“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Ty said.
“If Ginger was kidnapped, we have to call the sheriff, and notify the police in the city,” Norma Rose argued. “They can search and—”
“Hush down, Rosie,” her father snapped before instantly turning his attention back to Ty. “Now, you were saying?”
“First we need to figure out the places where Ginger definitely is not,” Ty said.
“Here,” Norma Rose interjected. “I’ve checked everywhere. Don’t you think it’s a bit coincidental that we’ve never had any such happenings before, but as soon as Mr. Bradshaw appears we have not one, but two suspicious incidents? Potentially tragic ones?”
“No, I don’t,” her father bellowed. “I call it luck, now if—”
“Luck!” she spluttered. “If that’s—”
“Roger,” Ty said, interrupting her rant. “I’m glad your daughter is suspicious. The position she holds dictates she be suspicious and diligent, otherwise everything you own could be in jeopardy.”
Norma Rose wasn’t impressed, nor pacified by Ty’s pretense, or his silver tongue. Her sister could be missing, her uncle possibly blind, and if anyone, anyone at all, cared what she thought, she had a hunch that he was behind it all. There was no other explanation.
She didn’t have a chance to say any of that before a knock sounded and her father shouted for whoever it was to enter.
Walter walked in, followed by five groundsmen from her father’s inner circle. These men didn’t mow lawns or trim shrubs. They guarded the grounds, day and night. “I have everyone rounded up like you asked, sir,” Walter said.
“Close the door,” her father instructed needlessly. Walter was already doing so.
Norma Rose was forced to move slightly, making room for the big and burly men. Her father’s office was large, but so was the furniture, leaving little standing room. Taking a second step backward, her heel caught and she stumbled slightly. A firm hold grasped her, and the moment she realized who held her elbow, she wrenched her arm free.
Slightly behind her, Ty smiled, and she wanted to stick out her tongue, a childish urge and something she hadn’t done in years. Ty did that to her, put a notch in her suit of armor. She didn’t like it. Or standing this close to him.
“I want you all to meet Ty Bradshaw,” her father said. “Ty, this is Bronco Mitchell, Tuck Andrews, Duane Luck, Tad McCullough, Danny Trevino and you’ve already met Walter Storms.”
The men stepped forward to shake Ty’s hand, forcing Norma Rose back even farther, until she was standing at his side, her shoulder touching his arm. With all these men, they certainly didn’t need Ty’s assistance. Sheriff Withers would help, too. So would Ted Williams and several others. Kidnapping still seemed an impossibility, but Ginger was gone and needed to be found immediately.
“Ty will fill you all in,” Roger said, sitting down in his chair.
The blood in Norma Rose’s veins turned cold. Her father rarely turned things over to others. Especially something of this magnitude. The other odd thing was how readily her father’s men-at-arms complied. There wasn’t a single protest.
Ty stepped forward and nodded toward her father before starting. “Ginger, Mr. Nightingale’s youngest daughter, is missing. We are not jumping to the conclusion that she was kidnapped, at least not yet, because that would mean someone had been in this house, and we all know that’s highly unlikely. Right now we need to know everything you saw last night and this morning, whether or not it was out of the ordinary.”
A few mumbles could be heard, and muffled curses, but for the most part, the men remained quiet, until Ty indicated who should start, and then, one by one, each described what they’d seen over the past dozen or more hours.
Both Bronco and Tuck said they’d seen Norma Rose being followed home by Ty and Dave last night, and had seen Ty go to his cabin. Others talked of the comings and goings of the workers refurbishing the cabins, and guests. Nothing out of the ordinary. Bronco then added he’d witnessed a couple from one of the cabins swimming after midnight, nude, which raised a few grins and had Norma Rose fighting to keep the heat from going all the way to her cheeks.
She failed miserably when Ty flashed a glance her way. Flustered by the heat that suddenly rushed to places other than her cheeks, she lowered her gaze, but a second later, her head snapped up as Tad McCullough explained he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the person who’d been watching the resort last week.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “What person?”
Tad looked at her father for permission, and said, “Someone with a pair of binoculars. I saw him a couple of times, but never could get close. It might have been one of those bird-watchers that stay over at June and Harold Whitmore’s place. A number of them arrived last week from out east, where the Whitmores are from.”
The Whitmores had regular visitors from Maine, who knew all there was to know about birds. A couple of those men had been guests at Josie’s ladies aid meeting last week, which her sister had insisted Norma Rose attend. She’d gone, and had been bored out of her wits.
“But you aren’t sure,” she asked Tad, “who this person was?”
