Thanksgiving Groom (14 page)

She didn't need him to follow her, to get her back to safety. A short time ago he'd been her friend. Now he was just another person her father had put in her life. And he'd rejected her.

How could she ever look him in the eyes again, knowing that?

The cracking of her heart felt like a fault line about to give way to a major quake. She shook from the inside out, partially from cold, partially from rage and mostly from the pain.

She wanted someone to like her—no, to love her for herself.

The truck stopped behind her as she hurried up the steps and into the B and B. The clerk behind the desk smiled. He was new. She didn't like him either. He always smiled like he knew something about her.

For that matter, she really thought she'd seen him next to the door to her room. He's said he wanted to check and see if she needed more towels.

She glared at him as she rushed up the stairs to the third floor. So much for finding peace this year at Christmas. And what about being thankful at Thanksgiving? Maybe this was a sign that it was time to go home. Or maybe it was time to go anywhere but here?

 

Tucker didn't get much sleep, which was the reason for drinking three cups of coffee the next morning before he went to a meeting with Amy's tour guides. There wasn't much going on in the way of tours, not in November, but there were still a few people hunting for treasure.

It was crazy, but no one wanted his opinion. People had gotten injured. Amy's house had been broken into. Penelope had gotten lost. It made no sense.

As Tucker sat there listening, he wondered what people thought they'd find, if and when they found this treasure. He knew what they wanted to find. He knew why the town was crazy to find the treasure. But who found hidden, buried treasures? In the real world, pretty much nobody.

But enough people were interested to keep this little town going, and to keep Reed Truscott busy with
potential crooks. Tucker had talked to Reed about the guy lurking near the B and B and Reed had suggested he show up for this meeting, to see if any of the guys working as tour guides looked familiar.

Reed had showed up, too. Not that he was looking for potential thugs. He seemed more interested in Amy. Tucker smiled, and smiling hadn't been too easy since last night, when Penelope jumped out of his truck.

Not that he blamed her for being angry. Now that he thought about it, he realized what her father had done to her. That would make a woman feel pretty low in the pecking order, to have her father arranging her life that way. And to realize the Lear fortune wasn't enough to drag someone in.

Or at least not someone that could match her.

Anger seethed inside him, taking him by surprise. He was mad at her father and mad at every man that had turned her down and hurt her, including himself.

But she wasn't his problem.

He was the same guy that had let his dad down. He was the guy who had set a drunk loose to kill an innocent girl. He was the guy just starting to find a way back from all of his own guilt, and he didn't really have time to be saddled with the guilt of what Herman Lear had done to his daughter.

That wasn't his reason for being at this meeting, though. They were looking for two things: crooks and stalkers. So much for quiet small-town life. As he scanned the group, not one of the tour guides looked like the man he'd seen near the inn. He glanced Reed's way and shook his head. “Not here.”

“We'll keep looking.”

Amy was talking about fishing, hunting and a few other things that Tucker didn't need a guide for and didn't intend on guiding someone else to do. He stood up and whispered that he'd catch Reed later.

On his way out the door, he decided to walk around the inn and see if he could spot anything that the man he'd seen had left behind. He passed a little business that specialized in planning weddings, Bethany Marlow's shop. He remembered hearing that she'd recently come back to town to plan weddings and she'd gotten herself engaged to Nate McMann. Tucker itched a little at all of these engagements.

He glanced inside and watched the spectacle, with no idea why it meant so much to a woman to put on all of that lace. Delilah stood in front of Bethany, a book in her hand. Planning a wedding that wasn't even proposed, or so he'd heard at the coffee shop. Another woman stood in front of the mirror, a gauzy veil over her face. She wore jeans and a big sweater. When she turned, he realized it was Penelope. Pink crawled into her cheeks and she turned away.

Someone would marry her. He thought her dad had found a perfect match: the guy with the right business connections. In the end, that's what it was all about for Herman Lear.

He walked on down the street, trying hard to push Penelope from his mind, but not managing to. He remembered the two of them singing about building a snowman named Parson Brown. He pictured her in that veil, standing in front of a snowman in a top hat.

She wouldn't appreciate that image.

He pictured her as the kind of woman who wanted a
big wedding in a big cathedral. She'd want all the bells and whistles.

