3 The Chain of Lies (36 page)

“Hello, Maggie.” Fiona approached their table.

“Hi, Fiona,” Maggie responded warmly. “I wasn’t sure you were goin’ to make it. You remember my friends, Emily and Isabel?”

“Yes. Hello, Emily, Isabel. So sorry I’m late. I had a flat tire on the way, but all’s well now.”

“Flat tire? Oh, how miserable. Well, I’m glad you finally made it.” Maggie reached out and gave Fiona’s hand a light squeeze. “I’m sure there’s still some food left. Camille made enough to feed an army.”

“I’m not really hungry.” Fiona looked over at Lucas as the small crowd around him began to dissipate. “Is that him?”

“Yes, that’s my Lucas. Let me introduce you,” Maggie offered.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Fiona said.

“Look, here he comes. His ears must have been burnin’ with us talkin’ about him.” Maggie laughed.

“Hello, ladies,” Lucas greeted as he approached them.

“Lucas, I’d like to introduce you to one of my friends, Fiona Merlino,” Maggie said.

Lucas stuck out his hand and smiled cordially as he shook hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Merlino. Have you lived in Paradise Valley long?”

“No, only a month or so. I’m still looking for a job, actually.”

“What kind of work do you do?” he asked.

“I have an extensive background as an administrative assistant,” Fiona replied.

“Really,” he responded, looking into her deep brown eyes. That was one thing Maggie had noticed about Lucas, he always looked a person in the eye when he spoke to them. She liked that. Her daddy used to tell her that was the sign of a person who could be trusted. “Well, if you’re still looking for a job when I set up my business here,” Lucas went on, “I’ll have to give you a call for an interview.”

“You’re moving here?” Isabel asked, sounding surprised by the news.

“Yes, didn’t Maggie tell you? I’ve decided to set up my office here as soon as possible to start selling the condo units. I’m going to be starting construction soon, once the dirt gets leveled, and I’d like to get the capital coming in to keep the construction moving forward.”

Isabel and Emily exchanged questioning glances.

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot to mention it.” Maggie shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

“You’d like to set up an interview?” Fiona smiled sweetly at Lucas. “Sure, that would be terrific. Maggie has my number.”

“Now,” Lucas held his hand out to Maggie, “I would like to ask the most beautiful woman at this party to dance. I have ignored her far too long.”

Maggie’s face lit up as she took his hand. He helped her to her feet and led her to the dance area.

Emily, Isabel, and Fiona watched as Lucas and Maggie joined the other handful of couples swaying to the beat of a slow song the DJ had just begun to play.

“Boy, Fiona, that was a lucky connection,” Isabel said.

Emily nodded her agreement.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Fiona said. “That Maggie Sullivan is a lucky woman.” She turned sharply and went inside the house, leaving Isabel and Emily wearing puzzled expressions on their faces.

—

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The Heart of Lies, A Paradise Valley Mystery: Book Two?
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Three Days in Seattle.

PROLOGUE

Whitney began to stir from a deep sleep, waking to find herself in pitch-black darkness, her hands and feet bound. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Yanking against the ropes proved useless, as the bonds were fastened to something solid.

Her head began to pound and her breath was coming in short gasps, but she couldn’t get much air. Something was over her mouth—duct tape, maybe? She didn’t know or care, she just needed air.
 

She struggled to scream, but the only sound she could make was a high-pitched moan.

Where am I
?
What’s happening to me
?
Murky thoughts slogged through her disoriented mind.
Maybe I’m dreaming
, she thought.
Wake up, wake up, wake up!
But it was not a dream.

The sound of something scraping the floor made her freeze. She tried to listen, hear if someone or something was coming, but her heart thudding in her ears made it hard to concentrate.
 

A door creaked open, and she blinked as the harsh light hit her eyes. Was someone coming to rescue her? Or was it her captor? She decided not to risk it and shut her eyes, going limp, hoping her pounding heart would not give her away.

CHAPTER 1

“Forget it, Nigel! It’s been a very long day. I’ll finish up in the morning. I just need to soak in the tub for a while and get to bed. I will call you first thing tomorrow, I promise.” Kate McAllister clicked off her cell phone and set it on the bathroom vanity, exhausted after her hectic photo shoot in the Hollywood Hills ran late into the evening.

The warm water in the claw-foot tub was beckoning her. She was anticipating being enveloped by its warmth, letting it soothe away the stress of the day. Sticking one painted toe in the water, she checked the temperature before getting in.
Perfect
, she sighed softly.

As she was about to drop her fluffy white robe to the floor and step into the bath, the cell phone shrilled on the vanity behind her. “Shoot,” she muttered under her breath. “If that’s Nigel again, I’m going to kill him.”

A slight frown creased her brow as she turned and glanced at the Caller ID. She recognized the area code was for Seattle, where her baby sister Whitney lived, but if it were her sister, the phone would have shown her name and not
Unknown Caller
.

Peering up at the wall clock, she saw the time was ten-forty-five pm.
Why would someone I don’t know be calling me this late?
Tension began creeping up the back of her neck
. No one calls this late just to chat.
She reluctantly picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Kate, this is Suki. I’m sorry to call you so late.” The woman on the other end of the line rattled on, “But, I, well, I need to—”

“Whoa. Slow down. You said your name is Suki?” Kate questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, you know, Whitney’s roommate.”

