Kat leaned against her front door and pushed it closed. Outside the wind gusted and rattled the ancient single-paned windows. She kicked off her boots and dropped her gear in the hallway, exhausted. She’d barely made it onto the last Wednesday ferry, and her stomach still churned from the choppy crossing. The remaining sailings had been cancelled for the night, and she wondered what had become of Landers. She hadn’t spotted him onboard.
She dropped her keys on the hall table and flipped the light switch on. She glanced beside the door, hoping to see Jace’s shoes or some sign of his presence.
Nothing.
The hall chandelier illuminated the empty spot on the fire-damaged fir floor and erased any hope of finding him home. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted Jace’s sweatshirt hanging on the carved mahogany banister. Then she remembered. It was in exactly the same place when they’d left for Hideaway Bay. A stark reminder that nothing had changed.
The old house creaked as the wind blasted outside. She headed for the bedroom and grabbed the first warm clothes she could find. She glanced out the bedroom room window as she changed into fleece and slippers. Dusk had already descended, and the wind whipped leaves up into a cyclone funnel. She was glad to be inside, finally warm and dry.
Kat padded downstairs to the kitchen and realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She opened the fridge and peered inside, but the sight of food only made her nauseous. She closed the door without taking anything.
She headed back upstairs to the study and powered on the computer. Jace’s disappearance was somehow connected to Roger Landers. She just needed to figure out exactly how.
One thing was certain. Landers wanted Jace out of the way because he was competition. But was there another reason? Maybe Roger Landers wasn’t a story hunter at all. Maybe he was part of the story, or part of the cover-up.
Kat searched for everything she could find on Roger Landers. Other than his book from a few years ago, there wasn’t much. If he really were writing an exposé, she would have expected at least a few more articles. But there were none.
She was so absorbed in her search that she hadn’t noticed the house grow dark. She switched on the desk lamp, noticing it flicker as the wind howled outside. She wondered about Harry. Storms made him nervous, and he would be worried about his house. She dialed Harry’s cell phone, but got no answer.
Hillary had surely tired of him by now, and would want to dump him off. Would she leave him alone somewhere? She called his house. Also no answer, and she didn’t even have Hillary’s cell phone number. She replaced the handset, torn between waiting for news about Jace or venturing back outside to Harry’s house. Finally she decided to stay put. She might miss either of them if they came by the house while she was out.
The lights flickered again, the power interruption a few seconds longer this time.
Officer Kravitz had finally relented and filed a missing person report on Jace. Just a formality really, since he wasn’t convinced Jace was actually missing. He probably wouldn’t make any effort to search for Jace.
Was Kravitz, as Roger Landers claimed, even involved in Jace’s arrest? Kat didn’t know what to believe any more, or who to trust. She needed Jace’s story to provide some evidence. That wouldn’t happen unless she found Jace.
Kat worked on the Edgewater report for an hour, but couldn’t concentrate. It was a downward spiral, she thought as she struggled to keep her eyes open. The computer’s glare, her dry eyes, and sheer exhaustion were taking their toll. She was sick and tired of Hideaway Bay, the World Institute, and Edgewater Investments. She had her own problems to deal with.
All she wanted was Jace back home, Harry safe.
Of course that was stupid. The world, along with her need to earn a living, wouldn’t stop just because she wanted them to. The sooner she finished Zachary’s report, the sooner she could devote all her energies to finding Jace and Harry. She was so close—all she had to do was update the Edgewater report to include the weekend’s findings and attach the World Institute agenda, proof of Nathan’s involvement. That gave Zachary enough proof to prosecute Nathan for the fraud even if some of the key documents were gone. Ultimately it was his decision to report it immediately or hold off.
But something still gnawed at her.
Zachary. On the one hand, he called Nathan unethical, yet he did the same thing—capitalizing on others for his own personal gain. Like everyone else, he was out for his own piece of the pie. At any cost.
Her eyelids grew heavy and she fought to keep them open. She had to finish the report tonight if she wanted to deliver it to Zachary in the morning.
Wind blasted against the study windows and the lights flickered before going out completely. The desktop computer died too. Kat cursed under her breath when she realized she hadn’t saved the latest version of her report. It would be at least morning before the power was restored. She might as well grab a few hours of sleep.
Kat felt her way along the hallway to her bedroom and collapsed on the bed without getting undressed. She drifted into a slumber, dreaming of Jace. This time she found him at Kurt’s cabin, but each time she got closer, someone came between them.