her sister’s old house. I’m getting worried, Ginny Sue. Could you ask Luke if he’s heard from her this morning?”
“I sure will. Hang on a sec while I put you on hold.”
Gemma waited. With each second that ticked by, the bad vibes just kept swirling in her head.
Instead of Ginny Sue picking up, it was Luke who got on the line. “What do you mean Lianne didn’t show up for work?”
“What do you think I mean? I can’t find her, Luke. I’m standing right here in Collette’s living room, and Lianne’s not here. She hasn’t been here all night. When you got home last night, did it look like she’d packed a bag?”
“Yep. She packed one all right. She emptied one side of the closet and her half of the dresser drawers.”
“Okay. Then why didn’t she make it over here?”
“Good question. Look, give me twenty minutes to clear my schedule, and I’m on my way there. In the meantime, call Lando. I’ll retrace her steps from my house to where you are. Maybe she had car trouble or something.”
Gemma didn’t think that was the reason, but it was past time to call Lando anyway. With a sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, she hit speed dial.
Gemma waited on the front lawn with Enid Lloyd at her side until Lando pulled up in his cruiser. Not two minutes later, Luke pulled up in his Wagoneer.
“I drove the route she would’ve taken to get to here,” Luke announced from the curb. He shook his head. “I didn’t see her Honda anywhere. I also didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There’s no sign of her anywhere. Where could she be?”
“Let’s just take a collective deep breath and try to figure this out,” Lando suggested, shifting toward Luke. “Where would she go if she needed to get away for a few days?”
Gemma let out a throaty nervous laugh and answered for Luke. “Portland. You think she headed back to Portland?”
Luke eyed his sister-in-law. “Jeez, I didn’t think she was that upset to leave town like this and go back there. What’s in Portland for her? Unless that’s where the guy is that she’s been texting.”
Gemma glared at him. “Did you ever stop to ask yourself how she would cheat on you with a guy in Portland? Has she left town recently to hook up with anyone like that? No. She’s been right here working her ass off to get that shop opened on time. There has to be a reasonable explanation for her weird behavior. There has to be. Could you, I don’t know, just for five whole minutes, give her the benefit of the doubt?”
“Okay. Calm down. But you don’t know what the last two months have been like for us,” Luke insisted.
“Stop it,” Lando commanded. “Both of you. I don’t know why she left. But the fact is, she did. Now we just have to find her and make sure she’s safe. I need phone numbers for her parents and any other persons in her life—past and present—that you know about.”
Luke began to peruse through his cell phone and his contact list. “Here’s the number for her parents. Why don’t I call and see if they’ve heard from her?”
Lando nodded. “Good start. You do that while I do a background check on her.”
Gemma made a face. “Really? Is that necessary?”
“It’s routine when a person goes missing. And it’s far better to do it now rather than later. I’ll get Dale started on it. You guys keep trying to call around and see if anyone has seen her.”
“I should’ve stayed with her last night,” Gemma intoned as she walked back to her Volvo. “What was I thinking just dropping her off and driving away like I did?”
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” Luke admitted. “I handled this all wrong. I should never have told her the wedding was off at Leia’s. I knew better. It’s like I wanted to punish her for cheating.”
Gemma had heard enough about that and whirled on Luke, this time getting up in his face. “I’m telling you she never cheated.”
“Whatever,” Luke muttered and stormed back to the Wagoneer.
Gemma angled toward Lando. “Your brother is about to get on my last nerve. So what’s next? What do we do now? Should I start printing up flyers or what?”
Before Lando could answer, Luke came striding back up the driveway. “Well, that’s disturbing. Lianne’s parents haven’t heard from her since Saturday when she made her weekly phone