Virginia Vaughan - Yuletide Abduction

“Seems like you brought some trouble to town with you, Agent,” Daniel commented.

Elise was still dressed in the scrubs the hospital had furnished her with since she’d been careful not to move anything in her hotel room before the police arrived to work the scene for prints and trace evidence. Josh hoped she felt more confident than she looked. In truth, she looked young and vulnerable, her dark hair curling around her cheeks, her face devoid of makeup, revealing a faint but cute line of freckles on her cheeks and nose, and her hazel-colored eyes wide with surprise at the comment.

“I’m sorry to have been such a burden to you, Chief Mills.” The bite of sarcasm in her tone belied her sincerity. “Tell me, do you treat all victims of crime in your town with this regard?”

“I meant no harm, ma’am. It’s just that first my officers spent all morning cleaning up that mangled mess downtown and now this. It’s taking a lot of man-hours we aren’t accustomed to in our sleepy little town. Besides, now we know you’re not any ordinary crime victim, are you? When were you planning to inform the police that the FBI was conducting an investigation in our jurisdiction?”

Elise pushed a runaway curl behind her ear, folded her arms and stared coldly at Daniel, and Josh got his answer. Even bandaged, bruised and dressed in hospital scrubs, she demanded the full respect due an FBI agent. “I am not required to inform you of anything, Chief Mills. The FBI has the jurisdiction to investigate any crimes that intersect your city line. Your duty right now is to gather and collect the evidence of two crimes that have occurred within your city limits. And I will expect and demand a full accounting of said evidence. And let me make myself clear. If I find any stone left unturned, you will wish you had never laid eyes on this FBI agent.” Her expression was firm and fierce, and Josh noticed Daniel stiffen at her threat.

He replaced the hat on his head and nodded to her. “I already regret that, Agent Richardson.” He walked out, leaving his crew inside dusting for prints.

Josh suddenly felt the need to apologize on behalf of his hometown and his friend. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

She turned those green eyes on him, but they seemed to soften a bit, the golden-rimmed fire going out. She gave him a wiry smile. “He’s not wrong. I am certainly not your normal crime victim.”

He saw no anger or bitterness in her eyes. She had compassion and he liked that. But that didn’t excuse Daniel’s behavior. “Elise, someone tried to run you over and now they’ve broken into your hotel and stolen files. FBI or not, that has to affect you.”

She stepped out into the breezeway and gripped the guardrail as if determination alone could keep her going, but he noticed the slight tremble of her hands and the cringes of pain she tried so hard to cover. “I don’t have the luxury of letting it affect me.”

He stared at her a long moment, impressed by her tenacity. Another time or place and his opinion of her might have grown into more than attraction, but he wasn’t interested in a relationship. And besides, this was the woman who’d taken his brother from him. No amount of tenacity and determination could ever overcome that.

He heard her name and saw Bobby rushing toward them, waving a card in his hand.

“Your new room is ready, Agent Richardson. It’s on the second level whenever you want to move your belongings. I just spoke to Daniel and he said we could clean this room in another hour or so. Of course, it’s no rush because I have to have the door replaced before I can rent it again.”

Elise took the card, thanking him with a nod of her head. “I’m sorry for all this, Mr. Danbar.”

“I’m only glad you’re okay,” he said before walking off.

The officer dusting for prints appeared at the doorway. “We’re finished here. We found several good prints, so maybe we’ll get a hit.”

Elise didn’t look enthralled as he walked off.

She walked back inside and began gathering her belongings, her full lips pressed together grimly. Josh followed to help. “That’s good news that they found prints. Maybe they can figure out who did this.”

“Assuming the person is in the system, it will probably only be someone who stayed in this room before me, or one of the cleaning crew.”

“Is Daniel right about someone following you to town? Is this fallout from another case you’ve investigated?”

“I’ll know more when I get the preliminary reports, but I don’t believe it is. I think whoever was driving that car was keeping an eye on me while his partners broke in here and stole my files.”

“But who knew you were in town?”

She stopped sorting clothes and turned to him, realization dawning in her eyes. “You did. How did you know?”

“I overheard Bobby telling someone last night that an FBI agent had checked into his hotel. I figured you had to be here about Candace.”

The fire in her eyes reignited. “Where were you when you overheard this?”

“At the steak house. I was picking up supper for my sister-in-law. She’s been a mess ever since Candace vanished.”

“So if you overheard it and put two and two together, there’s no telling who else overheard and did the same.”

“You think whoever did this could be responsible for Candace’s disappearance?”

“I think it’s one possible scenario until I can rule it out.”

His mind whirled at the idea of all those he’d seen at the restaurant last night. “The restaurant was crowded. Half the town was there. And Bobby was drinking and talking loud.”

She settled her hands on her hips in a way that made Josh feel sorry for his friend when she got ahold of him. “Then half this town just became suspects.”

* * *

Elise rechecked the door locks to ensure they were secure. Despite what she’d told Josh, her nerves were on edge and the pain in her head pounded like a jackhammer. Per doctor’s instructions, she wasn’t supposed to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Josh had offered to stay up with her, but she’d politely declined his offer. She didn’t know him well enough to impose that way, and it wasn’t appropriate for her to have a man stay in her hotel room. Besides, the hospital staff would be calling her cell phone every few hours to check on her. Nurse Stringer had informed her that if she didn’t respond, they were sending the paramedics over to break down the door.

She smiled now, realizing she couldn’t let that happen. Two broken doors in one day? She couldn’t do that to Mr. Danbar.

Then again—her sympathetic feelings for him faded as she remembered he was the one telling folks she was in town in the first place—it would serve him right to have another room damaged because of his big mouth. She would have to remember to write a letter to whatever board governed hotel operations. Certainly it went against some code to announce who was staying in his hotel? What had ever happened to privacy rights?

She’d hoped to have at least one night of peace then show up bright and early at the police station to gather information about the missing girl. So much for her surprise. And so much for her quiet investigation into Candace Adams’s disappearance.

Was the attack on her this morning the result of the trafficking ring trying to get her to back off the investigation? Or simply someone who’d got wind that the FBI was in town and wanted to find out why?

Either way, she needed to replace her missing files.

She reached for her phone and called Lin Wildwood, her partner in the FBI for the past three years. “Elise, where are you?” His voice was full of concern. “I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“I’m in Westhaven, Mississippi, looking into the disappearance of a teenage girl.”