Harlequin Romantic Suspense March 2016 Box Set Page 17

  “You sure look happy this evening,” Steve observed.

  “I am happy,” she replied.

  “Any particular reason?” He raised a dark eyebrow and studied her intently.

  “The weathermen are calling for rain tonight. That’s put every rancher who has come in here to eat in a good mood,” she replied.

  “A good soaking rain would definitely be welcome,” he replied. “It’s been so terribly dry.”

  “Anything else I can get for you?” she asked.

  “No, I’m good for now.” He reopened his paperback book. “Thanks, Trisha.”

  Trisha nodded and then went behind the counter and put the coffeepot back where it belonged. Daisy walked up next to her. “Why don’t you go get yourself something to eat and take a break now that the dinner rush is over?”

  “That sounds good to me. I’m starving and you know how much I love your chicken pot pie,” Trisha replied.

  Daisy grinned. “Everyone loves my chicken pot pie when I have it on the menu. And thanks for covering for Julia.”

  “No problem,” Trisha replied.

  While she filled a plate in the kitchen, she thought about the night before with Dusty. He’d told her he loved her and that he wanted to be her forever man. That was the real reason for the happiness she could barely contain.

  For the first time since Cooper’s birth, a strong hope burned in her heart, a hope built on the love she’d found with Dusty. She truly believed that they would get through whatever they had to face in order to finally claim their forever life together.

  Thank God she hadn’t run. Thank God she hadn’t packed up Cooper and left town when those flowers and the note had been left at the motel. Since that night she’d gotten stronger and more determined to build a real life for herself and her son, and now her future definitely included Dusty.

  If only her mother were alive. If only she could meet Dusty and see the love her daughter had finally found. Trisha knew with certainty that her mother would have loved Dusty.

  The chicken pot pie had never tasted as good as it did tonight. Work had never been as pleasurable as it had been this evening and it was all because she was confident that she not only loved, but was loved.

  It had been after one o’clock the night before when Dusty had awakened her from her sleep on the sofa with him. He’d left at the back door with a kiss and the promise that they were at the beginning of an incredible journey together, one that would last an entire lifetime. It was difficult not to be happy with that promise ringing in her ears, in the very depth of her heart.

  She finished her break and returned to the floor, where the rest of the evening remained pleasant. By eight o’clock dark storm clouds stole away the last of the day’s light and the talk among the customers was of how badly the rain was needed.

  She didn’t even mind too much when Shep Harmon, Greg Albertson and Zeke Osmond came in and took a booth in her section. Nothing would bring down her positive mood, not even the cowboys from the Humes ranch.

  They ordered pie and coffee, and for a change Zeke didn’t hassle her. She served them without any fuss.

  “The boys appear to be behaving themselves,” Daisy said as she and Trisha once again stood together behind the counter.

  “Yeah, nothing short of a miracle, right?” Trisha replied wryly.

  Daisy smiled at her. “Speaking of miracles, you’ve had a new lilt in your voice tonight, a brighter sparkle in your eyes. I warned that dimpled cowboy not to trifle with you.”

  Trisha laughed. “He’s not.”

  “Then are you going to marry that man and quit your job?”

  “Yes, yes, I am going to marry him.” Her heartbeat quickened with her words. “We’re going to get married and live happily ever after, but don’t worry, I’m not going to quit this job. I love working here and plan to continue until you fire me.”

  Daisy’s smile widened. “I don’t see that happening. But I’m happy for you. I’d really hate to lose you, Trisha. You’re one of the best waitresses I’ve ever had working for me, and the customers love you.”

  But somebody loved her too much. Trisha mentally shook herself. She didn’t want to think about that right now. She refused to entertain any negative thoughts. She just wanted to exist in the happiness zone that the world offered her right now.

  “I hope you’re planning a big wedding and I hope you invite me. There’s nothing I like more than to cry like a baby at weddings,” Daisy said.