“No,” Tad answered. “Your father knew all about it.”
“Okay, then,” Ty said. “I suggest we scour every inch of the resort. Maybe Ginger has a favorite place to read or think.”
“She has her bedroom for that,” Norma Rose insisted.
As if she hadn’t spoken, Ty turned to Bronco. “Did you see anyone else swimming?” When the man said no, he turned to her. “Do you or your sisters go swimming at night?”
“Of course not,” Norma Rose said, irritated he’d even suggest such behavior. “Ginger was in her bed, asleep, before I left the resort to go and get Uncle Dave last night.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I checked on her, like I do with all three of my sisters every night.” She didn’t add that this was because they weren’t to be trusted. She checked every night to make sure they were alone in their beds. To be fair, Ginger rarely caused problems. Most nights when she’d check on her sisters, Ginger’s nose was stuck in a glossy fashion magazine with her mind on Hollywood. Josie often sat up late planning her next ladies aid meeting. Twyla had always been a handful, but more so lately, since she’d heard that Brock Ness might be moving. Norma Rose wouldn’t be surprised if all her sisters had a crush on that man. In truth she should be glad he’d left.
Working her twisting mind back to the question, Norma Rose further explained her answer. “After I took the phone call from Chief Williams, I checked on all three girls, and then I left to go get Dave.”
“And they were asleep?” Ty asked.
“Ginger was asleep,” she answered. “Josie and Twyla were preparing for bed.”
Ty turned his attention back to the men. Rattling off cabin names and buildings on the property as if he’d lived there all of his life, he issued orders, specifying where they were to search. The men obeyed, and those who’d removed their hats upon entering the room replaced them on their heads as they left, all agreeing they’d find Ginger in no time.
“And be discreet,” Ty said before the door closed.
“Yes, sir,” Walter answered. “No one but us will know.”
Ty nodded, and Norma Rose found herself waiting for an assignment, as well. Yet when he said, “You’ll come with me,” she planted her heels against the floor.
“Why?”
“I need to search Ginger’s room, and will have questions.”
“Be a good girl and don’t argue, Rosie,” her father said despondently. “We have to find your sister.”
She’d never disobeyed him, ever, and wasn’t about to do so now, yet a part of her protested. She didn’t want to leave her father’s side. She’d never seen his hands tremble before. “I know we need to find Ginger, Daddy.”
He glanced up at her, and there was a sudden shift. It was as if they’d reversed roles, as if she was no longer the child and he the parent. The look in his eyes begged her to help him. To help find Ginger. She edged around Ty to give her father a hug. “We will find her, Daddy. I swear we’ll find her.”
“When I discover who’s behind this—” He let her go and pinched his lips together, shaking his head.
Ty took her arm. “Come on.”
She let him lead her out of the office, but couldn’t help a glance back. The image of her father, head bowed and holding one hand against his forehead, burned in her mind as Ty pulled the door closed. Anger surged inside her, and she snapped her heels together. When she found Ginger she’d paddle her sister’s behind for worrying their father so. If by some unfathomable chance, her sister had been taken... She ripped her arm out of Ty’s hold. “If you’re behind this, I’ll see you court-martialed.”
He didn’t so much as glance her way. “You don’t have that kind of power.”
“You don’t know me very well.”
“Well enough,” he said.
Fury burned inside her, and echoed in each clip of her heeled shoes. Without wasting another word on him, she marched forward, all the way to the kitchen, where she found a waiter and sent him out to Dave’s cabin to relieve Gloria so the woman could check on her father. Then, and only then, she directed Ty toward the back staircase, and upward, toward Ginger’s bedroom.
“It’s at the end of the hall,” she said, marching along beside him.
“I know.”
“You seem to know an awful lot, Mr. Bradshaw.”
“It’s my job to know.”
Pivoting on one heel, she snagged his arm, forcing him to stop and look at her. “You seem to have gone to a lot of trouble just to try and extort a few extra tax dollars out of the resort.”
His cock-eyed grin was so arrogant she wanted to slap it right off his face.
“I couldn’t care less about the taxes the resort pays.”
His grin disappeared and he flipped his arm around so fast she barely saw it move, but she flinched at the grip he now held on her wrist.
“I do,” he growled, “care that we find your sister.” Pulling her forward, he added, “Alive.”
“Of course she’s alive,” Norma Rose argued, not wanting to even consider otherwise. “And let go of my arm.”
He let go. Her steps faltered. Whether she wanted to think it or not, the notion of her sister being taken entered her mind.
