Time Thieves E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Time has a way of solving many problems – but it also has a way of creating many more…
Sari grew up with a secret that involved her missing father… The only other person who knows the truth refuses to acknowledge it. Sari can't forget what happened. Ever. She lost someone she loved.

Fifteen years later, the possibility of reversing the series of events drives her to keep searching for answers. Especially now that she's finally returned to where it all happened and with the people – one in particular – that she'd been forced to leave behind.

Fifteen years ago, Ward was devastated when Sari's mother fled to France with Sari. Even at ten, they'd been sweethearts. But the mystery of what happened back then had lain fallow.... waiting for someone to stir up the soil. And damn if Sari wasn't the best at doing just that…

Sari and Ward are out of time. Can they solve the mystery of what happened? Or do they become the next victims…

Leseprobe

Time Thieves

Time-Travel Romantic Suspense

Dale Mayer

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Complimentary Download

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Sneak Peek from Vampire in Denial

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

Time is said to heal problems while potentially creating even more than it fixes…

Sari grew up realizing a secret that involved her missing father, and the only other person who knows the truth refuses to acknowledge it. But Sari refuses to forget something that led to the loss of a person she loved deeply and has never been the same without. In search of answers, Sari returns to the people and place where the events happened fifteen years before. She’s determined to find a way to do the impossible: Reverse the past.

Ward was devastated when Sari’s mother fled France with her daughter a decade and a half ago. Though Sari and Ward had only been ten at the time, they’d been sweethearts. But her father’s disappearance and the mystery surrounding the situation has lain dormant all this time, just waiting for someone to stir things up again. The one thing Ward had always known about the girl he loves is that she’ll do whatever it takes to reach her goals. If anyone can figure out how to go back in time and right the wrongs, it’s Sari. Ward can only follow and do what he can to help her. But her father’s disappearance wasn’t due to mere circumstance or chance. The past holds deadly secrets…and even more dangerous enemies…

Sign up to be notified of all Dale’s releaseshere!

Your Free Book Awaits!

Blood doesn’t just make her who she is … it also makes her what she is.

Like being a sixteen-year-old vampire isn’t hard enough, Tessa’s throwback human genes make her an outcast among her relatives. But try as she might, she can’t get a handle on the vampire lifestyle and all the … blood.

Turning her back on the vamp world, she embraces the human teenage lifestyle—high school, peer pressure and finding a boyfriend. Jared manages to stir something in her blood. He’s smart and fun and oh, so cute. But Tessa’s dream of a having the perfect boyfriend turns into a nightmare when vampires attack the movie theater and kidnap her date.

Once again, Tessa finds herself torn between the human world and the vampire one.

Will blood own out? Can she make peace with who she is as well as what?

DOWNLOAD a complimentary copy of VAMPIRE IN DENIAL? Just tell me where to send it!

Prologue

Sari Harrods ran into her father’s shop, excitement adding extra height to her bounce. At ten, she already loved that she was so much taller than that awful Jimmy but the exact same height as Ward. Perfect. She giggled.

“Daddy, Daddy!” She let the door slam shut behind her, remembering too late that she was supposed to be quiet. It was so hard to remember. So many rules.

“Hush, Sari.” Her mother swept in behind her. “Your father is working.”

“I know,” Sari explained impatiently. “That’s how I knew to find him here.” How come adults needed to have everything explained to them?

“She’s fine, Lisbeth. Let her be.” Her father’s voice rolled over them both with its deep timber tones.

Sari laughed. “Daddy, I made it through the spelling bee at school. I beat Ward with the word aquarium.”

“Did you now? Now that’s fine, that is.” He stood up from his desk and came around the tall counter. Bending over, he swept her up into his arms. “I think that’s worth a treat, isn’t it, Lisbeth?”

“That’s wonderful news, Sari.” Her mother joined them, her warm and caring voice tickling Sari’s ear. “I think hot chocolate is definitely in order.” With a swift tickle of Sari’s ribs, she disappeared into the main house at the back of the shop.

“Yay!” Sari loved hot chocolate. She wiggled free and ran deeper into their shop. “Did you get any new parcels today, Daddy?”