  “We haven’t really talked about the actual wedding plans, but of course you’ll be invited,” she assured her boss. “Dusty is going to start looking at houses here in town. He wants to get us settled into a place where we can begin our life together.”

  “I envy you,” Daisy said, a wistful glint in her eyes.

  “You’d like to get married again?”

  “Oh, hell, no,” Daisy replied. “I’ve already divorced two big losers. I don’t want to marry anyone, but there are times when I wouldn’t mind some hard male body to warm my bed at night.” Daisy cast her gaze around. “Unfortunately I’m better at business than at love, and I suppose I’m married to this place.”

  Trisha smiled at her in amusement. “I have a feeling that if you really decided you wanted a man to warm your bed you wouldn’t have much trouble finding someone.”

  Daisy threw a strand of her flaming-red hair over her shoulder, and her eyes sparkled with her irreverent zest for life. “You’re right. I could probably even bag me some boy toy if I put my mind to it. I just don’t know if I want the hassle of having to be nice to somebody when they leave my bed.”

  Trisha laughed. Daisy was definitely a colorful character, one of the many the town boasted whom Trisha had come to love. Again she was grateful that she hadn’t cut and run from this wonderful little town and the good people who lived here.

  She bit back a sigh as Zeke motioned for her to come to their booth. “Duty calls,” she murmured to Daisy and hurried over to the three men.

  “Can we get some more coffee or are you just pretending to work here?” Zeke asked. “And we’ll take our tabs, too.”

  “Ah, Zeke, and here I thought we were actually going to get through this evening with us being nice to each other,” she replied.

  “Yeah, Zeke...lighten up,” Shep said with a touch of annoyance. “Why do you always have to be a jerk to her?” He cast Trisha an apologetic smile.

  Trisha went to retrieve the coffeepot and then returned to fill up their cups.

  “Shep says I owe you an apology,” Zeke said.

  “I wouldn’t want you to do something you don’t feel like doing,” she replied as she placed their tab on the tabletop.

  “Okay, I feel like it. I’m sorry for being rude. In fact, I think maybe you and I need some sort of a reset button, Trisha. We’ve kinda been on the wrong foot with each other lately. I promise I’ll try to do better.” He looked at her guilelessly.

  She eyed him in surprise. “Thanks, Zeke, I appreciate that.”

  She left the booth, confused about what he might be up to. She didn’t really believe his apology, and there was no way she thought that he was all of a sudden going to become a gentleman. Leopards didn’t change their spots, and Zeke Osmond was spotty as hell.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when twenty minutes later they left the café. Steve Kaufman also left, along with another couple, leaving her station empty of customers. Thirty minutes more and it would be time for her to go home.

  Outside the night sky was dark except for an occasional flash of lightning in the distance. “I just heard we’re under a tornado watch,” Daisy said as she moved to stand next to Trisha behind the counter. “Its times like this I think about moving to the beach in Florida.”

  Trisha smiled. “And then you’d have to worry about hurricanes.�
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  “And California has earthquakes. Guess I’ll just stay here for the rest of my life,” Daisy said. “At least I’ve got a basement here and a storm cellar at home.”

  “Hopefully the storm won’t get too severe tonight,” Trisha replied.

  She also hoped that the rain would hold off until they picked up Cooper from Juanita’s house and got back to the ranch.

  “If Dusty is outside waiting for you, why don’t you go ahead and knock off for the night,” Daisy said at twenty minutes until ten.

  “Are you sure?” Trisha asked.

  “Go. It looks like it might storm at any minute, and I’m not expecting a sudden rush of customers,” Daisy replied. “In fact, it looks like everyone is heading home to hunker down for the storm.”

  Trisha immediately beelined to the break room and retrieved her purse. Even though Dusty hadn’t come inside yet, she knew he was probably in the parking lot waiting.

  She stepped out of the back door and immediately spied his pickup where he usually parked. A rumble of thunder split the otherwise silence of the night.