“Your father doesn’t have hired watchmen for no reason,” Ty was saying as he walked forward. “He knows the kind of men he does business with. Why do you think he keeps such close tabs on you girls?”
“We girls—” she began.
“Can’t leave the property without being followed,” he finished.
She sucked in air, but she had no comeback.
He’d stopped in front of a door—Ginger’s door—and Norma Rose grabbed the knob. Ty was a federal agent all right. No one else could have discovered all he had. But, she concluded as she threw open the door, he wasn’t here to find tax evasion. He must be here to shut down her father.
Over her dead body.
She gulped, thoroughly livid, and demanded, “Where is she?”
Ty didn’t answer, but started roaming the room that had been painted pink for Ginger’s last birthday. Norma Rose swept forward, pushing at both of his shoulders from behind.
“Where is she? What have you done with my sister?”
* * *
Ty spun around and grabbed Norma Rose by the upper arms. “I haven’t done anything with your sister.” He slid his hands down onto her elbows, locking her arms against her sides in order to stop her from taking another swing at him. In all his years of undercover work, he’d never come close to revealing himself, not to gangsters, lawmen, or the occasional dame who’d caught his eye. The panic in Norma Rose’s blue eyes was doing something to him, chiseling away at his willpower. He wouldn’t let that happen. It would take a lot more than a pretty face and a few tears, no matter how real, to break down his barriers.
“I haven’t done anything to your sister,” he repeated, this time quieter, calmer. “I swear. Would I be here, trying to find her, if I had? I’m not stupid, Norma Rose, neither is your father. And neither are you. Bronco watched me go to my cabin last night, and leave it this morning. Before and after then I’ve either been with you or your father.” He eased his hands down to her gloved hands and squeezed her fingers. “Ginger may just be hiding someplace.”
Ty doubted she’d been kidnapped. Bodine wouldn’t want to alienate Nightingale. The gangster would want to gain Roger’s confidence, which is why Ty considered Bodine to be behind Dave’s poisoning. If the plan hadn’t failed, Bodine could have claimed that someone switched the samples in Dave’s suitcase. The only reason it had backfired was because Bodine hadn’t done his research and discovered Dave was highly allergic to alcohol.
“Ginger wouldn’t be hiding some place,” Norma Rose said. “She’d have no need to do that.”
Though she had calmed down, Norma Rose wasn’t any closer to believing that Ty wasn’t behind all that was going on. He pondered that as he let go of her hands to roam the room again. He refused to take her into his confidence, but gaining her trust would give him additional benefits. It was going to be tough. She had a shell as hard as an acorn.
“I need your help,” he said. Knowing that wouldn’t sway her, he added, “Your father needs your help. He depends on you. Greatly.”
She eased a long breath out through barely parted lips. He could see she still struggled, but also that she was giving in.
“Fine.”
“Good,” he said. “Look for clues.”
“Clues? What kind of clues?”
“Anything that looks out of the ordinary.”
Standing in the center of the room, arms folded, she insisted, “There is nothing out of place. Out of the ordinary. I’d have already noticed it.”
He approached her and rubbed her upper arms, noting, but ignoring outwardly, how she half attempted to twist away, while being too stubborn to move at the same time.
“I’m a private investigator, Norma Rose, so believe me when I say things are not always as they appear. Sometimes we get so used to looking at things, we overlook the obvious.” Letting her go, he turned to glance around the room. “Look closer. Is anything missing?”
“No, I—”
He held up a hand. “Humor me.”
Norma Rose huffed, but spun around and started looking closer. He did, too. The bed was made, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t been slept it. Didn’t mean it had been, either. The walls were covered with a sickening pink hue. Roger Nightingale was one smart man. No male over the age of sixteen would even consider stepping foot in this room. The pink paint and white furnishings, including the four-poster bed with a big stuffed Teddy Roosevelt bear sitting on the center of it, clearly said “this is my baby girl’s room.” The bedspread was the same shade of pink as the walls and trimmed with layers of ruffles and lace, just like the curtains.
Wondering if Norma Rose’s room was similar, Ty paused, his eyes on one particular window.
“There is nothing out of place here,” Norma Rose said.
“Check the closet,” he said, gesturing in that direction while he approached the window, where an edge of the sheer net panel between two pink drapes was hitched up. Spreading the drapes apart showed that the edge of the white center panel was caught in the seam between the top and bottom windows, something anyone pulling down the window from the inside would have noticed. But what if it had been closed from the outside?