“I did. Brodin came by with one of his grandfather’s watches. He’s gone to pick up the matched set from the safety deposit box and will be back any moment. Then we’re going to see just how special they are.”

Sari glanced around at him. “Is it very nice?”

“It is.” He pulled out a second chair to snug up against his desk chair before he sat down. Sari obediently hopped up beside him.

“Can I open it, pleeease?” She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the desk. “Please, Daddy?”

He laughed, opened a drawer, and pulled out a squat envelope. Shifting the mess on his desk back, he slipped the contents of the envelope onto the cleared spot.

“It doesn’t look very pretty.” Her voice reeked with disappointment. She’d been hoping for something with lots of shiny gold. Instead, this was a dingy tarnished color like Grandma’s old silver set Mom hid in the back of the china cabinet.

“It’s not always about the looks,” her father said, his gaze narrowed on the timepiece in front of him. “And this one is very interesting in other ways.”

“How? It looks very boring.” Sari turned to look out the window, wishing Mom would hurry up with the hot chocolate.

“It’s interesting because I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

That made it a little more interesting. Her daddy had been doing this for a long time. If he hadn’t seen anything like it, then maybe it was special. She peered closer, astonished to see the metal piece open up. “It opens? Cool.” She knelt on her chair to get a better look.

“Apparently. Very interesting.” Her father leaned back, removing his glasses to stare off in the distance. Suddenly, he pushed his chair back and strode across the small room to the narrow bookshelf on the far side of the room. With his finger dragging against the spines, he went from one book to another looking for one in particular. On the second shelf, he found what he was looking for. He tugged the book out and flipped it open, his face alight with excitement. “It’s here somewhere. Where is it?” He walked back to the desk, stopping every few feet to flip more pages.

“Where’s what?” Sari poked at the metal piece, checking her finger afterwards to see if the gray dust had come off on her skin. “What is all this inside?”

“I don’t know yet. Don’t touch,” he warned.

Sari lifted her gaze to see if he was watching. His glasses had slipped down the end of his nose, a sure sign that he was buried in whatever he’d found to read. “I won’t touch anything.”

Sounds of her mother’s arrival with the promised hot chocolate had Sari glancing from one to the other and then back down at the odd-looking machinery in front of her. Her father was adjusting the inside of the watch, peering at papers beside him then looking back. He sat back with a satisfied grin. “Got it.”

Cool. She leaned closer. “Got what, Daddy?”

Her father turned his head to stare at her, the intensity of his gaze a little unnerving. As if just realizing how vulnerable the timepiece was, he leaned toward her. “I mean it, Sari. That’s a very delicate mechanism. It’s worth a lot of money.”

“Money?” Now that made it really interesting. They didn’t have much money. “Can we keep it then?”

He reached for the box and went as if to scoop the timepiece back into the protective cloth when it slipped out of his fingers to the floor where it dropped and rolled. “Oh no.”

Both Sari and her father bent at the same time to look for the missing watch.

“Where are you two? I bring hot chocolate and you’re both gone.” Her mother’s footsteps sounded along the wooden floor.

Sari laughed. “We’re right here, Mom. The watch dropped.”

Then she saw it shining in the single ray of sunlight dashing across the floor. “There it is, Daddy.” Sari stretched out her arm, but her father reached it first.

He glanced up at her, a big smile on his face as his fingers closed around it.

“I’ve got it,” he said triumphantly. As the words left his mouth, an odd look came over his face. He swallowed once, then twice. His gaze went from Sari up to where his wife stood.

“Daddy?”

“Something’s wrong,” he whispered. His face thinned, paled to the point Sari could barely see him. She reached out to touch him, and just as her fingers would have made contact, he disappeared.

Her mother screamed, dropping the tray full of hot chocolate, the broken cups bleeding their dark chocolate contents. Sari stared as the liquid spread over the empty space where her beloved father had been.