  She’d taken only two steps out the door when a strong arm swung around her neck and she was pulled tight against a hard body.

  A wild panic shot through her as the arm tightened against her throat. She reached her hands up in an effort to dislodge the pressure...pressure that was slowly cutting off her air supply.

  Help! her brain fired in alarm.

  “Dusty!” she managed to scream just before tiny dots danced in front of her eyes and then...nothing.

  CHAPTER 13

  Thunder rolled loudly from above as Dusty got out of his pickup and hurried toward the café’s back door. Trisha should be getting off her shift at any minute and he was eager to get her and Cooper home before the storm hit.

  The last weather report he’d heard minutes before on the truck radio had them under a tornado watch, something that was always taken seriously in these parts of the country.

  The last bad storm that had roared through the area had taken Cass’s life. That had been last spring, but Dusty knew fall tornadoes could be just as deadly.

  The sweet pungent scent of ozone greeted him and reminded him of that late afternoon when the tornado had struck. Afterward Cass’s body had been found between the house and the bunkhouse.

  The ranch hands believed she’d been coming to warn them of the danger of the impending storm when a tree branch had struck her in the head. He wondered if there would ever come a time when grief didn’t ache in him at thoughts of Cass Holiday.

  He shoved away thoughts of the tragedy as he walked up the hallway past the break room and into the main dining room, where Daisy sat at the counter with a cup of coffee before her. “What are you doing in here?” she asked.

  “What do you mean? I’m here to pick up Trisha.”

  “She headed out about ten or fifteen minutes ago,” Daisy replied with a concerned expression. “Didn’t you see her?”

  Dusty’s heart jumped out of his skin. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Maybe she’s still in the break room.” Daisy got down from her stool.

  Dusty whirled around and headed for the smaller room, hoping...praying she was there and that there was no reason for the sick panic spreading through his entire body.

  “Trisha?” He flew into the break room but it took only a single glance to see that not only was the room empty, but the adjoining bathroom was also vacant.

  He turned and nearly ran over Daisy. “She’s not here.”

  Daisy quickly stepped aside. “Maybe she’s in your truck,” she said hopefully. “Maybe you just missed each other somehow when you came inside and she’s in the truck waiting for you.”

  Dusty didn’t wait to hear anything else Daisy might say. He raced down the hallway and crashed through the back door and into the parking area.

  “Trisha!” He raced for his truck and ripped open the passenger door even though he knew she wasn’t there.

  His heart beat frantically. He slammed the door shut and gazed wildly around the parking lot. Where on earth had she gone? What had happened to her?

  His gaze landed on something on the ground just to the right of the back door. No. No! The word thundered in his head as he realized the object was her purse.

  He raced forward and grabbed it at the same time Daisy appeared at the back door. “I’ve called Dillon,” she said.

  Dusty gripped Trisha’s purse tight against his chest. She’d obviously stepped out of the back door. Somebody had been here. Somebody had caused her to drop her purse and disappear. Was she dead someplace in the parking lot? The very thought filled him with an overwhelming nausea.

  Lightning rent the black sky followed by an explosive clap of thunder. Dusty shoved Trisha’s purse at Daisy and then began to check on the sides and around each parked vehicle in the lot. He moved quickly yet methodically, the panic inside him like a wild, thrashing beast.

  She wasn’t by or under any of the cars. She wasn’t hidden by the Dumpster. The idea that while he’d been sitting in his truck listening to the weather report somebody had attacked Trisha welled up an impotent rage inside him.

  What had he missed? How in the hell had he not seen, not heard that she was in danger? Just when he felt that he was losing his mind, Dillon pulled into the lot, the light on the top of his car swirling red beams that fired through the darkness.

  “She’s gone, Dillon.” Dusty grabbed Dillon by his shoulders when he got out of the car. “I didn’t see what happened to her. She came out of the back door and disappeared. She’s not here, and we’ve got to find her before she gets hurt.”

