The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou - By Shelley Shepard Gray Page 0,56
to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close. Her body trembled against his and she felt as cold as ice. Seeking to calm her, he rubbed her shoulders and pressed his lips to her forehead. Little by little, she relaxed against him.
Only then did he realize they were still standing in an open doorway. And that what they were doing was probably not a good idea.
“Let’s go inside,” he murmured, pulling away from her.
Frannie blinked. “Oh! Yes, yes of course.” Abruptly, she turned away and led him into the living room. There he saw her friend standing to one side, looking even more agitated than Frannie.
“This is Beth,” Frannie said. “Beth Byler. She is my friend.”
“Good to meet you. Now, what’s going on?” he asked.
After a wary nod from Frannie, Beth spoke. “A guest was taken away, I think against his will yesterday. He still hasn’t returned and I am verra worried.”
“Say again?” he asked. Surely they weren’t talking about a kidnapping happening right here in Crittenden County?
Frannie grabbed his hand and gave it a little shake. “Luke, listen!”
He kept his mouth shut as she directed him to the couch because she was still holding his hand, and still looking like she was shaken three ways to Sunday.
But he still needed some information. “Frannie, maybe you and Beth could backtrack a bit?”
Stepping away, Frannie took a deep breath. “All right. Well, first off, I have a guest staying here named Chris.”
Opening up his notebook, he flipped to a clean page. “Chris what?” he asked, his pen hovering over the notepaper.
“Chris Ellis,” Frannie said impatiently. “He had just arrived before I went into the hospital.”
“Okay . . .”
“But, see, Beth thought he was shifty. He wouldn’t tell Beth where he was working and left for long hours at a time.”
Folding her arms across her chest, Beth nodded. “I didn’t trust him. He worried me.”
Before Luke could dig for more information, Frannie continued in a rush. “Then, yesterday three men came here to talk to Chris.”
“But he didn’t want to see them at all,” Beth said. “I didn’t blame him. They were scary.”
“But he still went, because he was upset that they came here to the inn,” Frannie said. “He got into their car and drove away.”
“And he hasn’t returned yet,” Beth said. “I’m afraid something very bad has happened to him.”
Luke wrote more notes quickly. “Any idea where they went? Did they mention anything?”
Beth shook her head. “Nee! Last night, I was so worried, I went into his guest room, even though I shouldn’t have . . . and found papers having to do with Perry . . . and a gun.”
Luke blinked as all the assurances he was about to utter flew out the window.
Frannie placed a slim hand on his forearm. “Luke, I know Beth shouldn’t have gone in his room. We both know that it was wrong. But the gun worries me.”
“It worries me, too,” he said honestly. “After you finish telling me what you know, I’ll talk to Mose about obtaining a search warrant.” Since they were already knee-deep in the mess, he said, “Do you remember anything on the papers you read, Beth?”
“They were letters. With lots of initials. Places with initials.”
Initial places? “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know what they mean, either.” Her eyes widened. “But perhaps they stand for something?”
“Do you remember any of the letters?”
With a pleased expression, she nodded. “The papers had the letters ATF and DEA.” She bit her lip. “Do those mean anything to you?”
“Yep. The letters stand for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Agency.”
The women looked more confused than ever, but things were starting to make sense to Luke. Both of those agencies could have a lot to do with Perry, and a lot to do with why Chris had left.
But what he didn’t know was which side Chris was on—or what to tell the two women sitting across from him who were scared to death.
Chapter 19
“Perry used to say it wasn’t a crime to want something different. I agreed with him for a time.”
LYDIA PLANK
The tension in the room was terrible. Beth backed away from Luke and Frannie, sensing that more was going on between them than either wanted to let on. Yet again, she wished that she could close her eyes and make the past few days disappear.
Until she’d come to the Yellow Bird Inn, Beth had been happy, almost content with her life. She’d found great joy in being