“And the tree also doesn’t say if the person is male or female.”

  Ward shrugged. “Nope. Nothing so helpful.” He logged off, shut off his monitor, and stood up.

  “You can’t leave now – we haven’t got this sorted out.”

  Ward grinned. “I sure can. Heading to the liquor store for a bottle of wine.”

  “Damn. It was always my love life that was kicking forward at high gear. Now it’s yours.”

  “Trouble in your paradise?” Ward had been so busy lately he’d not gotten the lowdown on his partner’s life. Usually Jeremy had a different girl every night, and considering the size of this town, that was a lot of action.

  “Naw, not really.” But there was something there.

  Ward didn’t really have time right now, but they’d been partners for a long time and friends since forever. His partner clicked aimlessly through a news feed he had up on his monitor, obviously not reading.

  “Since the last thing I heard was about a new girlfriend who was pretty hot stuff and nothing since, it has to do with her.”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “She broke up with you?” Ward started to grin. That rarely happened. “Sorry, buddy. Thought you had something special going with this one.” Of course, Jeremy said that about everyone.

  “I did too.” Something in Jeremy’s tone made Ward stop and look at his old friend. “This one hurts, huh?”

  “Yeah. She’s different. Not like the others.” Jeremy glared at him. “And not just because she dumped me.” He turned back to his monitor, brooding.

  “Can you talk to her? Ask for another chance?”

  Jeremy spun around, a look of shock on his face. “Do guys do that?”

  Ward laughed. “If they care, they do.”

  Disgruntled, Jeremy turned away. “It’s not that bad.”

  Just before reaching the door to leave, Ward grinned and called back, “Yet.”

  Chapter 15

  Sari happily bounced through the fresh produce aisle in the grocery store. She’d already picked up a nice pack of beef. Ward might want red meat, but he was going to get it mixed with vegetables. She loved to cook and she loved stir fry, so that was the menu tonight. Leaving the store with her arms full of bags, she made it out to her small car. A new car had been a luxury she couldn’t afford but had anyway. Sometimes a girl just had to make choices. She hit the button to unlock the trunk and stowed her purchases away.

  This was her last stop, having dropped her latest sale off at the courier company with all the proper paperwork. Once the money had hit her account, she’d packed it up and taken it with her. Another thing done and gone. Ward should be arriving at her house in about ten minutes. Perfect. He could help make dinner, too.

  She got into her car and started it up. She checked her phone but there were no messages. Good, then Ward wasn’t likely to be delayed. She pulled into traffic and headed home. She was only a couple of blocks away when she realized a blue truck had been on her tail since leaving the grocery store. She frowned. It was too far away to read the license plate. Making a quick decision, she took a different route for the next couple of blocks. The truck stayed with her.

  Shit. Making several more turns away from her house, she kept watch.

  The truck followed. Pulling into a large drugstore parking lot just past her house, she parked. Rather than sitting inside, she hopped out and casually proceeded to enter the store. Once inside, she stepped off to the side of the front door and watched through the front entrance. The truck came in and parked at the far end of the lot.

  She dialed Ward.

  “Hey, I was just about to call. Red or white wine?”

  “I’m being followed,” she said abruptly.

  Ward was all business. “Where are you?”

  She gave him the location, unable to stop from whispering. It wasn’t logical. The bad guys were outside. They couldn’t hear her. “I’m inside the store. They parked close enough to see me if I leave, but out of the way that I can’t see them.”

  “Don’t move. I’m on my way.” He hung up. She stared down at the phone, hating the broken connection. As much as she knew he shouldn’t drive and talk, she wished he’d kept the phone line open.

  Nervous, she huddled at the front door by the magazine rack, too scared to pass the time wandering the store. What if she missed the truck leaving, or worse – what if they came into the store and she didn’t know? She needed to see their faces. Could she go out there? No. She immediately dismissed the idea. Ward would shoot her if she did. Better to leave it to the professionals.

  Still, she squinted, hoping her eyesight would suddenly zoom to superhuman strength.

  “Excuse me. Do you need help?”

  Heart slamming in her chest, Sari spun around. An older woman with a name badge proclaiming the store brand and the name of Helen. She smiled, relief washing through her. “Sorry, I’m waiting for someone.”

  “Oh.” Uncertain but willing to be convinced, Helen backed away slightly. “If you’re sure everything is all right.” She gave Sari a slight smile and moved off down an aisle.

  Sari waited until she’d disappeared from view then turned her attention back to the truck outside.

  It was gone.

  Shit.

  She raced out the front door in time to see Ward pull into the parking lot. She ran to meet him. Going to the driver’s side, she said, “They just left. I didn’t even see them leave.”

  He frowned, looking around at the parking lot.

  She pointed to the far side of the lot. “They were right over there.”

  He nodded. “I’ll drive over there and take a look.”

  She watched as he pulled forward slowly. She realized that given the truck’s location, they would have easily been able to leave via the back exit, pulling onto the main road without her ever knowing it. She reached Ward as he stepped out of the car. She nodded in the direction of the back exit. “They must have driven off that way.”

