?”

  “Sorry, no. I didn’t hear anything else. Cassie walked away from Ben then.”

  “Did Ben follow her?” Shawn asked.

  The skin on Claudia’s forehead creased. “I don’t know. Neither of them walked directly past me, but I could hear Cassie’s heels. That’s how I knew she walked away. It’s possible Ben followed her or he could have gone down the other hall there.” She pointed to where the hall jutted off to the left.

  “Did you tell Sheriff Donovan about the argument?”

  “Oh, well, no. Like I said, I don’t want to get anybody in trouble.” Claudia edged back into her office.

  Shawn had met too many people who didn’t want to “get involved.” If Claudia had told Donovan what she’d seen and heard, he might have taken Cassie’s disappearance more seriously from the beginning. Shawn bit back his annoyance with the skittish woman.

  “Telling the sheriff what you heard would be helpful.”

  “I’ll think about it.” This time Claudia did push the door until Addy had no choice but to move or be hit by it. The door clicked closed in their faces.

  Shawn wouldn’t be placing any bets on Claudia going to Donovan, but he made a mental note to pass on the information himself. Hopefully, Donovan would follow up.

  “You think that’s what Ben was holding back? That he and Cassie argued right before she disappeared?” Addy said.

  “It’s possible. It might explain his obvious nervousness and reluctance to talk to us. As the boyfriend, he’s already under the microscope. If it’s known that he and Cassie weren’t getting along, that makes him even more of a suspect.”

  “Let’s go back and see what he has to say about it.”

  Ben’s office was empty and dark when they returned.

  “We need to go see Sheriff Donovan. Ben knows more than he’s saying about Cassie’s disappearance.” Addy marched down the corridor and out of Spectrum’s offices.

  “Slow down,” he said, following her. “We’ve got no evidence that Ben had anything to do with Cassie’s disappearance.”

  She punched the elevator down button before whirling on him. “What are you talking about? He wouldn’t have run out of here right after we talked to him if he had nothing to hide.”

  “We don’t know why he left. He could have a lunch meeting.” He raised his hands to stop the onslaught he felt coming. “I’m not saying I believe that, but we can come back later and question Ben again. Hopefully, we’ll have more information then and we’ll be able to confront him with some facts.”

  The elevator doors opened.

  “Okay, how are we going to get this information?”

  Shawn frowned, afraid she wasn’t going to like his answer. “I don’t know.”

  Chapter Six

  Addy stayed silent until they’d stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the building. “Ben is lying.”

  Her skin felt as if thousands of needles were pricking it. What little control she had over her emotions was rapidly fraying. She didn’t know why everyone was so quick to believe that Cassie had moved back to New York, but she knew that hadn’t been her sister’s plan. “Maybe Cassie broke up with him and he kidnapped her. It happens. We need to get Sheriff Donovan to search Ben’s house.”

  Shawn’s hand landed on her shoulder, holding her in place. “Hold on a minute.”

  “We don’t have a minute.” Addy shook his hand off her shoulder. “I know Cassie is still alive. I can sense it, but it feels like I’m running out of time to find her.”

  “Chasing after Ben isn’t going to make him tell you what he knows about Cassie’s disappearance. If he knows anything.”

  “What do you mean, if he knows anything? Did you see how nervous and jittery Ben was?”

  “I saw, but he could have been nervous about anything. Or a general nervousness could be his usual state of being.”

  She gaped at Shawn for a moment before turning and stalking away down the sidewalk. He was no better than the sheriff.

  Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes, blurring her vision. “Agreeing to let you help me was a mistake.”

  She missed the dip in the sidewalk and stumbled. Strong arms latched on to her waist from behind, righting her before she fell.

  “Are you okay?”

  Addy twisted, looking up into Shawn’s dark eyes. Desire sizzled between them. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just hungry. I didn’t have much breakfast.” She shot him a look.

  Shawn smiled wryly. “Look, let me buy you something to eat, and we can talk about our next steps.”

  She was anxious to find Ben and question him further. But a wave of light-headedness swept over her at the mention of food, making her glad his hands were still clasped around her waist. A couple of bites of whatever Shawn had brought to her hotel room this morning had not cut it.