“Oh, yes, sorry. I didn’t recognize your name. Now, slow down and tell me – what’s wrong, Suki?”

“Whitney’s gone missing.”

“What? When?” Panic began to set in. Kate’s thoughts began flying in a thousand different directions, like a flock of sparrows spooked by the threat of danger. Gathering her thoughts, she tried to focus. Ordinarily, she connected with Whitney every day or two, but she had been so busy with work lately that Kate was ashamed to admit she did not notice when she hadn’t heard from her sister recently.

“She’s been missing since last night. Well, no, today. I mean, well, I didn’t realize until this morning that she hadn’t come home last night.”

“Maybe she just stayed overnight at a friend’s house. She is twenty-four years old. She can stay out all night if she wants.” Kate hoped that was all it was. The thought her sister could really be missing made her feel sick in the pit of her stomach.

“No, no, I don’t think so, really. I think she would have told me so. We try to keep each other safe that way, you know. I have such a bad feeling about this, Kate. I think you should come to Seattle right away.”

“You mean, like right now?” This news was all so unexpected. Frantic thoughts swirling in Kate’s mind made it hard to process.

“Well, yeah. I mean, as soon as you can, of course.”

“So, what do the police say?” Kate asked, searching for a voice of reason.

“Police?”

“Yes, Suki. You did call them, didn’t you?” Incredulous that her sister might be in danger and the police had not yet been informed, Kate’s eyes widened as she stared blankly at the phone.
Are you kidding me?
Her heart began beating hard against her chest, sending pulsing blood painfully racing to her head.

“I’m sorry, Kate, don’t get mad. I think you have to wait twenty-four hours before you can report someone missing, don’t you?”

“How should I know, Suki? I would have called them to find out, not just assumed.” A muscle twitched in Kate’s jaw.

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I will call them as soon as we get off the phone. I want to talk to the police myself before I come running up there.”
Suki had all day to call me, why did she wait until now? Was she hoping Whitney would eventually show up? Something doesn’t feel right.

Perhaps Whitney was just staying over with a new boyfriend that Suki didn’t know about. Or maybe she went with some girlfriends for a long weekend.
Suki is probably just overreacting.
Kate clung to that thought to give her a sense of security.

On the other hand, if her sister really were missing, of course she’d drop everything and hop on the first flight to Seattle. She felt uneasy just cancelling work and reorganizing her life on the whim of this woman she barely knew. Kate had photo shoots in the Los Angeles area lined up all week, people depending on her, so she wanted to be sure it was warranted.

“Kate. Your sister is missing! You really need to come as soon as possible,” Suki pressed. “Surely, you don’t have anything to do that’s more important than this, do you?”

Kate recognized the guilt card being played. Her late mother had been a master at it.

“No, of course not. Nothing’s more important than finding my sister, if she really
is
missing. However, I am going to call the police first and see what they say, even though you may be right about the twenty-four hour thing.”

“Then you’ll come?”

As much as Kate hated the thought of upending her whole world overnight, she had to consider seriously the possibility that Suki might be right. If Whitney needed her, she had no choice but to go to Seattle on the first flight she could get.

“Yes, yes, I’ll come. After I talk to the police, I’ll check for flights out of L.A. tomorrow.” She would have to wait until the morning to change her work schedule. “I appreciate you letting me know, Suki. I’ll be in touch.”

~*~

Suki hung up from her conversation with Kate and immediately made another call.

“Hullo,” a young man answered.

“It’s done.”

CHAPTER 2

“Hey, lady! You’re up,” a young male’s voice came from behind her.

“What?” Startled, Kate looked around.

“You’re up, over there at the counter.” The impatient teenager pointed to the airline ticket counter.

His voice had jerked her out of a daze. She’d been standing in the long, slow-moving passenger line, replaying her situation and the unproductive conversation with the Seattle Police. She hadn’t been able to get beyond talking to the officer at the front desk because Whitney had not been missing long enough. He hadn’t told her anything of value one way or the other, except that if she was really concerned, she should come as soon as possible. Of course she was concerned. She loved her sister. How dare he suggest otherwise.

It was because of that bond, that if there were any chance Whitney actually
was
missing, Kate would drop everything and go. She had arranged to fly to Seattle on the next available flight.

Unfortunately, getting to Seattle was not so easy. Engine trouble on her connecting flight from Salt Lake City had forced the plane down in Boise, where she had to spend the night and get a new boarding pass for her last-minute change in flights.

Embarrassed when she realized she was holding up the line, her face reddened and she rushed to the counter.

“I’m in a huge hurry, ma’am,” Kate said, slapping her driver’s license down on the counter a little harder than she’d intended. “Do you think you could get my boarding pass really fast?”

The ticket agent glared at her, then moved like a snail. Kate was sure she must have offended the woman. Glancing up at the monitor on the wall, it showed that her Horizon flight to Seattle was departing in twenty minutes, but she was stuck at the ticket counter in this crowded Boise airport, awaiting the re-issue of her boarding pass.