“You know we’re doing everything we can, Valerie.”

  It wasn’t what she wanted to hear from her boss. “I know about the search parties. They’ve come up with nothing. What about kidnapping? I want to be part of this investigation.”

  Gage’s voice gentled. “You don’t need me to tell you that you’re much too involved in this...that you could wear blinders and not know it.”

  Valerie nodded, admitting to herself that this was probably true.

  He then turned his attention to Guy Redwing. “How do you feel about Valerie becoming involved?”

  Valerie looked at the face of the man beside her. A strong face that broadcast his ancestry. She didn’t think about what that might mean for him. Didn’t give a thought to the fact that he might feel she was in some way denigrating him by insisting she become involved in his investigation.

  Guy Redwing paused a few moments. His expression remained stoic. “All help is welcome, Gage. We need to find that little girl.”

  CONARD COUNTY: CODE ADAM

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Rachel Lee

  Rachel Lee was hooked on writing by the age of twelve and practiced her craft as she moved from place to place all over the United States. This New York Times bestselling author now resides in Florida and has the joy of writing full-time.

  Books by Rachel Lee

  Harlequin Intrigue

  Conard County: The Next Generation

  Cornered in Conard County

  Missing in Conard County

  Murdered in Conard County

  Conard County Justice

  Conard County: Hard Proof

  Conard County: Traces of Murder

  Conard County: Christmas Bodyguard

  Conard County: Mistaken Identity

  Conard County: Christmas Crime Spree

  Conard County: Code Adam

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Guy Redwing—Conard County Sheriff’s detective. Native American. Leading team to find the missing child. Doesn’t want some outside detective getting involved.

  Valerie Brighton—Gunnison, CO, detective. Sister to May Chamberlain. Involves herself in the investigation of her niece’s disappearance.

  Gage Dalton—Conard County Sheriff. Approves Valerie Brighton’s involvement in the investigation.

  May Chamberlain—Teacher on sabbatical, mother of missing child.

  Chet Chamberlain—Ob-gyn, father of missing child. May’s ex-husband.

  Philip Margolis—A man with a serious grudge against Chet Chamberlain.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Excerpt from The Evidence Next Door by Julie Miller

  Chapter One

  “Lizzie’s gone!”

  From the moment Valerie Brighton had heard her sister May’s sobbing voice on the telephone, Valerie had hit high gear. She’d quickly arranged for an indefinite leave from her job as a detective with the Gunnison, Colorado, police department, then hit the road for Wyoming with a couple of hastily packed suitcases.

  Her two-year-old niece was missing. Vanished. May had said that search parties roamed Conard County looking for the child. There was no way Valerie could stay away. No way.

  She passed through mountains with deep verdant valleys into the rolling range surrounding Conard City. Wide open, it was great ranch country, and it was vast. Except for those mountain ranges to the east and west, it seemed almost endless.

  Keeping herself to just above the speed limit maddened her. She couldn’t drive fast enough to suit herself. May needed her. Her niece needed her. Even though her badge would probably get her through any traffic stop, the stop would still cost her time—time she refused to spare.

  What was that old problem she’d worked on in a long-ago physics class? The one where they had calculated the time saved by traveling over a long distance at one speed and compared it to traveling at a much higher speed? The higher speed only saved a few minutes, much to her surprise.

  Just a few minutes. She had to keep reminding herself of that as her foot tried to press more heavily on the accelerator.

  God, May must be living through an indescribable hell.

  Just about five miles before she reached Conard City, she caught sight of a small bundle on the shoulder of the road. Her heart nearly stopped as she jammed on the brakes and came to a skidding halt on gravel. Her niece?

  “Oh, please, God,” she whispered. “Please. Not my niece.”

  She jammed her black SUV into Park, then ran back along the road to the white heap.

  Not her niece. No. She started breathing again. A dog. A medium-sized black-and-white dog, struck by a car and appearing dead. She would have turned to leave, but then the animal raised its head.

  “Hell,” she said to the empty spaces. “Hell.” She couldn’t leave that poor dog like this. A sliver of sorrow managed to pierce the huge sense of anguish that squeezed her heart.

  Bending, heedless of her tailored black pantsuit, she carefully lifted the dog, hearing it whimper. Poor thing. Poor, poor doggie.

  She placed the injured animal in the back of her SUV and hit the road again, this time driving faster. Now she needed those few minutes. Every one of them. As much as that dog needed a vet.

  Just as she spied the town before her, she saw a sign.

  Mike Windwalker, DVM.

  Valerie swore again at the inescapable delay and turned onto the rough gravel road leading to a large building labeled Veterinary Hospital and Boarding.

  She braked on an unpaved parking lot and hurried inside. At the reception desk she said, “I found an injured dog on the roadside. He’s in the back of my car.”

