Hearts On Fire (3 page)

Chapter 5

    
“I saw a strange
vehicle
leaving Katy’s place this morning.”

     JD shrugged a shoulder
and dug into his stack of pancakes with zeal. He’d helped his brother with the
morning feedings before dawn and had worked up an appetite. God it felt good.
Maybe, he thought, he’d stick around for a while longer. He could afford the
time away right now. Everything needing to be done could be done remotely. “What’s
the big deal?” he asked his brother when he saw he was still over there
stewing. “You know how she is. I’d be more surprised if there
weren’t
strange cars going in and out.”

     Josh nodded his head,
knowing his brother was right. Katy got up to some things sometimes, that was
for sure. And she wasn’t lonely when she didn’t want to be. That he knew from
personal experience.

     “So what are you worried
about?” The coffee was damn good this morning too. Freshly brewed and hot. He
eyed his brother a little suspiciously over the rim of the cup. He’d often
wondered if Josh had fallen for Katy Waring’s charms. He sure in the hell hoped
not. That trap was sticky at best.

     What
was
he worried
about? If he were truthful with himself he’d admit he wasn’t worried so much
as… He stabbed a sausage with his fork and swore to himself. He had no business
being jealous. Katy wasn’t his. Katy didn’t belong to anyone but herself. She’d
made that clear from the git-go. And he liked it just fine that way, didn’t he?
Yes he did. No strings. No commitments. Could a man ask for a better deal? “I’m
not worried, just curious.”

     “Well don’t be,” JD told
him with a frown. “That girl is nothing but trouble. She’s either going to wind
up in prison or dead someday, you mark my words.”

     JD was right. Of course
he was right. Josh didn’t know what all Katy got up to and he didn’t want to.
He just knew she was fun on a cold winter’s night. Or a hot summer’s night for
that matter. An image of her slipping into the stream at the back of his
property came to mind. The full moon casting a glow on pale, silky skin. Her
devilish grin as she dared him to follow her. Yeah. She was fun. And that’s all
it could ever amount to.

     JD looked to the empty
seat at the table. Julie had yet to come down. Their mother was up in her room
now trying to get a rise out of her. JD had to admit he was worried about
Julie. She was taking Ken’s death very badly. But it wasn’t just that and he knew
it. Something else, something deeper, was eating at his sister. It was time to
start digging a little. “Julie ever talk to you?”

     Josh blinked at him.
“About what?”

     “I don’t know. She just
seems…” He tried to conjure up a word and the best he could come up with was,
“Jumpy.”

     Josh considered while he
spread blackberry jam on a piece of toast. “Yeah, I guess she has been lately.
Even before Ken’s accident.” He sighed and wondered how much, if any, he should
tell his brother.

     “Out with it,” JD pressed,
knowing his brother well enough to know he was holding something back.

     “Damnit, I hate it when
you do that. Use your lawyer super powers of observation on me,” he grumbled.

     “You wear shit on your
sleeve, little brother. Sorry. You’d make a piss-poor criminal. Now what is it
you so desperately don’t want to tell me about our little sister?”

     “Well, a few weeks ago I
saw her coming out of the Moniker Hotel in Freeport.”

     “Maybe her and Ken—”

     “Ken was on business in
Denver. As it was I was just in Freeport on an emergency, so no one would have
expected to see me there.”

     “What did she have to say
about it?”

     Josh jerked his head up.
“I didn’t confront her about it!” he whispered loudly, shaking his head. “I was
curious though. I walked into the hotel and asked if she was still registered.
They didn’t look like they wanted to tell me so I explained I was her brother
and wanted to surprise her with dinner later. They told me she’d checked out.”

     JD shrugged. “Maybe since
Ken was away on business she decided to treat herself. That hotel has a nice
spa, you know. Mom used to go there all the time. Matter of fact, it’s where
she sent Jules to be pampered before the wedding.”

     “Maybe,” he agreed. Then,
warming up to the idea which had not occurred to him he nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah. You’re probably right!” Christ, and he’d been thinking his little sister
had been having an affair. Crazy. That was just plain crazy.

Chapter 6

     Things were finally
settling down. A couple missing cows, a shoplifting and a guy bitching about
his speeding ticket and threatening to take the police department to court. It
sure beat the hell out of people missing in the snow and one car wreck after
another. Matt thought maybe he could actually catch his breath now. He even
decided to take a break. A cup of coffee and a fishing magazine. But of course,
the gods had different ideas. He no sooner laid the glossy magazine out on his
now cleared desk when a knock came to his door. “Go away,” he hollered, only
half joking.

