Page 47 of Mistletoe and Mischief

Linc reached for his cell phone and called home. Five long rings later, voice mail kicked in. If his sisterhadgone back to Seattle, she apparently wasn’t at the house.

“She’s not there,” Linc informed his brothers.

“What did I tell you?” Ned sighed. “I know Mary Jo, and she isn’t going to turn tail after one setback.”

This was more than a simple setback, in Linc’s opinion. This was major.

“Have you tried her cell phone?” the sheriff suggested next.

“Yeah, we did. A few times. No answer,” Linc said tersely.

“Try again.”

“I’ll do that now,” Linc murmured. He reached for his phone again and realized he didn’t know her number nor had he programmed it into his directory.

He cleared his throat. “Ah, Ned, could you give me the number for her cell?”

His youngest brother grabbed the phone from him and punched in Mary Jo’s number, then handed it back.

Linc waited impatiently for the call to connect. After what seemed like minutes, the phone automatically went to voice mail. “She’s not answering that, either.”

“Maybe her cell battery’s dead,” the sheriff said. “It could be she’s out of range, too.”

Actually, Linc was curious as to why the sheriff himself had responded to dispatch. One would think the man had better things to do—like dealing withrealcrime or spending the evening with his family. “Listen, Sheriff, is Cedar Cove so hard up for crime that the sheriff responds personally to a possible break-in?”

Troy Davis grinned. “I was on my way to my daughter’s house for dinner when I heard the call.”

“So you decided to check us out.”

“Something like that.”

Linc liked the sheriff. He seemed a levelheaded guy, whereas his deputies were a pair of overzealous newbies, hoping for a bit of excitement. He’d bet they were bored out of their minds in a quiet little town like Cedar Cove. The call about this supposed break-in had sent these two into a giddy state of importance.

“The only essential thing here is finding our sister,” Linc reiterated to the sheriff.

“The problem is, we don’t knowwhereto find her,” Ned put in.

The sheriff rubbed the side of his face. “Did you ask around town?”

No one at the pub had been able to help. “Not really. We asked the guys at some tavern, but they didn’t seem aware of much except how full their glasses were.”

The sheriff grinned and seemed to appreciate Linc’s wry sense of humor.

“She’sverypregnant,” Ned felt obliged to remind everyone. “It isn’t like someone wouldn’t notice her.”

“Yeah.” Mel once more thrust his arms out in front of him and bloated his cheeks for emphasis.

Linc rolled his eyes.

“Wait,” Deputy Pierpont said thoughtfully. “Seems to me I heard something about a pregnant woman earlier.”

That got Linc’s attention. “Where?” he asked urgently. “When?”

“I got a friend who’s a firefighter and he mentioned it.”

“What did he say?”

Deputy Pierpont shrugged. “Don’t remember. His name’s Hutton. You could go to the fire station and ask.”

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