  There was no hesitation at the desk. A technician appeared immediately from the back and he hurried out to the car with her. With gentle hands, he checked the dog all over. Valerie waited impatiently.

  “We’ll get him inside,” he told her. “You want to sign him over to us?”

  “Sign?”

  “Then we can take care of him, depending on what we can do. Or put him to sleep.”

  Valerie stomped down on her own impatience, allowing concern for the animal to creep in again. “No, I don’t want to sign him over. I’ll pay for his care, whatever it is.”

  Inside, the vet was waiting, and he regarded her with gentle dark eyes.

  She signed several papers with an angry slash and left her cell phone number. “Any deposit?” she demanded. “Look, I’ve got to get to my sister. Her baby has disappeared.”

  The clinic grew suddenly silent, except for some dogs barking in the background.

  “May Chamberlain,” the vet said with a short nod of understanding. “Get on your way. We can worry about money later.”

  The dog disappeared into the back as fast as Valerie disappeared out the door.

  May. She had to get to May. She had to help find her niece.

  Chapter Two

  May’s house sat at the very edge of town, a large two-story brick structure with a front porch that was decorated with white pillars and white gingerbread. A few cars of various ages lined the street. Valerie pulled into the driveway behind her sister’s blue Explorer.

  Then she headed in the front door, unsurprised to see several women her sister’s age surrounding May like broody hens. Probably keeping her company. Probably trying to steady her through this awful time.

  The instant May saw Valerie, she rose from the black leather couch where she’d been seated and ran into her arms. May began sobbing, wrenching sobs that shook her entire body.

  “Lizzie is gone,” May wept, her voice almost smothered by worry and grief. “She’s gone!”

  Valerie held her tightly, wishing to God she could offer some comfort other than her presence. “You need to sit,” she said quietly, feeling her sister’s weakness, the way May clung to her as if for physical support.

  “Come on,” she prodded gently. “Please sit. It won’t make the waiting and worrying any easier, but it’ll keep you from collapsing.”

  Still shaking, May allowed herself to be guided back to the couch. “Val, I’m going out of my mind!”

  Sitting beside her, Valerie took her sister’s cold, trembling hands in hers. “I know you are, sweetie. I know you are.”

  May lifted her tear-stained face to look at her sister from reddened, swollen eyes. “She was gone when I woke this morning. Gone from her crib. They think she might have let herself out during the night. Oh my God, my poor Lizzie!”

  The sobs renewed and Valerie wrapped her arms around her sister, holding her tight. Her own heart squeezed so hard that it hurt. “Where’s Chet?�
�� she asked eventually, referring to May’s ex-husband.

  “He’s out with the search parties,” one of the young women answered. “I’m Gina, by the way.”

  Valerie gave her a brief nod. “We went to school together, right?”

  Gina nodded, her own eyes red-rimmed.

  May demanded brokenly, “How could Lizzie have gotten out? How?”

  “It happens,” Valerie answered. “It happens.” She knew it did. During her law enforcement career, she’d seen it happen a couple of times. Inquisitive or bored kids, knowing more about opening doors than their parents imagined. Always a terrifying situation.

  “I can’t bear to think of her out there all alone. It gets chilly at night and all she had on were her fuzzy pajamas.”

  May’s sobs renewed but slowly they lessened. She’d spent all her energy crying. Eventually, she eased away from Valerie and grabbed a handful of tissues from a box on the glass-topped coffee table. The interior of the house, in contrast to the outside, was decorated in a modern style. Wedgwood blue paint covered the walls, giving color to an otherwise colorless room of black, white and chrome.

  Valerie glanced down at herself and saw her suit jacket was pretty much decorated with black and white dog fur. A match for this room, she thought humorlessly. She clenched her hands, struggling to remain calm even as fear rattled her heart.

  One of the women, also vaguely remembered from school days, brought a plate of store-bought cookies from the kitchen and set it on the table. Her name was Jenna Blair, Valerie seemed to remember. “Eat something, May. You need the energy to get through this.”

  Her sister could probably also use a pill or a shot to help her calm down. Valerie shook her head slightly. May wouldn’t accept it. The sisters were both stubborn, sometimes to a fault.

  She glanced at her watch and saw that night was approaching. So many hours since she’d left Gunnison. So many hours since May had called her after making the terrifying discovery. No one could even be sure how long Lizzie had been gone.

  Night. A small child toddling out there without protection, without much-needed warmth as the night’s inevitable chill deepened. Her mouth went dry with all the possibilities she’d been refusing to consider: the cold, coyotes. Other dangers, places she could fall into and hurt herself. Drowning in some creek, unable to get out of it.

  She yanked her thoughts away from those paths. She couldn’t afford to think this way or she’d be useless to May.