     The door cracked open and
a head of frizzy mouse-blonde hair poked in. Blinking eyes which had way too
much shadow and mascara, Constance trilled laughter at what she considered to
be the sheriff’s silly sense of humor. “No can do, sheriff. I have a lady out
here who insists she see you. Pronto.”

     Constance was still new
to the job, so he reminded himself to be patient with her. He sighed.
What
now?

     “Says her sister’s gone
missing and she wants someone to look into it.”

     “Then take her down to
Missing Persons, Connie.”

     “I would, except for the
24 hour thing. When I explained to the lady that we couldn’t issue a missing
persons report on a twenty-six year old woman who is only proved to have been
missing overnight she got a little upset. Insisted on seeing you.”

     He thought about telling
Connie to make the woman wait a while. Long enough that she’d give up and go
away.

     He was about to when
Connie popped her gum and said, “Claims she knows you from way back. Name’s
Elizabeth Waring.
Dr
. Elizabeth Waring.”

     “Waring?” he asked, truly
startled.

     “Yeah. Sister is—”

     “Katy. Kathleen Waring.” Perplexed,
he leaned back in his squeaking leather chair. “Lizzie is here?” God, he hadn’t
seen her in what? Thirteen years? Last he’d heard she’d run off with Brian
Castellano and had a kid. When he’d asked Katy about her once he’d been told
Lizzie would never, ever, set foot in White Pigeon, Colorado again. Period. She
had her reasons.

     Connie popped her gum
again and frowned at her boss. He’d been working too hard the last week or so.
“Boss? You want me to shoo her off or what?”

     “No!” He stood too
quickly, nearly knocking his coffee cup over. As it was some of it sloshed out
of the cup and onto his fishing magazine. “Send her on back.”

     Now Connie smiled a
little devilishly. “I’m not from here so I don’t know but one of the guys told
me that you and this Elizabeth used to—”

     “Just send her on back,
Connie. For the love of God.” Great. Just what he needed. Someone had
recognized her name. Someone with a memory. Had to have been Robbie Danvers,
one of his detectives. He’d been a grade below in high school.

     He’d finally been calm
but now his heart raced and his palms sweated. He couldn’t decide whether he
should sit or stand. Lizzie. Little Lizzie Waring. God but he’d had it bad for
her back in the day. He was still trying to decide on sitting or standing when
she walked in his door. When she met his gaze with those big blue eyes of hers
and she smiled almost shyly he forgot to be nervous. “God, Lizzie, you haven’t
changed a bit.”

     She chuckled. “You have,”
she told him, reaching out to shake his hand. “You’ve filled out even more.”
Gone was the lanky baseball player. Now he resembled a football player. A very
fit football player.

     He smiled crookedly.
“Okay, so you’ve changed too.” He looked at her hair, which had once been long
chestnut curls. Now it hung just below her shoulders without a curl in sight.
But still that fiery chestnut color. And she’d filled out too, he noted. In all
the right places. He remembered her as a coltish girl. A tomboy who raced to
keep up with the boys. And, he found, those eyes of hers still captivated him.
Indicating a chair across his desk he said, “Have a seat, Lizzie. We’ll talk.”

     She placed her coat on a
rack and sat down. “I wish I was here on a social call, Matt, but I’m not.”

     “Connie told me you think
Katy is missing.”

    
Lizzie could tell
just by the look on Matt’s face and the tone of his voice he wasn’t worried
about Katy and didn’t understand why she would be.

     “What makes you think
she’s gone missing?”

     “She was supposed to be
at my place yesterday, very early morning. She never showed up.”

     Matt’s smile was patient.
“Well now, Lizzie, you know your sister. She was never very… reliable. Could be
she got distracted and ran off for a weekend getaway.”

     Just what Brian had told
her. “I don’t think so, Matt. Not this time.”

     His eyes narrowed. “What
makes you say that?”

     Shifting uncomfortably in
her chair, Lizzie turned the paper cup containing her now lukewarm coffee in
her hands. She hated talking about Katy. Especially with the police. And though
Matt was a one-time friend of hers he was still the police. “She, ah, called me
the night before. Thursday night. She told me she wanted to come visit.”

     Seeing her discomfort and
knowing there was a reason for it, Matt pressed the issue. “Did she happen to
mention why she wanted to visit?”

     “She’s my sister,” Lizzie
told him impatiently, as though that explained it all.

     “Yes. But you mentioned
she’d be getting to your place very early in the morning. You mean after
midnight?”

     She sighed. “Yes. It’s an
eight hour drive to my place. She should have gotten in around 3am.”