She was Alaska society to the hilt. He was a cheese sandwich kind of guy who had done well for himself. When he got married, he wanted a woman who would be as happy with a cheese sandwich as she was with lobster.

He'd been telling himself that for a long time. He hadn't put a priority on marrying, but when he did he'd find a woman who'd be everything his mother wasn't. She wouldn't be the type of woman who always wanted more and was never happy with what she had.

The wife he picked would be thrilled with a walk in the woods and elated with quiet nights at home. She wouldn't want the country club or a beach house.

His mother had been after those things. She'd gotten them, too. With three different husbands.

Forever wasn't in her dictionary.

But a woman who tried on a wispy veil and sang about Parson Brown? She might be different. She'd had it all, and now she wanted life without everything. Or so she thought.

But for how long? How long until she got bored with charming small-town life? What if she married Joe the logger and lived in a nice little house, had a few kids? And then left someday while the kids were at school?

Today he was going to tell Gordon Baker that he'd changed his mind. He was done with all of this marriage nonsense and treasure hunting. He was heading back to Seattle.

T
he diner was crowded. Penelope moved over to let Joleen sit next to her in the booth. Delilah sat across from them. All three of them were living different lives than they'd planned for themselves in Treasure Creek. Last night, Joleen had slowed down, calmed herself and had a real conversation with Harry.

Delilah was planning a wedding because she was thirty, and she said a woman ought to be married by then. Joleen shrugged that off because she had been happy and single for quite some time.

Penelope answered Delilah's question about the map. Of course she'd seen it.

“Do you think you know where the treasure is?” Delilah stirred sugar into her hot tea. “Someone thought you had a good idea.”

“I have an idea.”

“Then why aren't you out finding it?” Joleen glanced toward the door, as if her radar had picked up Harry Peters's entrance.

The shop owner turned a little red and headed in the opposite direction. Joleen frowned and tears filled her
eyes. “I'm an idiot with men. I just scare the tar out of them.”

“Relax.” Delilah rolled expressive lined eyes. “Now tell me, Penelope, what about the treasure.”

“I think I know. I'm just not sure, and I don't want to create a crazy stampede. I've talked to Amy about what I think.”

“Oh, this is exciting.” Joleen tried to reenter the conversation. Her gaze was still on Harry.

“It's exciting.” Penelope glanced at her watch. “I have an appointment with Amy about food for the Thanksgiving dinner next week.”

“Oh, my goodness, Thanksgiving already.” Delilah chewed on her bottom lip. “Why can't I feel Thankful.”

Joleen snorted, “'Cause, honey, you're afraid you're one holiday closer to being an old maid.”

Delilah didn't laugh. Penelope patted her hand. “I have to go, but you two have a good time. I'll see you this evening at church.”

“See you then, honey.” Joleen scooted to let her out.

Penelope left the two to argue out their problems, and she hurried out the door and around the corner. She was meeting Amy at the inn.

As she rounded the corner she hit a solid wall of chest, and the odor of onions and garlic. She backed up, ready to apologize. Instead she tried to scream. A hand clasped over her mouth and cold steel hit her neck.

She tried to think about self-defense, about where to hit, how to kick. He had her arms behind her and she couldn't get her legs to cooperate.

“Keep your mouth shut, sweetie, and you might not get hurt.”

She nodded, but her mind was racing, thinking over the safety tips she'd learned over the years. Never go willingly. Always leave something. Turn on your cell phone. She tried to get her hand into her pocket, but he saw the direction she was going and reached first, grabbing her cell phone and tossing it.

“Not a good idea.” A second man laughed at her. She glanced around. No one in sight. She couldn't run, they had her tight against them.

She had to do something.

The pearl necklace around her neck. Her grandmother's necklace. She reached for it, grabbing it before they could stop her. She pulled, and pearls went clattering along the sidewalk.

“Oh, aren't you a smart one.” One of her captors squeezed her hand. “Don't pull another stunt like that or you won't survive this.”

Okay, so what did they want?

They dragged her down the sidewalk, away from town, away from help. The one with the gun leaned in close.

“I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, but you keep your trap shut and just do what I say or I'll have to shoot you.”

She nodded. His hand moved slowly. She weighed her odds. Scream and he might shoot. Or they might hide her. She didn't see a soul around who could help. She shivered and pulled her crocheted scarf around her neck. Loose pieces of yarn. She'd meant to fix it. With
her free hand she tugged a few from the yarn fringe and let them flutter to the ground.