Chapter 1

Fifteen years later

Could the airport get any more crowded? Sari struggled to find a clear passage through the hundreds of people blocking her way. The more she travelled, the more she wished for a pair of wings of her own. The fanciful thought made her smile. First time all day by her count. She came to a dead stop at the customs line up. Thankfully, she’d moved to the head of the crowd. Please let this be simple. She had her paperwork in order. And the paperwork for her bag of goodies.

She was in luck. She knew the agent and the agent knew her and her business.

“Hey, Sari. Back again, huh? What have you got this time?”

Breaking out a bigger, warmer smile than she felt, she gave the same response as always. “Junk most likely, but hopefully a few treasures too.”

“Sure hope the treasures are worth the rest.”

“Me too,” she muttered as he went through her paperwork. Stamping everything, he handed the documents back. “Have a good day.”

Relieved, her smile natural this time, she thanked him, picked up her bags, and walked out of the airport into the late afternoon sun. Now to collect her car, and if she was lucky, she’d be home in a half hour.

It was closer to an hour before she made it inside her front door. She couldn’t resist a wiggle at knowing the old Victorian house with her father’s original shop out front was now hers. Always had been apparently, except she hadn’t found out until six weeks ago when the lawyers contacted her. Damn her mother anyway.

Since finding out that little tidbit, life had been chaotic as she moved across the ocean, all the while maintaining her crazy trips searching out hidden finds to repair and sell. This last trip had been her third since moving back to her old home. So far she hadn’t even connected with her old friends, and she was dying to. And nervous about it. At ten, she’d been sure Ward Preston had been it. The one. He’d been her best friend and she was sure nothing would ever have changed that. Then her mother moved her across the ocean.

Time and distance had finished what the traumatic circumstances of the time had destroyed.

Checking the answering machine, she found a dozen calls from suppliers and clients, but none were urgent. Good thing. She was too damn tired. Tossing her keys on her dining room table, she draped her coat on the back of the closest chair and kicked off her shoes. Home sweet home.

Opening the fridge, she pulled out the single bottle of wine she’d stashed in there before her trip. There was no fresh food, so dinner would have to be cheese and crackers with wine to wash it down. Opening the bottle, she set about making herself a plate to carry into the living room.

Just as she set the wine glass and plate down on the coffee table, the phone rang. Her mother. Of course.

“Hi, Mom. Yes, I’m home safe and sound.”

“Good. Why you couldn’t have come to visit on this last trip I’ll never understand,” Lisbeth said fretfully. “I hate worrying about you in that miserable hellhole.”

“Mom, I’m fine. Nothing is going to happen to me here.”

“You don’t know that.” The thin, critical voice made Sari wince. After her father’s disappearance, her mother had lost the little warmth she’d had as she’d quickly moved her and her daughter back to the part of France she’d been from.

Sari had gone to a succession of boarding schools, then college, and as soon as she’d found out their old home was still theirs and sat untouched in the old part of Victoria, BC, she’d begged to have the use of it. Her mother had refused to discuss it in any way. Sari was ready to have another discussion about it, but then a lawyer contacted her when she’d turned twenty-five and Sari found out it had been left in trust for her all along.

“I’m happy here, Mom.”

“How can you be? The city is small, the people are narrow-minded, and there couldn’t possibly be enough business for you to make a living. Come back to France. You know Pierre and Josiah are hoping for you to return.”

Like that was news. What her mother refused to see was that Pierre and Josiah were perfect…for each other. Neither male was willing to admit where their sexual orientation lay, and she had no intention of getting involved with either of them. They were good friends but nothing more. How could there be? Besides, setting up house and home as her mother’s neighbor had to top the list of things she never wanted to do.

“I like it here. I love the ambiance, the water, the weather. I don’t find the people narrow-minded, and my business isn’t dependent on where I live.” Take that.

“We have all that here too. Come home. It will be good for us to spend time together.”

Sari couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. Her mother had to be up to something. She never made gestures like this. “Not going to happen for a while. I just got home, remember? And speaking of which, I’m really tired. I need to go to bed and catch up on some much needed sleep. The jet lag hit me hard this time.” A lie, but a perfectly reasonable one.

“Fine.” Her mother gave a haughty sniff. “Then I want you home for my birthday next month.”