     “The weather wasn’t all
that great,” Matt pointed out.

     “Exactly. Which is why
I’m so worried. What if her car went off the road? What if she’s stranded
somewhere and needs help?”
What if whoever she ripped off got pissed and got
even with her?

     Now it was Matt who
shifted in his chair. Meeting her gaze directly he said, “Lizzie, I don’t know
how much you know about your sister’s… um… her lifestyle.”

     She bit her lip. “You
mean the trouble with the law. The conning.”

     “Among other things,
yeah.”

     “I know enough. I’ve
bailed her out of jail and paid for lawyers.” She shook her head. “Which has
nothing at all to do with why I’m here. My sister was supposed to show up at my
house two days ago. I can’t get a hold of her. At all. No matter what else,
that’s not like her.” Her voice was rising and she forced herself to calm down.
“Your officer told me I couldn’t file a missing persons report until she’d been
confirmed gone over 24 hours.”

     “That’s right. But
there’s the fact your sister is an adult, Lizzie. An adult with a history of
just running off whenever the breeze was from the right direction.”

     “So you’re telling me
you’re not going to do anything?” She stood, clutching her purse to her chest.

     “Lizzie, c’mon. Sit down
a minute.” When she didn’t, when she just stood there staring at him he asked,
“What do you want me to do? Send out a search party?”

     “I want you to do your
damn job, Matt. And I want you to act like you care.”

     That stung and he
flinched. Shoving his fingers through his hair he said, “I do care. It’s just…”

     “It’s just that it’s
Katy,” she supplied through clenched teeth. “Fine. I’ll look for her myself.”

     Now Matt stood. “Lizzie,
don’t go doing that.” He sighed heavily. “Let’s go on down to Missing Persons
and fill out that report, okay?”

     “And then?”

     “And I’ll issue a BOLO.”

     She gave him a blank
stare. “What’s that?”

     “Be on the lookout.”
Before she could protest he said, “Look, Lizzie, I can’t go putting together a
search party just yet. I’ll have the deputies and state boys keeping an eye out
for her car. For her. I’ll have Lance Kinsford do a little fly time and check
the roadsides in the mountains as best he can. He owes me a favor anyway.
Okay?”

     She relaxed. Marginally.
She supposed it was the best she was going to get for now. Which meant in the
meantime she was going to have to do a little leg work on her own. “Okay. How
long does this remain you thinking she ran off and turn into something foul may
have happened?”

     “Let’s give it another
twenty-four hours.”

     She didn’t like it but
would have to deal with it. For now. “And you’ll let me know if you find out
anything? Anything at all?”

     “Of course.” He gave her
a smile. “You’ll be staying at the hotel?”

     She shook her head. “No.
I’m going to stay at her place. At least for a few days if need be.”

     “You’re staying at her
place?” He sounded surprised.

     “I might as well. If
she’s fine she’ll come back there eventually.” Her smile was tight. “And I’ll
be there waiting for her.”

     “I don’t like the idea of
you up there all alone.”

     Snorting, she shook her
head at him. “You forgetting I grew up there? Besides, Katy lives up there all
alone.”

     “Katy’s…” he frowned and
didn’t finish what he was going to say.

     “What? Tougher than me?”

     “Something like that.”

     “She had to be.”

     No one could dispute
that. “Will you at least come out to dinner with me tonight?” he asked
abruptly.

     “Matt, I… I don’t know.”
They’d dated a few times in high school. She’d made out with him in the front
seat of his daddy’s old Chevy. And then she’d fallen for JD. It had surprised
her as much as it had surprised anyone. What had surprised her even more had
been when she’d thought he’d fallen for her too. But, as she’d found out the
hard way, boys like JD only wanted one thing from girls like her.

     “Oh, come on, Lizzie. For
old time’s sake. I’ll show you around town. We can eat at
The Cottage
.”
He saw a brow lift and damned if he wasn’t reminded of that inquisitive girl
from the mountain he’d known so long ago. He chuckled. “It’s a new place.
You’ll love it, trust me.”

     Still she hesitated. She
was here to find her sister. And she didn’t want to be running around town.
Running into…

     “If you’re worried about
running into JD he won’t show up there.”

     She had been worried
about running into him, but she didn’t want to admit it to him. “No. No
worries.”

     “We can ask around about
Katy while we’re out. And we can catch up. I want to know what you’ve been up
to, besides becoming a doctor.”

     Staying on Matt’s good
side could be imperative to finding her sister. He’d push harder for a friend.
Besides, he was right, it would be good to relax and catch up. “All right,
Matt, you’ve talked me into it.”