disconnected the call and stuck the phone in the console.
Great. Just great. Reporters, looking for juicy scandal about the disappearance of a business giant.
Oh, Dad, how could you do this to me?
The fact was, she’d been worried about him for the past several months. Her mother’s death five years ago had thrown him for a loop. Piled on top of that were problems with Cole International. He didn’t discuss them with her but there was a hint here and there, and he was constantly on edge. Then, suddenly things seemed to be better.
She’d missed him when he moved to Arrowhead Bay, but she understood him wanting a change. The house was filled with too many memories of her mother. Plus her father said he was tired of city living.
On the trips to the little town while he was still living in Tampa, he met people. Made friends. The times she sailed down there with him she’d gotten to know people, too, and fallen in love with the small, sleepy Southern town. He was as happy as she’d seen him since her mother died.
She’d met Sheri March at one of the many festivals the town held and they’d connected at once, becoming good friends. Through Sheri she’d met a lot of other people, including the chief’s sister, Avery, who ran a private security agency. With friends to hang with and her father almost himself again she’d begun to look forward to visiting him. He loved hearing about the growth of her graphics design business and praised her for what she accomplished.
Then he’d stopped asking her about it except on rare occasions.
She tried to pinpoint just when that had all started. Almost two years ago, she thought. The tenor of the visits had changed. He had changed, becoming more tense, edgier, sometimes even withdrawn. When she asked about it, he just brushed it off. She missed their tight relationship. They had always been close, so it bothered her more than she let on.
He was abruptly more preoccupied with the business than ever, even obsessed with its financial situation. It never made sense to her because Cole International was worth millions. Whenever she asked him what was wrong, he assured her everything was fine. Just some pesky business details, he told her, that were taking a little more of his attention.
She’d continued to make sporadic visits, hoping to recapture the tight sense of family they’d had. After all, it was just the two of them now. But no matter how hard she tried, she’d felt them drifting apart more and more. There was a wall of some kind around the man she just could not breach.
When she noticed the change in him, she tried to question Cash Breeland about it. Cash was the president of the locally owned Arrowhead Bay Bank. Devon didn’t know him all that well, but he and her father had become friends even before the big move. In fact, it was Cash who had introduced her father to friends of his and drawn him into their social circle. But Cash just downplayed her questions.
“I know your daddy’s been preoccupied some,” he drawled when she asked him to meet her for coffee. “He’s just working through some knotty business problems. With all this overseas competition, some of his units aren’t performin’ the way they should. He’ll pull out of it as soon as there’s an uptick in trade.”
But he hadn’t and now he was gone.
Missing.
The word gave birth to a lot of speculation and none of it good.
She spotted the highway signs for Arrowhead Bay and gave herself a mental shake. She needed to clear the garbage out of her head until she could find out for sure what was going on.
She took the farthest exit for the town, the one that took her to the road where her father’s house was. He had built at the far end of town in the area known as Seacliff. More land, larger homes. He liked space, he’d told her. Cole International board members and executives routinely visited him there. And from his side patio he had a magnificent view of Arrowhead Bay and the harbor.
His house was the next to last one on Seacliff Road, and in minutes the familiar gateposts came into view. She gave silent thanks that there were no reporters around. They must have taken Sheri literally. She pulled up in the driveway and shoved the car into park, then stared at the house for a long moment. Automatically she reached into the half-empty bag of red licorice bites on her console and popped a couple in her mouth.
Sitting there now, chewing on the candy, she remembered the last time she’d seen him, a little more than a month ago. Their brief conversation played out in her head.
“You’re leaving already?” He had looked up from his desk when she stopped in the doorway to the den.
“You’re busy and I have work back in Tampa to take care of.”
“I thought you brought your laptop with you.”
“I did, but I think I’d be more comfortable at home.”
For a fleeting moment, a pained expression crossed his face, one almost of sorrow.
“We should spend more time together.”
She’d nearly snorted at that. They’d always been so close, especially after her mother died, but he’d withdrawn from her.
Still, he was her father and she loved him.
Was it possible this was voluntary? Had her father chosen to disappear so completely? No. Too outrageous, she thought. He was the epitome of the corporate icon. A mover and shaker. Winner of awards. Profiled in magazines. Business school graduates used him as their aspirational model. What on earth could make a man like that choose to vanish as if he’d never existed?
Even with his changes in personality and behavior, she could say this was 100 percent unlike him. What if he’d been grabbed by someone? But who? It could be a competitor, a disgruntled employee, someone on the bad end of a business deal. She knew very little about his business dealings. Would there be a ransom request? Would they contact her or his corporation? How would she get the money if the call came to her? How—
No. Sheri hadn’t said anything about a kidnapping.
Another thought stabbed at her, one that chilled her. Had someone killed him and dumped the body overboard? But who? And why?
She would ask Sheri those questions as soon as she spoke to her again. Meanwhile, back to square one. If neither of those things turned out to be a reality, why had Graham Cole disappeared? What was going on with him?
Stop!
God, she was driving herself crazy.
She felt an unexpected rush of tears and a tightening of her throat. Despite the state of their relationship, he was her father. She still loved him and his disappearance frightened her.
Enough, missy. Get your ass into the house.
But the moment she climbed out of her car, a sudden chill raced down her spine and an ominous feeling gripped her. She stood there, gathering herself. Could a house be menacing?
Ridiculous. Stupid.
She wasn’t the type of woman given to feelings like that. She was down to earth and practical. Some might even say hardheaded, she thought with a tiny smile.
Okay. I’m here. I should go inside and see if