Chills ran down Sari’s spine. This was so not her mother’s normal discussion. “What’s going on? You never push to have me home.”

“Can’t I see my daughter for a visit? It’s been years since you spent any time here.”

Flopping her feet onto the coffee table, Sari slouched back onto the old couch. “I was at boarding school, then college.” Although her mother managed to twist that fact to suit her needs any time it came up. “You wanted time to enjoy your men. Not spend time with me.”

“That was then. This is now. I find the men are all boring anyway. But my daughter is growing up and away. I don’t like that.”

Too damn bad. It was a little late to want to have a cozy mother-daughter relationship. Like fifteen years too late. Since before her father’s disappearance, in fact.

“Well, find a new boyfriend and those maternal feelings will fade away again.” Sari knew that for a fact. Her mother’s maternal feelings were dependent on how old she felt. With a new man, she felt younger and therefore had no need of her daughter. When the men left, then she felt older and more dependent on Sari. Or maybe more regretful of the things she’d let slip through her fingers. Like her daughter.

Hanging up the phone, Sari took a healthy drink of wine and settled back to try and forget about her wasted trip, her mother, and once again her failure to find a solution to the one thing that drove every action in her world – finding her father. Or at least finding answers to what happened to him.

And she knew she hadn’t a hope in the world. Obsessed and delusional was what one doctor had called her. After that, she’d shut up about it and continued her search quietly. As she hadn’t found out anything in the last fifteen years, chances were good she’d never find out.

Yet she couldn’t give it up.

Speaking of which, she reached for her bag of treasures. There was one very interesting piece in there. Placing her wine glass down, she opened her leather bag and gently extracted several wrapped up bundles. As a jewelry maker with a penchant for antiques, she’d picked up a large clientele of both suppliers and customers. Unlike her father who focused only on timepieces, she focused on jewelry and of course any timepiece like the one her father held as he’d faded from her sight.

At least that’s what her vague, shocked memory said had happened. Her dear mother Lisbeth had changed the story to him having walked out the door to meet someone and never returning.

Lisbeth knew the truth, but in typical fashion, she’d decided it to be too preposterous and had changed it to suit herself. It had gained her more sympathy and support from her friends and family. As it had been left unresolved, she’d never been pushed to remarry because her father had never been found. She said she couldn’t be bothered to do the paperwork to have him declared dead when in truth, Sari suspected it was a way to keep her men around and not have to commit.

She loved her mother, but like one would a fine piece of china rather than a well-loved mug. Her mother was many things, but warm and caring wasn’t part of her personality.

That had been her father.

And God, she missed him.

She studied the first bundle. It was an old, beaten gold neckpiece that sat on the collarbone. It was a beautiful piece that just needed a little care and attention. Sari knew she could restore it to its former glory. Smiling, she laid it down on a piece of cloth to admire.

She picked up the second piece and opened up a pair of platinum spider web earrings. These weren’t nearly as old as the collar but were fascinating in the fine workmanship that had gone into creating the web of spun metal. A beautiful piece.

Her hand trembled as she reached for the third piece. Her trip to New York had not yielded many pieces, but the ones she’d returned with had been worth the trip. Especially this last one. Carefully, she unwrapped the one timepiece out of several hundred that had been presented at the show. Her colleagues had gushed over several fine pieces and had gone silent when they’d seen her purchase.

The vendor, however, an old English gentleman, hadn’t. It seemed as if he’d recognized the desperation in her actions, the neediness in her voice as she’d searched for the watchmaker’s special mark, hoping against hope to find one that matched her faded memories of her father’s watch and his incomplete notes that she’d spent hundreds of hours poring over.

“It’s reputed to always keep time. Who could ask for anything more?” he’d murmured for her ears only.

She’d lifted a sharp gaze to assess the sly, knowing look on his face. “Indeed, what else could anyone want of a watch?” Coolly, she’d watched as amusement and a knowingness drifted across the old man’s countenance.

That smile of his irked her, but it had been his next comment that had made the decision for her. He’d said, “Nothing at all. We’re always losing things to Time, aren’t we? Now if only we could regain all that we lost.”

