Hidden Falls: A Paradise Crime Mystery (Paradise Crime Mysteries Book 16) by Toby Neal

Author:Toby Neal [Neal, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798985706826
Publisher: Neal Enterprises Inc.
Published: 2022-12-27T18:30:00+00:00

Lei came out of the bathroom, dressed in fresh clothing and scrunching a bit of gel into her hair. She felt fresher, but no more rested. Her belly growled loudly as she stood in the doorway.

Cruz was still there. “I heard that, Lei. Another vote for eating out,” he said.

“We need to stay out of view,” Harry snapped. “Don’t forget, someone identified me at the airport.”

“But not Lei, and I’ve been here for over ten years as an agent. This is my hometown and I’m a fixture in the eateries.” The fans of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were attractive and spoke of laughter and time in the sun.

“I was hoping to hear that you’d given some more consideration to calling Sophie and her team, or handling this some other way,” Lei said.

Harry was standing by the window; her shoulders were tight and high. “If you want to go home, Lei, just go.”

“No. I came all this way, and I came to help. But this is crazy. If you know where Malia is, why don’t we figure out how to approach this man? He’s taken a sixteen-year-old girl captive. She will want to see her mother. She’s probably making his life miserable.” Lei came further into the room. “Why don’t we verify that she’s at his place, and then reach out to him? He might want to work things out with you.”

“And he might just want to kill me to settle Malia’s future once and for all,” Harry said. “Especially if he thinks I was the one who stole her in the first place.”

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Cruz said. “But Harry, you’re right. They’ve seen you; they know you’re looking for Malia. Why don’t you stay here, order room service, and call your husband? Talk the situation over with him. Visit with your other daughter on video chat. You told me she was sick.”

Harry’s face paled; she looked upset. Perhaps in her reaction to Malia’s kidnapping, she’d forgotten about Peter and Kylie. Lei approached and lay a hand on her rigid shoulder. “This is the hardest thing.”

“She’s not dead. That would be the hardest thing.”

Lei pictured her own children's faces. “You’re right, of course.” She squeezed Harry’s shoulder. “Call Peter. He must be going out of his mind.”

Harry sighed. “You’re both right. Here’s a key card so you can get back into the room when you return.” She pressed a plastic square into Lei’s hand.

Lei took the key card and stowed it in her pocket.

Cruz came toward her; he caught her eyes on him and his slow, wide smile made her look away. “We’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t go out,” he told Harry, who already had her phone out and was focused on it as she texted. She nodded absently.

Lei followed Cruz out into the hall and shut the hotel room door gently behind her. “Where to next?”

He smiled over his shoulder. “Follow me.”

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