“What do you want from me?”

A ransom. She was sure of it. What other value did she have?

“The treasure. I heard you talking about your secret memory, and the map you've got in your head. Well, we've got the real map but we need for you to tell us what you know. I want you to lead us to that treasure.” The big oaf who smelled like onions and cigarettes leaned closer and she nearly gagged.

“I don't know where it is. If I knew, I'd have told Amy.”

“I think you have an idea.”

She nodded. “I do have an idea.”

She pretended to fiddle with her scarf. A few more fringes came loose. She really hoped someone would notice.

“Then you'd better share your idea.”

She tripped over the sidewalk, and as she righted herself she dropped a card from Bethany's business. Her brilliant abductors were clueless.

“Down the trail. I think they used to call it the Creek Trail. But not now. I can't remember what they call it, but if you follow it far enough it lead to the Chilkoot.”

“You have a photographic memory. Of course you remember.”

“I haven't seen it. I know what I saw on the map. I saw a rock formation on that trail. There's an old settler's cabin near the rocks.”

“That's where we're going. You'd better have your walking shoes on.”

She looked down at the shoes she wore every day. There really weren't any other kind suitable for Treasure Creek and the amount of walking she did each day. Shoes. Her mother would be proud that at a moment like this her mind turned to shoes. She wanted to cry because that wasn't who she was.

It wasn't who she wanted to be. And this was the time in her life when she'd really have to prove that there was more to Penelope Lear than a bank account and good fashion sense.

If she wanted to survive, she was going to have to be strong and outsmart the two men who had taken her captive. She grimaced and shuddered a little. Outsmarting them wouldn't be a stretch. Getting away from them might prove to be difficult.

The cabin she'd told them about was several miles from town. That meant a long, long walk on a cold day.

 

Tucker tried to ignore Jake and Reed. The two men waved, called his name and then hurried across the street to stop him from getting in his truck. He wasn't leaving yet, just thinking about loading his truck. Obviously, they thought it was up to them to stop him.

“Have you seen Penelope Lear?” Reed put a hand on Tucker's truck door.

Tucker was a little offended by that. He thought about moving Reed's hand, but he really didn't want to push the cop's buttons. “I haven't seen Penelope. Why?

“She's missing. She's been gone since yesterday. And today we found her cell phone by the diner.”

That changed everything. Tucker should have checked
on her. He should have made sure he got back to her place safely. She wasn't his responsibility. He walked away from the two men that he considered friends.

He'd done a lot of making excuses. His dad had pushed him away, and it had been easier to allow it than to fight it. Tucker should have pushed back. He'd taken good money for defense in that DWI case.

Guilty. Tucker was guilty on every charge. Penelope had needed his protection, even if he hadn't wanted to do it and she hadn't realized she needed it.

But he was done with this town and guilt. He walked back to his truck and Jake put a hand on his shoulder. “Do you know where she might be?”

“Have you contacted her parents? Maybe she went back to Anchorage?”

“They're on their way here. She hasn't talked to them for three days, not since the day she called and disowned them for trying to buy her a husband.”

“Right.” He kept a hand on the truck door and tried to think fast. Had she left, had something happened?

“Do you know where she might be?” Jake pushed.

“Not a clue, but I plan on finding her.” That settled inside him, and he tried to make sense of it.

This was about not wanting to feel guilty again. He let that thought roll through his mind, and it didn't make him feel any better. This was about wanting to find her, because he wanted her safe. He wanted her in his arms.

He needed her in his arms and close.

“Have you talked to anyone?”

Reed pulled out a notepad. “Yeah, we've talked to people. We talked to Delilah and Joleen. They had lunch
with her yesterday. We talked to the night clerk where she was staying, and to a guy that Amy hired. He'd asked some questions about Penelope that Amy didn't like.”

“Do you think he has something to do with it?”

Reed shook his head. “He clammed up. But I don't know if it is about this or something else.”

“Okay, let's go.” Tucker opened his truck door.

“Not that quick. We need more to go on than a dumped cell phone. You seem to know her better than anyone,” Reed said as he stuck the paper back in his pocket. “Maybe you can think of something, or see something, that we missed.”