She’d frozen, her gaze locked on his face, analytically assessing the truth or gimmick of his voice and presentation. He was not the first to try and fool her. She hadn’t gotten this far without being taken in at least once or twice. Maybe it was the old tweed, the almost dusty clothing, or the faded blue twinkle in his eyes that reminded her of her father, but whatever it was, it seemed as if the old guy knew something. Something that no one else knew. Something that could shed light on the driving mystery in her life.

Or he’d just heard the rumors about her obsession and was playing with her.

It hadn’t been impulse that had made her pick up and study the one old, almost uncared-for piece out of so many he’d had on display. But when she did, it was almost as if he’d given her a magical silent pat of approval on her head.

A great sales technique. Conrad, one of her peers, had loved a more modern piece, laughing at her choice. She’d kept a smile on her face and her hand on the watch. No one would take it from her until she was done with it. And in this case, she thought as she pulled it out from its thick bubble wrap, she might never be done with it.

Getting up, she carried the watch to her desk and turned on the lamp. It appeared to be the same as the one her father had been working on when he’d disappeared, but she’d have to take it to her shop and dismantle it to find out for sure. Not tonight. She wrapped her prizes back up and placed them in the safe in the shop.

What she needed was sleep. She filled her glass with more wine, replaced the bottle in the fridge, and headed for bed. Maybe she’d actually be able to sleep tonight. Lord knew she was beat. Travelling, time changes, and no sleep in the hotel with their too-hard beds and too-stiff sheets all took their toll.

Hopefully the wine would help her sleep…and quickly.

After getting ready for the night, she carried her wine into her bedroom, changed into her cotton cami and pj bottoms, and sat on the edge of her bed to brush her hair. She yawned, and a small laugh escaped. Good. She was exhausted. Tossing back the last of her wine, she crawled under the covers.

It was good to be home.

Within minutes, she’d fallen into a deep sleep.

Five hours later she woke, a fine tremor ghosting across her skin. The air had chilled, stilled. She couldn’t place what was wrong – just that something was. She rolled over and sat up. She’d left her window open, an unusual event in itself. With a storm brewing outside, the wind was tossing her curtains everywhere.

She threw back her covers and strode over to the window. With more effort than required, she pulled the window down, barely bringing it to a stop before it hit the wooden ledge. She did want a little fresh air. The old house needed big money poured into it. New windows and a better security system were at the top of the list. And the roof. It had sat empty all this time with well over a hundred years on its bones already.

Standing and gazing out into the black night, she realized an old truck had parked across the street at the empty lot. A man leaned against the box, a trail of smoke wisping around on the whim of the wind. He faced her house, staring up at her window – directly into her eyes.

Shit.

She slipped back out of sight.

There was no reason to be bothered; this small corner of downtown wasn’t the best area of town, but she’d yet to have problems. Then why had she just remembered that she needed to upgrade the security system? Her house was bigger than many around, being an older three-story style. It offered lots of room but also lots of opportunity for anyone on the more sinister side of life. Leaning against the wall, she peered out from the side.

The man flicked his cigarette and opened his truck door. As she watched, he reached in and pulled out a takeout cup of coffee. Interesting. Anyone sitting out there with a hot drink must expect to be there for a while. She considered the rest of the street. Mostly old houses, mostly run down, at the edge of the commercial district of downtown but also right on the corner of where the downtown core started. It was a shabby area, but one now caught up in the midst of a big revitalization project. She had the only business here that she knew of, and even then she didn’t use the storefront for the public. She saw the odd client who stopped in that way and had the shop as her workspace, but she hated the distractions of having a door the public could open on their whim.

Her shop was secured. Her safe was connected to a security system as per her insurance. She was a jewelry maker after all, and she stored gems below. Not many and not high grade, as she didn’t have the funds to stockpile, but anyone looking for easy money would find a lot to sell for quick cash downstairs. She walked to her bedroom door and stuck her head out in the hallway.

As it was a split level the levels were confusing. She slept on the second floor, making it almost impossible to hear any activity on the first floor. Not impossible though. She walked back over to the window to find the stranger now talking on a cell phone.