The window was only open a couple of inches, leaving enough room to let in the breeze, but not for someone to climb out. A screen covered the outside, too, but that could easily be removed by twisting the little wing nuts that held the frames in place. It would be simple to remove and replace from the outside.
A gasp made him turn around. “What did you find?”
“It’s what I didn’t find,” Norma Rose said.
He crossed the room to peer in the closet. It was neat and orderly, with dresses, too many to count, hung on hangers and more shoes than Sears and Roebuck sold in their catalog lining the floor.
“There are shoes missing, and dresses.” Norma Rose hurried across the room and opened the top drawer of a tall white dresser. “And underclothes.”
“How can you tell?” He bit his lip, regretting his words. A woman would notice things like that, which is why he’d wanted her to search.
“Because Ginger just purchased the missing items the other day. A purple two-piece suit and a red-and-white polka-dot dress, both with matching shoes.” She crossed the room to where a standing coatrack held several purses. “Two purses—no, three—are missing, too.” Moving to the closet again, she nodded. “Her red pleated dress is gone, too, and—”
Ty held up a hand. “Suffice to say clothes are missing.”
She spun around, heading for the door. “We have to call the sheriff.”
Reaching the door first, Ty stopped her. “Is there any chance one of your other sisters might have Ginger’s missing things?”
“No. Though they try, Ginger is shorter than Josie or Twyla, and her skirts are much too shor— Never mind.” She shook her head. “She wouldn’t have loaned brand-new clothes to anyone.”
He bit back a grin. In other words, Norma Rose wouldn’t have let the other girls wear Ginger’s things. “Okay,” he said. “Then we have a pretty good idea that she wasn’t kidnapped.”
“How do we know that?”
“Do you honestly think kidnappers would have let her pack first?”
Her blush must have stung, because she spun around so he wouldn’t see it. “Then we have to call the sheriff,” she repeated.
“Let’s see what else we can find first,” he said. “Give us a bit more to tell him.”
“But she might—”
“Whether we call the sheriff now, or an hour from now, isn’t going to make that much difference,” he said. “Except draw attention that neither your father, nor the resort, needs right now.”
He’d hit a nerve, that was evident by the way she stiffened. She sighed and turned to face him. “You’re right.”
Ty couldn’t withhold a chuckle. She frowned. “That,” he said, trying to stop another chuckle, “had to hurt.”
With brows knitted together so tightly that wrinkles formed, she asked, “What?”
“You, telling me I’m right.” He let out a low whistle. “That had to hurt.” Leaning left and right as if examining her, he added, “Are you bleeding?”
Her face scrunched before she let out a puff of air and a full grin appeared. “No, I’m not bleeding.” She patted her cheeks, as if that would remove the pink hue. “Now stop fooling around. This is serious.”
“You’re right,” he said. “This is serious.”
Ty glanced around the room one more time, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. “Kidnappers would have left a note, too.” Taking Norma Rose’s hand, he tugged her to the doorway. “Let’s go see if we can figure out how she climbed out the window.”
She’d taken a step, but now stopped, looking across the room. “How do you know she climbed out the window?”
“The curtain’s caught in it.”
“No, it’s not.”
He swiveled around and pulled her in that direction. At the window, he pulled back the drapes and pointed to where the sheer panel was caught in the corner between the upper and lower glass panes. “See. If someone on the inside had pulled it closed, they’d have noticed this. But someone attempting to close it from the outside, especially while it was dark, wouldn’t have.”
“Ginger may have climbed out the window,” she said thoughtfully, “but I can’t imagine she’d have replaced the screen.”
He shrugged. “If she didn’t want anyone to notice, she might have. Or, she might have had an accomplice.”
Norma Rose turned slowly, giving him the once-over with a steady gaze that made his pulse quicken.
“Perhaps you are a private investigator.”
“Perhaps,” he repeated and lifted a brow.
She spun around. “We need to speak with Reyes.”
“One of the gardeners?” he asked, following her out of the room.
“Yes.”
“Why?” he questioned as they strolled down the hallway. “Were they...friendly?” He searched for the right word, not wanting to offend her when he was gaining ground.
“No,” she answered, glancing his way. “Not in the way you’re referring to. Ginger wasn’t much into forming crushes on anyone. But Reyes would rope the moon for her if she asked.”
He grinned. “You’d make a good private eye, too.”
“It’s called being a parent,” she answered.
“You aren’t a parent.”
Her laugh held a hint of bitterness. “I’ve been more or less raising my sisters since my mother died.”
