in a strange town and without family or friends.”
“Did you check their identification?” the sheriff asked.
“We hadn’t gotten around to that yet,” Deputy Rogers replied.
“You’ll see we’re telling the truth,” Linc asserted. “None of us have police records.”
With the sheriff and his deputies watching carefully, Linc, Mel and Ned handed him their identification.
The sheriff glanced at all three pieces, then passed them to Pierpont. The young man swaggered over to his patrol car, apparently to check for any warrants or arrest records. He was back a couple of minutes later and returned their ID.
“They don’t have records.” He seemed almost disappointed, Linc thought.
The sheriff nodded. “What’s your sister’s name?”
“Mary Jo Wyse,” Linc answered. “Can you tell us where we might find the Rhodes family? All we want to do is talk to them.”
“Unfortunately Ben and Charlotte are out of the country,” the sheriff said.
“You mean they aren’t even in town?” Mel asked, sounding outraged. He turned to Linc. “What are we going to do now? ”
“I don’t know.” Mary Jo must have discovered this information about the Rhodes family on her own. The only thing left for her to do was head back to Seattle. She wouldn’t have any other options, which meant this entire venture through dismal traffic, falling snow and wretched conditions had been a complete waste of time.
“She’s probably home by now and wondering where the three of us are,” Linc muttered.
“Maybe.” Ned shook his head. “But I doubt it.”
“What do you mean, you doubt it?”
“Mary Jo can be stubborn, you know, and she was pretty upset last night.”
“We should phone the house and see if she’s there,” Linc said, although he had a sneaking suspicion that Ned was right. Mary Jo wouldn’t give up that easily.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Sheriff Davis inserted.
Linc reached for his cell phone and called home. Five long rings later, voice mail kicked in. If his sister had gone back to Seattle, she apparently wasn’t at the house.
“She’s not there,” Linc informed his brothers.
“What did I tell you?” Ned sighed. “I know Mary Jo, and she isn’t going to turn tail after one setback.”
This was more than a simple setback, in Linc’s opinion. This was major.
“Have you tried her cell phone?” the sheriff suggested next.
“Yeah, we did. A few times. No answer,” Linc said tersely.
“Try again.”
“I’ll do that now.” Linc took out his phone again and realized he didn’t know her number nor had he programmed it into his directory.
He cleared his throat. “Ah, Ned, could you give me the number for her cell?”
His youngest brother grabbed the phone from him and punched in Mary Jo’s number, then handed it back.
Linc waited impatiently for the call to connect. After what seemed like minutes, the phone automatically went to voice mail. “She’s not answering that, either.”
“Maybe her cell battery’s dead,” the sheriff said. “It could be she’s out of range, too.”
Actually, Linc was curious as to why the sheriff himself had responded to dispatch. One would think the man had better things to do—like dealing with real criminals or spending the evening with his family. “Listen, Sheriff, is Cedar Cove so hard up for crime that the sheriff responds personally to a possible break-in?”
Troy Davis grinned. “I was on my way to my daughter’s house for dinner when I heard the call.”
“So you decided to come out here and see what’s going on.”
“Something like that.”
Linc liked the sheriff. He seemed a levelheaded guy, whereas his deputies were overzealous newbies, hoping for a bit of excitement. He’d bet they were bored out of their minds in a quiet little town like Cedar Cove. The call about this supposed break-in had sent these two into a giddy state of importance.
“The only essential thing here is finding our sister,” Linc reiterated to the sheriff.
“The problem is, we don’t know where to find her,” Ned put in.
The sheriff rubbed the side of his face. “Did you ask around town?”
No one at the pub had been able to help. “Not really. We asked the guys at some tavern, but they didn’t seem aware of much except how full their glasses were.”
The sheriff grinned and seemed to appreciate Linc’s wry sense of humor.
“She’s very pregnant,” Ned felt obliged to remind everyone. “It isn’t like someone wouldn’t notice her.”
“Yeah.” Mel once more thrust his arms out in front of him and bloated his cheeks for emphasis.
Linc made an effort not to groan.
“Wait,” Deputy Pierpont said thoughtfully. “Seems to me I heard something about a pregnant woman earlier.”
That got Linc’s attention. “Where?” he asked urgently. “When?”
“I got a friend who’s a firefighter and he mentioned it.”
“What did he say?”
Deputy Pierpont shrugged. “Don’t remember. His name’s Hutton. You could go to the fire station and ask.”
“Will do.” Linc stepped forward and shook hands with the sheriff and then, for good measure and goodwill, with each of the deputies. “Thanks for all your help.”
Troy Davis nodded. “You tell your sister she shouldn’t have worried you like this.”
“Oh, I’ll tell her,” Linc promised. He had quite a few other things he planned to say to her, too.
After receiving directions to the fire station, they jumped back in the truck. Finally they were getting somewhere, Linc told himself with a feeling of satisfaction. It was just a matter of time before they caught up with her.
It didn’t take them long to locate the fire station.
Rather than repeat their earlier mistakes—or what Linc considered mistakes—he said, “Let me do the talking, understand?”
“Okay,” Ned agreed.