Innocuous, but the sight made her skin crawl.

She couldn’t throw off the feeling that he was watching her house, maybe talking to someone about her. The worst-case scenario was that someone was trying to get in or was already in, and this guy was warning him that she was up.

On the heels of that thought came a muffled sound followed by a voice.

Crap. She grabbed her cell phone and called 911. With her phone tucked into her shoulder, she pulled on jeans and tucked her cami top into the waistband. Snatching up her running jacket off the closet handle, she pulled it on as well. After explaining the situation to the dispatcher, and receiving instructions to get out of the house if she could, she hung up the phone and tucked it into her pocket. With a last glance out the window, she had to decide to either go downstairs and see what was going on or bail out via the upper deck and the fire escape ladder. The first could put her up against a dangerous intruder and the second could put her in the stranger’s line of sight.

Neither appealed. She slipped into a pair of shoes and searched the hallway. Nothing appeared to be touched. She made a cursory check of the rest of her floor then opened the door to the downstairs. It was dark down there.

And not empty.

Shit.

*

Ward Preston drove slowly through the streets of Victoria; he didn’t mind the night shift here. Working the night shift back east in the big cities? Not so much. It wasn’t like he needed to be out cruising, but with the paperwork done, he wanted to get out and check out the streets.

And drive past Sarina’s place. Or Sari, as he’d always called her. The pet name her father had kept for her.

He winced. He’d lost touch with her over the years, but the distance between them hadn’t changed her place in his heart or mind. He’d kept her in the back of his head, always wondering if he’d see her again. Then he’d heard she’d returned. He’d waited, hoping she’d contact him while he tried to get up the nerve to see her. He’d been driving by her place at least once a week for the last month.

She wouldn’t be pleased if she knew.

He grinned. Good thing he had no intention of telling her.

Heading instinctively in her direction, he thought back to the two of them in elementary school. She’d been his first crush. Even now, years later with one very short marriage behind him, he hadn’t been able to get over her. Then he’d caught sight of her down at the beach about a month ago, and fantasy had jumped back into reality, and damned if he could get her out of his mind.

Victoria, at one end of Vancouver Island, offered almost any water sport imaginable. Sari had been standing in her bikini at the water’s edge, watching as the waves from a speedboat washed over her feet. She’d been so free, so natural and so alone that he’d been desperate to go up to her and introduce himself. But it had been fifteen years…what if he’d been wrong about it being her?

He’d been on duty. He could have done it. He hadn’t. He had driven past her old house that had stayed boarded up since the family had left and found lights on inside. It wasn’t until his second or third time driving past that he’d caught sight of her a second time and confirmed it was her. To realize that she’d really come back.

He wondered why. He’d heard the rumors the same as everyone else. As her father was still a missing person case, it was still discussed both officially and unofficially. Supposedly her father had walked out on them – from one day to the next apparently – never to be heard from again. Ward had adored Sari’s father. The mother he’d avoided. After Greg went missing, the mother – Lisbeth, he thought her name was – had stayed only long enough for Sari to finish her school year and then she’d pulled her out, taking Sari away. Gone overseas. Gone from his life. Never gone from his mind.

Sad.

He made a left turn that would take him onto her block. She lived in a quiet part of the city, but one that wasn’t as nice as it used to be. Still, most of this city was decent. Sure, they had their fair share of drug dealers, biker gangs, and homeless people, but all in all it was a retirement tourist town. At least it used to be. Now that was slowly changing.

There it was. He smiled at the old hodgepodge of a house. It looked the same as always.

Except for the truck on the opposite side of the road and the guy standing outside and staring up at Sari’s house. As Ward watched, the guy checked his watch and glanced back again. His gaze was intent, as if he was standing watch. Or waiting…for someone that was being too slow.

It was in the middle of the night. Possibly he was waiting for Sari, but as he was parked out here and not in the driveway, he doubted it.

Someone was casing Sari’s house.

Or worse…he was waiting for his partner to leave Sari’s house. As in a breaking and entering in progress.

And if that was the case – where the hell was Sari?