  But she couldn’t forget the last time she’d held Lizzie, a sweet-smelling little bundle of giggles and grins. A bit devilish, too. Pulling the upholstery buttons off an overstuffed chair. Leaning through the stair railing, calling out with glee. The kid in the bucket swing who couldn’t seem to fly high enough. A little daredevil. Lizzie loved her thrills.

  “You know,” she said to May, “Lizzie is probably out there having a great time. You know how she loves an adventure.”

  May nodded but her face didn’t brighten at all.

  Maybe that hadn’t been the smartest thing to say, Valerie thought. Reminding May of her daughter’s mischievous nature wouldn’t help. Nothing could help, least of all when she felt like shattering herself.

  But she couldn’t do that. May needed her to be strong right now.

  “Isn’t any cop keeping in touch?” she asked the room at large. “A family liaison or something?”

  May spoke almost angrily. “What good will that do? I don’t need another person trying to tell me not to worry.”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of keeping you posted about what’s going on.” Right then she knew she was going to have a problem with this two-bit sheriff’s department. At least if Lizzie wasn’t found soon.

  * * *

  THE LIAISON SHOWED up less than an hour later. Her name was Kerri Canady and she was accompanied by a fluffy white service dog.

  Valerie eyed her with curiosity, thinking that dog indicated what might be an interesting story. Apart from that, she was annoyed that the woman arrived wearing a dark green uniform windbreaker, an obvious reminder of what was happening to the temperature outside. God, didn’t anyone think?

  Kerri squatted in front of May, her voice gentle.

  “Mrs. Chamberlain, we haven’t found Lizzie yet. But we’re going to keep on looking through the night and we’ll expand the search area.”

  May regarded her from dry eyes, her face ashen. “I can’t believe you haven’t found her yet.”

  “Kids, even little ones like Lizzie, can sometimes walk a surprising distance. We’re also going to recheck the search area we’ve already covered. If she’s out there, we’ll find her.”

  May’s voice rose. “If? Where else would she be? Where? She’ll die of the cold tonight! You know that, don’t you? You know that!”

  “Kids,” Valerie interjected, needing to offer a thread of hope, “are surprisingly resourceful. She probably got tired and crawled into some safe place to sleep. A place that’s warm. A place that’s harder to find.” But the deepening night outside seemed to be creeping into her own heart, and her own expression of hope sounded hollow in her ears.

  May’s desperate eyes pinned her. “Do you really believe that?”

  “I do,” Valerie answered firmly even though she didn’t. “I’ve known of it happening. There was a four-year-old. Nights were cold. After three days everyone was about to give up when one of the searchers found the boy ten miles from the campsite he’d left. Other than scratches, he was fine. Hungry and cold but fine. Still, he’d traveled ten miles.”

  May nodded jerkily. “Okay. Okay.” Then she sank back into the depths. “She’s gone,” she whispered. “Gone.”

  Valerie looked at Kerri. “How many searchers do you have?”

  One corner of Kerri’s mouth lifted. “Half the damn county, seems like. People have been coming from everywhere.”

  “And the search radius?”

  “We’re expanding to ten miles right now. With all these helping hands pouring in throughout the day, we’ve got plenty of people out there.”

  Valerie nodded. She no longer felt quite as annoyed with the sheriff’s department, but the feeling hadn’t fully subsided. “How come it took you so long to get here?”

  Kerri frowned slightly. “You know, I was dealing with the victim of a different kind of problem. As for everyone else, they’re either searching or maintaining necessary patrols. If you have questions about how we’re handling this, I suggest you talk to Detective Redwing. He’s got oversight.”

  “Not the sheriff?” Valerie knew she was being difficult but didn’t care. She knew how a police department operated. They couldn’t just drop all their work to focus on a single task, no matter how urgent. But sitting here like this, unable to do anything, was edging her concern for May and Lizzie with a trickle of anger.

  “The sheriff,” Kerri said, “has oversight of everything. As you know.” Then she rose from her squat and sat in a nearby chair. The service dog stayed right beside her.

  Valerie turned to May. “It’ll be okay.” She wished she believed it.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning brought a bright blue sky that struck Valerie as a betrayal. As if the weather cared.

  But last night had been chilly enough to be of major concern to those who believed a small child was lost out there. Despite the story she had told May, she knew all too well that such stories rarely had a happy ending. Such endings were exceptions to a nearly hard and fast rule.

  Just after midnight, May had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. Her sleep was restless, though, filled with terrors that sometimes made her cry out. Small escape. Or maybe no escape at all. While she had slept, Valerie had grabbed naps as she could.

  Valerie stood at the front window, watching the day brighten to an almost hard brilliance. Full of promises that ought to be painted in black, not blue.

  She heard stirring behind her and saw that Kerri Canady was waking in the chair she’d used most of the night. Beside her, her service dog also stirred, sitting upright. On duty.

  “Coffee?” Valerie asked.

  “Love some, if you don’t mind.”