  Dillon winced as Dusty’s fingers bit into his shoulders. “Calm down, Dusty.”

  Calm down? How in the hell could he calm down when Trisha was gone and he had no idea where she might be? He dropped his hands from Dillon and stepped back, every nerve in his body electrified with the need to do something, anything. They had to find her now.

  “Let’s go inside, Dusty. I need to ask Daisy some questions,” Dillon said gently.

  “She doesn’t know where Trisha is,” Dusty said, vaguely aware that he sounded half-hysterical. Hell, he was totally hysterical. This was his worst nightmare come true.

  Cooper. The little boy’s name exploded in his brain. “I’ve got to call Juanita. I need to make sure that Cooper is okay.” He yanked his cell phone from his pocket and his fingers trembled as he punched the buttons to connect him to the older woman.

  “I’m going to call in some of the other men,” Dillon said to Dusty and stepped away from him to make his own call.

  Juanita answered on the second ring. “Juanita, have you seen or heard from Trisha tonight?”

  “No...why?”

  Emotion pressed thick in the back of his throat. “She’s missing,” he finally managed to choke out. “Dillon is with me at the café and we’re all looking for her right now. Is Cooper okay?”

  “He’s fine. He’s sleeping.”

  Dusty closed his eyes against a crashing wave of pain. When Cooper woke up, the first thing he’d want was his mother. Dear God, let her be safe and sound when Cooper woke up. “Can he stay there with you for now?”

  “Of course,” she replied without hesitation.

  Dusty opened his eyes as another bolt of lightning slashed the sky. “Call me if Trisha contacts you. And Juanita, if she comes to pick up Cooper, don’t let her take him anywhere.”

  “Do you think he’s in danger?” Juanita’s voice held a wealth of concern.

  “I don’t know what to think,” he replied. “I’ll see to it that Dillon parks an officer outside your house just to keep an eye out. I’ll be in touch.”

  He disconnected the call and turned to Dillon, who was now off his phone. With panic still trembling thro
ugh him, he asked Dillon to send an officer to Juanita’s house. Dillon immediately dispatched one of his men.

  “We need to do something,” Dusty said. Urgency surged a sick high of adrenaline through him.

  “I need to question Daisy. We have to find out who Trisha interacted with right before she disappeared.” Dillon’s voice was deceptively calm.

  “We don’t have time to ask questions,” Dusty replied frantically. His mind spun in a thousand different directions. He wanted officers banging on every door in the town. He needed action rather than words.

  “Dusty, we need something to help us figure out who to search for.” Dillon grabbed him by the arm. “Let’s get inside and see what information Daisy—” The last of his sentence was swallowed by another crash of thunder.

  Reluctantly Dusty nodded. Dillon dropped his grip on his arm and Dusty followed him into the building. Daisy had shut down the café. The only people remaining inside were her and four staff members who were cleaning in the kitchen and the dining area.

  Dusty felt as if he’d swallowed the storm. Fear thundered through his heart and the very blood in his veins sizzled as if he’d taken a direct lightning strike.

  Trisha, where are you? Who has you? Dammit, why hadn’t he come inside when he’d first arrived to pick her up? Why hadn’t he seen her when she’d stepped out of the back door?

  Dillon had only started to question Daisy when Officers Ben Taylor and Michael Goodall arrived. Two lawmen when Dusty wanted a thousand.

  “Did Trisha act nervous or strange before she got off work tonight?” Dillon asked Daisy.

  “Not at all, she was her usual self.” Dark concern shone from Daisy’s eyes. “In fact she was in an exceptionally good mood.”

  “Did anyone give her any trouble?” Dusty asked, unable to stay silent. “Did any strangers come into the café this evening?”

  “No and no,” Daisy said. “It was a regular night with all of the regular customers.”

  “I need names,” Dillon replied.

  Daisy began to list names of the people who had eaten at the café during the evening. Dillon scribbled the names down on a notepad he’d pulled out of his pocket.