  “Okay, but I pick where we eat,” she said, stepping out of his arms. As she did, a wave of regret swept through her.

  Shawn West had the potential to uproot all her carefully laid plans. But would that be so bad?

  Addy pushed the question from her mind and focused on her growling stomach.

  She’d noticed a diner adjacent to the lot where they’d parked. She led Shawn back toward the parking lot now, stopping just before they reached it at double glass front doors with The Golden Spoon etched on them in gold.

  Addy cocked an eyebrow, waiting to see if he’d complain.

  He looked at the door warily but kept silent.

  Addy reached for the door at the same time he did. Their hands touched, and another sizzle of electricity shot through her.

  The sound of a clearing throat broke their reverie. Addy stepped into the diner, aware of the man’s cheeky smile even as she avoided making eye contact with him. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” played from the diner’s overhead speakers, and the smells of bacon and fresh coffee rushed at them as they entered. Addy’s stomach growled again at the sight of pancakes and fresh strawberries on a nearby table.

  A waitress, with the name Becky stitched on her uniform, quickly seated them.

  Addy wasted no time turning the conversation back to Ben once they were alone with the menus.

  “What do you think of Ben?”

  “I think you’re right. But we need leverage if we want to get him to tell us what he’s hiding.”

  She felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. “What kind of leverage?”

  “Something that would prove he’s lying or at least strongly suggest it.”

  “That makes sense.” Addy looked at him inquisitively. “How would you get that kind of evidence?”

  Shawn smiled devilishly. “There are many ways, but in this case, I’d start with talking to Cassie’s roommate, Suri.”

  “Suri? Why?”

  “Both Ben and Suri told the sheriff that Cassie had moved. That suggests that they either believed that or they coordinated their stories.”

  Addy nodded slowly, digesting what he’d said.

  Becky returned with a pot of coffee and two cups. She set the cups on the table and poured.

  “When I didn’t hear from Cassie for three days, I called Suri. She didn’t know much, and she hasn’t responded to any of my subsequent calls,” Addy said, breathing in the coffee smell.

  “If you’re talking about Sur
i Bedingfield, she moved out of town about a week ago.”

  “You know her?” Addy turned her surprised eyes on the waitress.

  “There may be a bunch of Suris in Hollywood, but not in Bentham. Suri waited tables for me. Left a message on the restaurant’s voice mail last Tuesday saying she’d found a job in Garwin and she quit. Worked here for three years. I would have never thought she’d leave me in the lurch like that.”

  Suri’s abrupt departure sounded suspiciously like Cassie’s.

  Addy and Shawn exchanged a knowing look. “Did Suri say anything else?”

  Becky looked at Shawn as if he’d suddenly grown two heads. “What else is there to say after ‘I quit’?”

  A fair point.

  “You ready to order?” Becky set the coffeepot on the table and pulled a pen and pad from her apron pocket.

  Addy ordered the Americana breakfast—four pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. She ignored Shawn’s wince when she asked Becky for a side order of home fries.

  “I’ll just have a fruit cup,” Shawn said.

  Addy grinned as the waitress walked away from the table.

  Shawn quirked an eyebrow. “What? You’re laughing at me when you ordered enough food to feed a small army.”

  “I spent the first twelve years of my life on a ranch. I guess the hearty meals stuck with me,” Addy said, adding cream and sugar to her coffee and noting that Shawn took his black.

  Shawn sipped his coffee. “A ranch, huh?”

  “Yeah. My mom’s parents owned a small ranch in Texas.” Addy smiled as memories of her grandparents, horseback riding and cloudless starry skies flitted through her head. “My parents met when my dad was doing his residency at a hospital in town. He’d grown up in Brooklyn and had every intention of returning as soon as his residency ended.”

  “Meeting your mom changed his plans, I assume.”

  “You assume right. My mom couldn’t imagine leaving her family or Texas. Dad used to say if Mom had wanted to live on Mars, he would have rented a rocket to get them there. They were madly in love.”