Chapter 2

Sari crouched on the first landing, her heart pounding so loud she could barely hear what was going on downstairs. A series of thuds and bangs was coming from her living room. Shit. She glanced down at her cell phone. Should she try calling 911 again and tell them she hadn’t made it out of the house? No. The intruder might hear her talking. If she could scoot across the landing to the other side and get to the second stair landing with the outside exit, then maybe she would be better off.

“Where the fuck is it? She’s only been home a couple of freaking hours. Not long enough to have sold it.”

She froze. They were looking for something in particular? Something she hadn’t had time to sell? So something she just brought home with her. How could they know?

And the bigger question – did she know who they were? Or was it only one man? No, the man outside had to be connected. Was there a third one out back? Damn. Knowing it was stupid but unable to help herself, she crept down to the bottom landing and peered around the corner. It was too dark to see much, but there was a dark form bent over her locked doorway to the shop.

Shit.

She couldn’t let him in there. She didn’t keep much in the way of valuables here, but there were enough. She couldn’t afford to lose them.

Just then the guy straightened, his hand going into his pocket. She watched as he opened his cell phone and read a message.

“Shit.” The voice was dark and gravelly but young. He raced to the front window and pulled the long drapes back slightly. Immediately, he dropped the material and flattened against the wall. For that brief moment, she caught a flash of red hair.

Too bad she couldn’t see what was outside. She watched as he texted madly then waited, leaning tight against the wall. His face had a panicked look. Obviously not a pro. That was a good thing. Maybe he was just looking for an easy score. Except he sounded as if he was looking for something in particular.

She wished she could look outside. That would mean going back upstairs. And with the intruder not making a sound, he’d hear every step she took.

Then she saw a burst of color.

Outside the house, bright blue and red lights flashed. Cops. Yes. Her fingers clenched in a fist that she barely held back from doing a fist pump. There was a short blast of a siren then nothing but the flashing lights.

Even across the distance, she watched a sheen of sweat appear on the intruder’s face. So that’s what he’d panicked about. That also meant he had a partner who’d sent a warning. The stranger outside.

Why?

She crept back upstairs, holding her breath. At the top floor, she went to her bedroom window and stared out. A cop car sat parked at an angle in front of a pickup truck. One she didn’t know. The officer stood speaking with the driver.

Just then, the officer turned to look at her house, the street light bright on his face.

There was something about that strong jaw, the light wave to that hair, and his profile…Oh my. She gasped in joy and shock. Ward.

She hadn’t seen him in years – make that fifteen years. He was a cop? She couldn’t imagine a better career for him. He’d always been a protector, even back then. Her lips curved in a warm smile. She was so proud of him. She went to wave at him, hoping to catch his attention. Ward heard something and spun around, his back to the stranger. Suddenly the stranger reached out and slugged Ward on the back of his head with something in his hand.

Ward dropped like a log.

Oh crap. This time she didn’t hesitate. She dialed 911 again. As she waited, she double-checked that her bedroom door was locked before heading out to the small deck. Maybe she could get information on the truck. When the voice came on the phone, Sari quickly explained what had happened. The dispatcher wasted no time after Sari told her an officer was down, firing off a ton more questions. She answered as best she could. She was only minutes from the closest police station, but who knew how busy tonight was? Generally it was a quiet district, but shit happened…as she’d just found out. She stayed crouched by the railing, trying to keep an eye on what was going on outside. The stranger was now searching Ward’s cruiser. The dispatcher didn’t want her to hang up so Sari kept a running commentary of what was going on outside. The stranger pulled out a small book and flipped through the pages.

She sighed with relief when a man from her side ran across the road and hopped into the passenger side of the truck. The first man had gotten in already, book in hand. They reversed the truck and ripped away with squealing tires, leaving Ward prone on the pavement. She had just enough light to see the ram’s head on the front hood. As for color – dark. Navy or black. She told the dispatcher the direction the two men took off in even as she raced down the stairs to her old friend.

She’d barely gotten the words out when the sounds of sirens filled the air. Finally.

She bolted out the front door, ignoring the dispatcher’s orders to stay inside.