  “Can you describe them?”

  “The truck? Yes. The driver and passenger? No, not likely. Considering they couldn’t have gotten far, can we go looking for them? Maybe drive around a few blocks. If we take your car, they wouldn’t know it was me.”

  He grinned. “Hop in.”

  She laughed. This was serious stuff, but with Ward at her side, she no longer felt afraid. He was big and solid. He was good for her. Either that, or she’d come to depend on him more than she realized. Something she’d have to think about. She’d always been more independent than not. Depending on someone, loving someone hurt when the person left. Like her father. She’d had relationships before, but not long term as her plan had always been to return home. Now that she was home, she had to wonder if her intuitive plan had been to come back to Ward all this time.

  They’d been best buds before. They’d not planned a future. They’d been children, but they were adults now. They were friends again and they hadn’t gotten as far as looking at the future. They hadn’t had time.

  Ward pulled out on the one-way street and drove down several blocks. “You need to give me a description of the truck.”

  She blurted out everything she could remember. “One of the guys was tall, like I couldn’t see the top of his head through the windshield. The other was much shorter and wearing dark sunglasses.”

  Ward asked several pointed questions and to her surprise, she was able to answer. Yes, it was a full-size truck with the extra-long cab. It had a large chrome bumper with a winch of some sort on the front. It was not all the same color; instead the passenger door was a different color than the rest of the body.

  Ward sighed at that. “A truck with that same description was stolen overnight from a construction yard.”

  Silence. Cautiously, she asked, “Are we assuming it’s the same two guys who broke into my house? They were driving a stolen truck then too, weren’t they?”

  “Yes, they were. And I’d really like to get my hands on them.”

  She winced, remembering the attack that had knocked him out. “I bet you would,” she murmured.

  He shot her a dark grin. “We take a dim view of attacks on a police officer.”

  “And if they gain another bruise or two while they resist arrest, that wouldn’t upset you either, right?”

  He cracked his knuckles. “Right.”

  They drove around for another ten minutes before she sighed. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”

  “Most likely. These guys are pretty canny. If they thought something was off, they’d have bolted to try again another day.”

  “That’s what worries me.” She thought about the problem for a moment. “What would they have wanted? They followed me in broad daylight.”

  “Having searched your place and not finding what they were looking for, it makes sense to follow you and see if you have what they want in your vehicle or on your person.”

  She gulped at that. “Great.” She almost laughed, but it came out closer to a squeak. “As you have spent so much time at my place already, I think you should move into my spare room as a precaution. I really don’t want those assholes to return to my house while I’m sleeping,” she muttered. “That’s presuming I’ll ever sleep again.”

  He shot her a glance. “Did you ever get that security system set up?”

  “Yes, but what’s the chance these two could bypass it easily?”

  He shrugged. “Quite possible, unfortunately.”

  As he spoke, he turned another block and she realized he’d circled around to her house. He drove up the long winding driveway to park at her front door.

  “Of course, parking your truck here might be a good deterrent, too.”

  “It might, but we need to retrieve your car.”

  “After dinner. It’s a short walk. Good for our digestion.” She tossed him a cheeky grin. A grin that widened at his cry. “Walk?”

  “Sure, why not? We drive all the time. I’ve barely made time for any exercise since moving back to Canada. It’s ridiculous. I used to jog in the mornings, walk in the evenings. Yoga most days and now…now I’m lucky if I get up and down the stairs more than a dozen times a day. Hardly noteworthy.”

  He waited until she unlocked the door. She stepped in and groaned. “We have to go to my car now. The groceries are still in the car.”

  He shook his head. “Walk or drive?”

  “Drive. I’m starving.”

  He laughed. They made the trip in ten minutes, both racing home to try to park in front of each other. Sari grabbed her bags and led the way through the front door and straight through to the kitchen. She dumped the bags, opened the first one, and found the beef. She turned around and gasped.

  A stranger stood in front of her, arm raised.

  “Wh—”

  She barely felt the blow, but her body collapsed like cooked noodles and she dropped to the floor.

  *

  Ward laughed as Sari ran ahead of him, determined to win the race. He let her. He hadn’t seen her this playful since she’d returned home. He loved it. There’d been so much stress in her life lately, this was a wonderful release. For him too.

  He followed her into the house, closing the door behind him. He could hear her in the kitchen. He noticed the shop door was open. Normally she kept that door closed, locked. He stuck his head inside. Empty.

  Out of habit, he shut the door for her then carried on to the kitchen. He marveled again at the chaotic layout. Double staircase, one on either side of the house. Both rose in different directions. Both were different widths, made of different materials, and ended at different heights. It was a house where additions had been added, with more coming in behind. Someone at a different period in the house’s life had coated the place in a uniform color, almost incorporating the additions into the main part, but somehow not quite.

  The house had a jagged appearance. Some corners were rounded and others were sharp. Some doorways were standard and others were arched. He grinned as he noticed two separate moldings on the floor and ceiling matching up perfectly at the corners. If nothing else, this house had character. He had no idea about the size of it, but it had to be at least five thousand square feet. A new roof must have cost her a fortune. To put uniform flooring throughout would be another small fortune.

