Page 19 of Tough as Steele

I know, and you’ll make me pay.

Bristol responded with a crazy face emoji. Londyn grinned, even if her sister would call in the favor. Londyn moved on to the other articles. They confirmed the first story. She was just finishing the last one when the bullpen door slammed open and Lieutenant Zane Hoffman stepped in.

“My office,” he said as he stormed past her desk.

Not good. She followed him to the small room cluttered with files. In his mid-fifties, he was fit, tall, and imposing with a stare he’d honed over the years. Tonight he wore black tactical pants and a gray polo topped by a black jacket. He tore off the jacket and motioned for her to sit.

“I thought you were off this weekend too,” she said as she took a seat.

He dropped onto his chair that squeaked at the weight. “As were you, but that didn’t stop you from butting your nose in where it didn’t belong.”

So maybe Nate had complained.

She laced her fingers together and rested her hands on her lap to appear calm when her insides were in turmoil. “You’re referring to Mimi Vandervoort’s abduction.”

“Exactly. I never figured I’d have to have this conversation with you of all my detectives. You know better than to buck jurisdiction. If you hadn’t learned that coming up through the ranks at PPB, your dad or uncle would’ve drilled it into you.”

“Extenuating circumstances.” She told him about the Guardians’ role in the night and why she needed to clear her family name. “I know that’s wrong too. I’m too close to the situation. But you also know how important family is to me.”

“I do, and between you and me, I probably would’ve done the same thing if I were in your shoes.”

At least he gave her that. Still, she felt a bigbutcoming. “I guess this is the time when you tell me to back off and leave things alone.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer. “But our captain called and ordered me to put you on a joint investigation with a Nate Ryder at Washington County.”

“He what?” She had to work hard not to gape at him.

“You heard me right.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. “Apparently, Ms. Vandervoort’s daughter phoned him and insisted that you two work together. She and her husband offered to donate a million dollars from their company to both organizations. Captain couldn’t turn her down. Got on the horn with County and bam. You’re working together.”

Her mouth did drop open at that point, but she recovered as fast as she could. “Did he know about my personal connection?”

“She told him, and now I’m charged with making sure you don’t screw up in favor of your company.” He ran a hand over his buzz cut. “I figure if anyone can pull this off, it’s you, but I need to be kept in the loop. Means I want twice-daily reports. And don’t give Detective Ryder anything to complain about. I don’t want to have to deal with his LT. You got it?”

“Got it.” She should get up and leave now, but she was so stunned that she couldn’t move her body and just stared at him.

“What are you waiting for? A woman is missing, and you need to get to work.” He made shooing motions with his hands.

She hurried from the office to collapse on her desk chair, her thoughts racing.

Nate Ryder. She was going to be working with Nate Ryder. Unbelievable.

What should she do first? Call Nate? Had he heard about the deal? Should she wait for him to call her?

No. His supervisor might not have told him yet. Mimi was missing, and time was ticking down.

Londyn grabbed her jacket. Going to Mimi’s house had to be her first step. No matter what Nate Ryder thought about it or her. No matter that her family’s business could suffer if she got involved and failed to bring Mimi home. Her top priority was to find the missing eighty-year-old woman and return her to her family. Whatever it took.

Eleven p.m. and Nate was sequestered in Mimi’s office with Wendy. He’d made a quick trip to trade his pickup for his detective’s car and switched out his pocket carry, a Sig P365, for his service revolver. Then he’d equipped Mimi’s office as his command center, and it no longer looked like a wealthy woman’s office but an incident room. Wendy had helped him move things, albeit reluctantly, when he would expect her to be all over finding Mimi. Something was off about the woman, and he intended to find out what. After he got the forensic staff set, he would dig into her background.

Nate had also arranged to have the house phone tapped by a tech and a plainclothes deputy. They’d smuggled their equipment into the house in the Steele Guardians’ van, then set up the monitoring and recording equipment in the family room. The last time Nate had stepped into the family room, Clarice had dropped off to sleep on the sofa. Hoping she would sleep until the call came in, he’d covered her with a blanket.

The kidnapper was likely waiting to phone to add to Clarice’s stress so she would more readily agree to the ransom. Not that Nate would encourage her to pay it, but what else could he tell her that would make her hold off? He had no real leads. He was counting on forensics to help point him in the right direction.

Loud voices from the front door traveled down the hallway like the wind in a tunnel carried them.

Wendy waved at him, grabbing his attention. “Now can I go to bed?”

He eyed her. “You don’t seem all that concerned about Mimi being missing. Is that because you know where she is?”

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