“That’s a lot to take on.” He’d been in charge of his younger brother, Harry, while his parents ran their store, and had always watched the clock for the moment they’d arrive home and relieve him of his duties. Sometimes he wished he’d appreciated those days more, for they were long gone now.
“Not always,” she said. “In many ways, taking care of the girls prepared me for running the resort.” Another sigh escaped her. “And running the resort has given me insight into overseeing the girls, especially as they grow older. Besides, family is the most important thing anyone has.”
His throat went thick at that, and he had to change the subject, although talking burned. “Where will we find Reyes?”
“Let’s try the main beach. I asked him to rake the swimming area.”
This time they took the front staircase that swept elegantly above the ballroom and then along the wall, giving guests direct access to the parties below. After crossing the large room, they went out the doors onto the long, wide balcony that overlooked the lake.
A hill covered with thick, low-cut grass, lined with various flower beds and hosting a fountain that splayed water into a circular cement pool, sloped all the way to the lake. Several boathouses and docks lined the shore on the left, whereas on the right there was a sandy spread of beach and red-and-white striped buoys floated in the water, tied together to create a safe swimming area.
“There’s Reyes,” Norma Rose said.
A man who was several feet out in the water pulled on a loop of rope that disappeared beneath the shimmering blue ripples.
Ty took Norma Rose’s elbow as they started down the long set of steps leading from the balcony, and was a bit surprised when she didn’t attempt to pull away. She waited until they reached the ground before doing that. He grinned, not insulted in the least.
Her mind clearly was on a mission. His was, too; it just took him a moment to remember it.
Upon arriving at the fine sand, she slipped off her shoes and carried them in one hand while moving closer to the water.
After sinking into the sand, which instantly filled his shoes, Ty pulled his shoes off, too.
She noticed and grinned, before turning to the man in the water. “Reyes!”
The man nodded and started walking their way, still pulling on the rope. As the water became shallower, what looked like an old bed spring appeared, covered with weeds. There was a large pile of wet slop lying on the sand, too.
“He’s raking weeds out of the water?” Ty asked, a bit perplexed.
“Yes,” Norma Rose answered. “They need to be maintained.” She added, “Our guests expect the best, and we strive to give it to them.”
In Ty’s eyes, raking weeds out of the water took things a bit far. “Weeds are part of swimming, you get used to them,” he said. That’s what he and Harry had done.
“Not here,” she said.
“No wonder you had nude swimmers here last night.” He figured people had been swimming nude for years, but lately, it had become a rave. Whole groups of partygoers would jump in pools, lakes or the cold ocean back home. It seemed any available body of water would do. He assumed the amount of booze they consumed helped keep folks warm.
“That is not something we encourage.”
“But you don’t discourage it?”
She didn’t answer as her gaze swept toward the gardener. “Reyes, have you seen Ginger?”
Ty didn’t miss how the man’s cheeks, though already red from the sun reflecting off the water, turned brighter.
“Was I not supposed to remove the ladder?” Reyes asked in response.
Norma Rose was good at hiding her reactions, Ty noted—almost as good as him. She barely blinked before asking, “When did you remove it?”
“This morning, just like she asked,” Reyes answered.
Ty glanced at Norma Rose, but let her continue her questioning. She liked being in charge, and he needed to let that happen whenever he could. Let her think she was running the show.
“From her window?” Norma Rose asked.
Reyes nodded. “Yes. Yesterday she said she needed to wash her window and asked me to set it up and remove her screen. I offered to wash the window for her, but she said there was a long streak across it that only appeared when the sun was setting. She wanted to wait until then to wash it, and told me I could replace the screen and put the ladder back this morning, if she hadn’t already done so. Since it was still there, I put it away.” Reyes stomped the weeds from his bare feet. “I’ll go put it back. Do you want me to wash the window, too?”
“No,” Norma Rose said. “Have you seen her today?”
Reyes shook his head, but concern filled his eyes. “Walter asked me that earlier. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Ty interjected, before Norma Rose could speak.
“I just need her help,” Norma Rose said, tossing Ty a quick sideways glance. “I’ll find her. Thank you. How bad are the weeds?”
“Not too bad,” Reyes said. “A couple more sweeps and they’ll all be gone until next year.”
Turning her blue eyes toward Ty, she said, “We don’t disturb the weed beds near the docks. The fish like them, as do the guests who come here to fish.”
Ty caught on to her attempt to make this look like she was giving him a tour, and nodded. “Do the cabins come with boathouses and boats?”
She grinned and gave Reyes a nod before turning around. “They can be rented separately.”
“I see,” he said. “Splendid.”