He knew her as well as anyone. He brushed a hand through his hair and nodded.

“Where'd you find her cell?”

“Side street just down from the diner,” Jake offered.

“Let's go there. Maybe you missed something?”

They drove down the street to the area where Penelope's cell phone was found. Tucker parked and got out of his truck. Reality was colder than November in Alaska. It encased his heart, making him hurt like crazy and then making him numb.

The reality of it was that he didn't want to lose Penelope Lear.

Where was she?

He walked, thinking about her, about who would take her. The sidewalk was uneven and icy in spots. He scanned the area, thinking about the last time he'd seen her and how hurt she'd been. Those thoughts wouldn't help find her.

He looked at the curb and then leaned for a better
look before he reached down to grab something familiar. “What about these?” He showed them a few pearls.

Reed shook his head. “They could belong to anyone.”

“No, they're hers.” Tucker didn't have to think about it, he knew. “She wore them everywhere. I never saw her without those pearls. I think they were her grandmother's. That's what she told Wilma Johnson.”

He bent and started picking them up. She'd want those pearls. He shoved them in his pockets. Jake bent and picked up a few.

“Tucker, we don't have time for this.” Reed handed him a few pearls.

“You had to wait until today before you told me she was missing.”

“I know you love her, but…” Jake backed down and shut up when Tucker looked up at him. “I mean, Reed didn't know she was missing until Amy said she didn't show up for practice this morning.”

“Someone should have noticed.” Tucker stood back up, his hand full of pearls that he shoved into his pocket. “And she's a friend.”

“Right, a friend.”

Tucker walked past Jake and kept going. A block away he noticed something that he'd ignored until that moment. Yarn. He'd seen it on the sidewalk and now at the head of the trail that led out of town, along the creek and down to a few old historic home sites.

“They took her down this trail.” He looked back, waiting for Reed and Jake to catch up.

“Why do you say that?” Reed looked around. “There
are a dozen or more places that she could have walked to from here.”

Tucker held up the yarn and a button. “Her scarf and her button.”

He knew her that well. It took him by surprise.

“Okay, let me radio back to the station and call Amy.” Reed stepped away from them. He came back a few minutes later. “Amy is driving down here. She's bringing supplies, and she said we aren't going down this trail without her. She said if we find Penelope, she'll need another woman.”

That filled Tucker's mind with thoughts that caused him to clench his fists and think pretty dark thoughts on what he'd do to the person that took Penelope. If these people had hurt her…

“Tucker, we'll find her.” Jake stood at his side.

“Yeah, we'll find her.” Tucker wanted to take off, to let Jake and Reed catch up. He stayed, though.

The best way to help Penelope was to keep his head on straight. Penelope had obviously done the same. He smiled, kind of proud of her for leaving a trail they could follow. And he had no doubt that she'd meant all of this to be a way for help to find her.

She didn't need any of them, but, man, he needed her. He raked a hand through his hair and let out a sigh when Amy's car stopped at the side of the road. She jumped out with a backpack and walkie-talkies. That's what made Penelope and Amy friends. The two had been raised in different worlds, but they were a lot alike.

“Let's go find her.” Reed started down the trail and Tucker walked next to him.

“No one has asked for money—a ransom?”

“Nothing.” Reed shifted his gaze from one side of the trail to the other. Tucker did the same, looking for more clues. He saw a business card and bent to pick it up. It was from Bethany's. The wedding planner. He handed the card to Reed, who took it and shoved it in his pocket.

“Someone was after her, but why?” Jake echoed what they were all thinking.

Tucker thought about it. He'd thought about it a lot, since back at the cabin when he'd first found her and first found footprints outside. Who would want her and why? He hadn't been able to imagine why anyone would want a chattering female who had a penchant for getting into trouble.

Now he knew more about her. He knew reasons why he would want her in his life. He would want her because she made him smile. She was an optimist. She had faith. She knew how to think ahead, and think quick.

But who had taken her and why? He knew why he wanted her, but why would someone kidnap her?

Without a ransom demand, he doubted it was about her dad's fortune. That led Tucker to one conclusion: the treasure. She
knew
that map. Without having it in her hand, she had it in her mind. And people knew that. The same people who hadn't been able to get their hands on an original, or the people who had. Maybe they'd heard that she'd gone looking for the treasure because she thought she might know where it was located.