Page 20

Chapter 19

“This doesn’t look good,” Bradford murmured from the back seat of the SUV as they arrived at the bed-and-breakfast. A sheriff’s car was in the parking lot, the lights flashing, but no siren on.

They’d contemplated coming earlier, but Berlin had hacked into the local sheriff’s department and confirmed that Colin had contacted the guy, and that he and Mari were staying at a nearby place. Everything had seemed good, but now he was wondering if they should have done things differently.

“Everyone follow my lead,” Berlin said as she parked next to the sheriff’s car.

At least there weren’t ambulances or fire trucks or anything else. Just the sheriff—he recognized him from his picture online—and the two owners of the bed-and-breakfast who he also recognized from pictures Berlin had found online.

Berlin was out of the vehicle before either he or Chance had unstrapped.

“You’re a brave man, getting engaged to her,” Bradford murmured.

“I think you mean lucky.”

He snickered as they got out of the vehicle. “Whatever word you want to use, you’re braver than me.” Because Berlin was terrifying.

Not that there’d ever been any attraction between them. No, his heart had been taken a long time ago and he never wanted it back. Hell, at this point he’d learned to live without it.

“If y’all are here to check in—”

Berlin gently cut off Rebecca Canfield, one of the owners. “We’re here to find our friends. Their plane went down yesterday and they managed to make it here. I spoke to Mari last night but haven’t heard from her or Colin since then.” Berlin’s voice was full of concern—and Bradford knew she wasn’t acting.

They were all worried.

“I’m Becky,” she said to Berlin. “And yes, your friends were here last night—”

“Your friends stole an ATV and disabled another from what we can tell,” the sheriff interrupted, earning an annoyed glance from Becky. “And they cut the power in the middle of the night, causing all sorts of havoc. The owners are also now having to deal with lost food because of the fridges and freezers that went out.”

“Our generators kicked in,” Becky murmured. “It’s fine.”

“If they took an ATV, it was because they were in danger,” Bradford said as he stepped up next to Berlin. He held his hand out to the sheriff, who took it cautiously. “I’m Bradford. We work with Mari. She’s one of our contract pilots and it’s our understanding that someone sabotaged her plane. We have reason to believe she and Colin are in danger. So I promise you, if they took something, it was because they had no other choice.”

“They looked rough when they arrived,” Becky’s husband, John, said.

“Have any of your other guests checked out? Or did anyone see anything? ”

“Now see here—”

“Hush, Robert,” Becky said to the sheriff. “You already told us that the FAA is investigating something, so it sounds like someone did mess with their plane.” Becky rolled her eyes, then added, “He’s my baby brother, I can talk to him like that.”

“Becky—”

“No. It felt wrong that those two just up and left in the middle of the night. I trust my gut with people, and I liked them. And what a cute couple. It made no sense that they split like that in the middle of the night.” She looked at the three of them. “They took their backpacks but left their dirty clothes behind and it seems like they might have climbed out the bathroom window. There were two shoe prints on the windowsill.” She shrugged as the sheriff made a surprised sound. “I didn’t get around to telling you yet.”

“Look, we run an investigative firm in New Orleans, and we’ve assisted the police there many times,” Bradford said even though Berlin had told him to let her take the lead. “You can call Detective Camila Flores to confirm. We’re worried about our friends, that’s all. And if it’s about the ATV, we’ll pay for it.”

“That thing is over twenty years old, it’s fine,” Becky said before her husband could respond—and he clearly wanted to. “We’re not pressing charges. If anything, now I’m actually worried about them.”

“Did anyone check in after them?” Berlin asked.

“And are they still here?” Chance added.

The sheriff looked at his sister, apparently wanting an answer to that too.

“Well, one couple checked in about an hour after they got here, but they’re already gone. It didn’t even look like they slept in their beds.”

“Did they make an online reservation?” Berlin asked.

The sheriff shot her an annoyed look but then raised an eyebrow at his sister.

“No, they called and said they were driving through and were hoping to crash for a couple hours. We had one extra room and they said they were only staying one night.”

“I’ll need their info,” the sheriff said to his sister, then looked at the three of them. “And no more questions from any of you. I’ll be reaching out to this Detective Flores, but this isn’t your investigation.”

“Our friends are missing,” Bradford growled. “We’re not just leaving.”

“Fine. Are you staying somewhere local?”

Bradford nodded.

“Good. Give me your information and I’ll reach out if I need anything.”

That was a brush-off if he’d ever heard one, but it wasn’t as if they could stand around and argue with the guy. Now they had information at least.

“What kind of gas mileage does your ATV get?” Chance asked. “And do you know what direction they went in?”

The sheriff shook his head. “Damn it—”

“It had about an hour’s worth of gas left in it if that’s what you’re asking, and from the tracks, it looks like they headed east. Our property butts up against the national forest in that direction.” Becky helpfully pointed for them.

The sheriff ran a hand over his face, clearly exhausted with his sister. “Okay, that’s it. No more questions. It’s time for you three to leave.”

At least they had something to go on. And as the three of them got back into the SUV, Bradford heard Becky say, “You’re just grumpy because you haven’t had any coffee yet.”