  Speaking of which, he had no idea how set she was financially. Sure, she had the roof replaced, installed a security system, and added a new window, but she’d also made a comment about money being tight and needing to do things in stages, and no wonder.

  He wandered into the kitchen to find it empty. Where was she? Shaking his head, he went about putting the rest of the groceries away. She’d probably just gone to the washroom. There were at least three bathrooms that he knew of and probably more. The place was full of secrets. Yet it wasn’t haunting in any way. It was homey. The changes had been made with love.

  Once the food was put away, he didn’t know what to do. She should be back soon. He frowned. Walking to the bottom of the closest stairwell, the one leading to her bedroom, he called up.

  “Sari? Are you okay?”

  There was no answer. He frowned and bolted up the stairs. “Sari? Are you there?”

  No answer. He ran down the stairs and back up the other staircase. “Sari?”

  Now he switched into panic mode. He raced out back and then through the rooms on the other side of the house. Five minutes later, he slammed his fist into the wall.

  Sari was gone.

  How? He tried to think logically. She hadn’t been but a couple of minutes ahead of him and inside the house at that. She might have gone out the back door, but why…and why wouldn’t she have said something to him? Unless she was hiding for fun. Only this didn’t feel like fun.

  His stomach wanted to heave.

  He couldn’t get his mind wrapped around it. There’d been no place for her to go. No time for her to have gone. So…someone had to have taken her.

  In his mind, he saw her unlock the front door then realize that the groceries were still in the car. They’d left without relocking the front door. And she’d gone in first without him.

  Stupid. His fist clenched. He wanted to punch the wall yet again. Instead, he called his partner. “I need you to come to Sari’s house.”

  “What?” Jeremy’s voice was surprised but agreeable. “Okay. Be there in ten.”

  “Thanks.” He hated the relief in his voice, but honest to God, he was barely keeping panic at bay. He should just call it in, but call what in? The reporting officer would laugh his ass off. Sure, Sari might have gone out the back door, but why would she? And why would she have gone without saying anything to him? None of this made any sense. Taking his time, he slowly and methodically searched the main level of the house. Feeling stupid but unable to help himself, he opened cupboards and closets and checked inside everything.

  Nothing. He returned to the shop and checked there. Nothing. He dropped the ladder and went up to the attic. Nothing appeared disturbed, and there was no sign that Sari had been there lately.

  “Damn it.” He headed upstairs to her room. There was another bedroom on the same floor as well as multiple closets and another bathroom. The bathroom led to her bedroom. He knocked several times just in case, but she wasn’t there. The room was empty. He raced over to her closet and opened the door. The tall narrow doorway stood open ever so slightly. He pulled it open as wide as it could go and stuck his head inside. “Sari?”

  No answer. And why would there be? He’d checked out every room.

  Hearing a vehicle pull up out front, he raced downstairs to open the door for Jeremy.

  “Hey. What’s going on this time?” Jeremy’s big grin made Ward want to reach out and shake him. But his friend didn’t know what was going on.

  Then again, neither did he.

  Ward motioned his friend inside and quickly explained.

  “What? She’s gone? Like…gone gone?”

  “Yes, damn it.” He flung his arms wide. “She wasn’t out of my sight but five minutes, and she’s gone. I’ve searched the house from top to bottom. There’s no sign of her inside or out. She started to make dinner, as in one package of beef was opened, but that’s it. The other groceries were still sitting in the bag. I figured she’d gone to the bathroom, so I put the groceries away. Only she never came back. So I went looking. There’s no sign of her.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it’s crazy.” Then he realized he hadn’t said anything about Sari’s earlier call. Quickly he explained.

  “Was there a truck here when you arrived?” asked Jeremy. “Could these guys have arrived before you and hidden inside?”

  Ward stared at his friend. “I don’t know. There was no sign of the truck when we got here, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t parked somewhere else. They might have taken her out the back way, too. Jesus. I have to find her.”

  Jeremy laid a calming hand on his arm. “Look, I’ll phone it in. Give the station the description of the truck—”

  “No, I already did that. I did it on the way back from delivering Sari to her car. I need to find her.” He spun around. “I never thought of a basement. I wonder if this crazy place has one of those, too.”

  “Let’s look.”

  “Sure, but where? I’ve searched everywhere downstairs and never came across a door leading below.”

  Systematically, the two men went back over the same floor and opened doors, cupboards, closets. Nothing. No Sari, no door leading to a basement.

  Ward’s heart seized. The longer this went on, the worse the chances were of finding her.

  He couldn’t lose Sari now.

  Chapter 16

  Sari moaned. Her head pounded and her arms ached. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She hurt like she hadn’t since she fell out of a tree, hitting every branch on the way down. Now that had hurt. Then again, so did this. Waiting for her head to clear, she lay there quietly.

  Was she in bed? No, Ward should be here with her. Shouldn’t he? He was coming for dinner. No, he was here already.