“Ward.” She dropped to his side, snatching up his hand to hold it tight to her chest as the fire truck came to a screeching stop. The first cop vehicle ripped in behind. More sirens and vehicles arrived.

After that, it was complete chaos. She was shunted off to one side while Ward was checked over, loaded up, and whisked away in the ambulance.

An officer escorted her inside her house to talk. As soon as the door closed behind her she remembered the intruder, and with the officer helping, she searched around to see if anything had been stolen. Even though she’d seen the guy at her office door trying but not succeeding to get in, she unlocked it and checked anyway.

It was untouched as far as she could see. While she wandered around the house, she relayed the conversation as close as she could remember. The officer took notes and asked about what they might have been looking for.

“I honestly don’t know. It could be any of many items. I deal in antiquities and have some semi-precious gems at home. The thing is, I’ve hardly lived here. I only came back a few months ago.”

At his confused look, she had to explain about her father disappearing and her subsequent move out of the country.

When he finally left, the sun was breaking over the mountains. She loved this time of year, having forgotten how vivid the colors were on the island. Peach and pink bloomed skyward, lighting up the world around her.

She leaned against the front door and watched. When she finally turned to face her shop, she realized how old and dingy it looked. She’d been blinded by joy at being home, but now she could see how much work needed to be done.

Including installing a full-on security system. Inside, she wandered the shop where she’d spent so many enjoyable hours with her father. And that just brought her back to the past. There’s no way he’d have left her behind…if he’d left willingly. She stuffed the old pain back inside, knowing nothing good could come of hashing over the same nasty scenarios of what had happened that day so long ago.

She sighed, tears once again coming to her eyes. She wondered if they’d ever stop.

She’d tried year after year on the anniversary of his disappearance to duplicate the exact set of events that had happened when her father had vanished. So far she’d had no luck. This year would be the first time she’d have a chance to repeat the ritual in the same physical location in which he’d disappeared.

In just over a week’s time. She’d repeat her ritual soon enough. No need to do it early.

Realizing how fatigue had caught up with her, she locked the safe and her office and slowly climbed to her bedroom. Crawling under her covers, her last thought was to wonder what Ward had been doing at her house. And did he still remember her?

*

Ward sat up in his hospital bed and clutched at his head.

“Whoa. Where do you think you’re going?”

Ward peered through half-closed eyes to see an old friend. “Well, Dr. Janz Coran, are you on tonight? Fancy meeting you here.”

“Yeah, fancy that. You come into Emergency and meet an emergency doctor. How odd.”

His grin belied his sarcasm. Not that Ward would have listened. They’d been friends far too long for that.

“How’s my head, Doc?” Ward asked.

“Looking pretty sore from where I’m sitting. What did you do this time?”

“Someone hit me from behind.” And stupid of him to let that asshole get the drop on him. He straightened suddenly. “Did I come in alone? There wasn’t a woman with me, was there?” He looked around for his phone. He needed to make sure Sari was okay.

Dr. Coran laughed and grabbed him by the shoulders to gently force him back down again to lie on the bed. “This isn’t exactly a two-person activity. You came in alone.”

“There was someone parked suspiciously outside a friend’s house. I was talking to the guy in the truck, heard something odd, turned to look and was hit from behind. I need to make sure she’s safe.”

“There is an officer outside. I’ll let him inside in a few minutes.”

While Ward stewed and fumed at the slowness, Dr. Coran checked him over thoroughly. Standing back slightly, he smiled and said, “Now I’ll let your partner in.”

True enough, Jeremy came around the curtain almost instantly. “Hey, talk about giving us a scare.”

“Did you guys catch the asshole?” Ward asked, trying to throw his sheet off and drop his legs over the side of the bed. “And did anyone check on Sari? The truck was parked at her house.”

“Easy – let someone else do their job too.” Jeremy pushed Ward gently backward until he was resting again. “Sari is actually the one who called us to your rescue. Apparently she saw the whole thing. There’d been an intruder in her house and then you showed up. The inside man was contacted and he waited for his partner outside to knock you down, then they both ran. She couldn’t give us many details on the men or the truck though.”