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“Maybe we should talk about that.”

“Another time, perhaps.” She descended another flight of stairs back into her finished basement. There she stared at a topographic map of Ricketts she’d had framed and mounted. “I need to get to bed soon. Tomorrow is an early shift for me.”

“Oh. Sorry. I should’ve thought of that.”

“It’s fine. I was still up. What do you have?”

“About the reason I asked you to sign that contract…”

“Your client’s confidentiality. I get it let’s move on.”

“I’m trying to. The client is a federal judge. George Swisher. His daughter Emmaline is the one who went missing.”

“Where did you say that last ping was, Benton?”

“Sort of. The cell tower is technically in Sweet Valley, but it’s right off 118 not far from Ricketts Glen.”

She studied the map before her and considered the trails near the last known location of Emmaline’s cell phone. “You aren’t expecting to find this girl alive, are you?”

His silence answered her question. “This is a lot to digest. I didn’t know I was signing up for the search and recovery of a federal judge’s daughter. And if you think her case is connected to Uncle Richard’s, I shouldn’t get my hopes up about finding him alive either.”

“I wish I could’ve told you more from the jump, but you know how it goes.”

Chapter Eight

Gavinsippedhisfirstcup of coffee and watched the sunrise over the horse pastures. A herd of deer milled about enjoying an early breakfast. He watched as another tucked itself under the fence to join its friends. Chuckling to himself he stretched out his legs and let the tranquility of his surroundings seep into his bones. It would do him good to spend more time in nature and less breathing in the city air. Yet, while nature whispered peaceful breezes, a storm was brewing elsewhere, and he was certain his sister was in its path.

He’d scheduled a meeting with Scott to see how things were going with Cate. If all was well with her, he’d have the bodyguard conduct a few interviews for him. If not, he’d get Kenneth back to take care of it. He wasn’t ready to head back into the thick of things quite yet. Someone needed to be here in this mountain wilderness attempting to track down Emmaline.

After chowing down on the omelet and home fries he’d prepared in the lodge’s well-appointed kitchen, he moved into the great room and settled into a plush leather armchair where he logged into his secure video call software. While he waited for Scott to appear on the screen, he scrolled through Emmaline’s Facebook feed hoping to find a clue as to what she’d been doing in Columbia County. He checked out the profile page of each person who liked her latest posts. Then he hit on one. A young man named, Ted Roberts. A shiver crawled down his spine as he looked at the guy’s page. Something wasn’t right. His pictures seemed staged. He needed more information on Ted Roberts. He’d get his PI to hack into Emmaline’s page to see if she’d been communicating privately with him. If so, he’d have him dig further.

Scott’s face appeared on the screen.

“How are things in Philly?”

“Mostly quiet.”

“What’s going on with Cate?”

“Sticking to her routine.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. On another matter, can I trust you to delegate some tasks to Kenneth?”

“Of course.”

“I want him to conduct interviews with Emmaline’s inner circle. Then have him talk to Carter. He was dating Emmaline when she disappeared according to Cate. If those talks don’t yield any leads, he can widen the net to anyone she had regular contact with.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“He can report to you, but keep me in the loop.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”

“You said everything is good with Cate, right?”

“As good as can be expected. She’s a college kid.”

“Meaning?”