My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,68
home!”
“Sorry, Holly, but some very important business needs to be taken care of and you have to be there.”
Eli couldn’t believe she’d just walked out him. He gunned the truck and searched the darkness. She couldn’t have gone far. His cell phone rang and Eli snatched it, hoping it was Holly.
It was Ken, his buddy in New York. “Hey, thanks for getting back to me. What have you got for me?”
“Sorry it took so long. As soon as I sat down to run your plate, Captain came in and sent me off on a case. Anyway, I’ve got a company. The car is registered to Patrick Zimmerman.”
“Right, I knew that. Got anything else?”
“He works for Transcross Realty. Real skinny kind of guy.”
A thought struck him. “Who’s the owner of Transcross Realty, anyway?”
“I thought you might want that information. Transcross is owned by two men. Alexander Harwood, Sr. and Patrick Zimmerman. They’ve gotten into the resort business and are busy buying up property all over the place. They really seem to be focusing on North Carolina.”
“Harwood?”
“Yeah, why? You know the name?”
“I sure do.”
Eli thanked Ken and hung up, his mind churning the information even as his eyes scanned the road for Holly. Worry hit him. Where could she be?
He tried her cell phone. It went straight to voice mail. Had she known he’d call and turned her phone off? Or had something else happened?
He called her house, hoping to get her mother. Voice mail picked up.
Now he really was concerned.
Alexander Harwood, Sr. was Alex’s father. And the man was a co-owner with Transcross Realty. Transcross Realty wanted Holly’s property.
His worry mounting by the minute, he called the sheriff’s office and asked for Alex.
“He’s not here, Eli,” Alice said.
“Do you know how I can reach him? It’s kind of an emergency.”
“I can try him on his cell phone.”
“Great.”
“Hold on a minute. If he answers, I’ll patch you through.”
Within a minute Alice was back on the line. “He’s not answering, which is really strange. He almost always answers his cell.”
“Give me Joel, would you?”
“Sure, hold on again.”
This time the next voice Eli heard was Joel’s. “What can I do for you, Eli?”
“I think Holly may be in trouble.”
“Holly? Again? What is it this time?”
“Can you track the sheriff’s car? He’s not answering his cell phone and I’m thinking he may be in trouble, too.” No sense in explaining he thought Alex might actually be the cause of Holly’s problems.
“What? Well, sure, we’ve got GPS systems in all of the cars. Just because we’re not big-city New York doesn’t mean we’re small-time technology.”
“Good. I’m heading out to Holly’s place just to check, but I need to know where Alex is. It’s very important. Might even be life and death important.”
A pause, then, “All right, if it’s that crucial, give me a minute and I’ll tell you where the car is.”
“Thanks.” Eli hung on and listened to dead air as he drove to Holly’s house.
The cop car was gone.
Not good. He ran to the door and knocked. “Mrs. Maddox? Are you in there?”
No answer.
He peered in the nearest window. Nothing.
A nudge on his leg nearly made him jump out of his skin.
“Duster.”
Absently, Eli gave the canine’s head a pat and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place. Except the police cruiser was gone. Foreboding chilled him.
Then Joel was back on the line. “I’m getting a signal from Alex’s car. It looks like it’s up near that cabin of his. I tried to raise him on the radio and his cell and got nothing. I’m going to call Harley and the two of us will head up that way, too.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
When the lawyer pulled in front of the cabin owned by Alex Harwood, Holly’s foreboding tripled. “What are you doing, Mr. Parker? Why does Alex want to meet with me?”
Through the leafless trees, she could see down into her sweeping backyard. She thought she could see Duster chasing something.
The man waved a hand. “Just go inside, will you?”
Holly sat back and crossed her arms. “No, I won’t. Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
A frustrated groan escaped him. “Get out, now.”
Her door opened. “Welcome to the party, Holly.”
She swung her gaze around and up to see Alex leaning on the door. The faint sound of the waterfall rushed in the background. “Alex? Do you have some answers to all this craziness? I’ve practically been kidnapped. Now, what’s going on?” she asked once again.
“Get inside.”
“Look, I’m getting really tired of…” Alex grabbed her arm