Snowbound Suspicion by Cindi Myers

Author:Cindi Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-02-07T20:54:05+00:00

* * *

TRAVIS’S ANNOUNCEMENT SHIFTED the mood in the room. Everyone fell silent, looking at each other. Cody looked, too, examining the faces of those around him. Did anyone seem unsurprised by this news? Did anyone look guilty?

Lacy, white-faced but trying to maintain her composure, clutched Travis’s arm. “Maybe they fell behind the dresser,” she said. “Or you accidentally put them in another drawer.”

Travis shook his head. “They were there this morning when I got dressed. Now they’re gone.”

“You mean someone came in and stole them?” Travis’s mother stared at her son.

“I don’t know, Mom,” he said. “I don’t know what else could have happened.”

“It couldn’t have been any of us,” Maya said. “We were all together at the sleigh ride.”

“It might have happened earlier today,” Travis said. “The last time I saw the rings was this morning.”

“This house is full of cops,” Emily said. “You ought to be able to figure out who did it.” She turned to the others. “In the meantime, the rest of you should go on home. Thank you for coming.”

She and Lacy helped usher people out the door. Maya took Casey and Brenda with her, and Gage promised to catch a ride home later with Dwight. Then the law enforcement contingent—Travis, Gage, Dwight and Cody—gathered in a corner of the room. “I think you can rule out family,” Dwight said. “Your mother and father and Emily, and, of course, Lacy wouldn’t have any reason to take the rings.”

“Maya and Brenda only came to the sleigh ride,” Gage said. “They’re out.”

“All the employees have been with the family a long time,” Travis said. “I’m not saying one of them didn’t do it, but I can’t think why.”

“Doug Whittington hasn’t been here that long, has he?” Cody asked.

“He has a record,” Dwight said. “Though not for theft.”

“There’s someone else here who has a record,” Gage said. “For robbery.”

A chill ran through Cody. “I don’t think Bette—”

“You don’t know she wouldn’t,” Gage said. “None of us really know much about her. And she was working in the kitchen all day—right next to Travis’s rooms.”

Cody nodded. Gage was right. He couldn’t let his personal feelings for Bette cloud the fact that on paper, at least, she looked like the ideal suspect. “How do you want to handle this?” he asked.

“I’ll talk to Doug first,” Travis said. “I think just you and me. He knows both of us, so that may put him more at ease.”

“Do you want Dwight and me to talk to Bette?” Gage asked.

“Wait,” Travis said. “Let’s see what we hear from Doug first.”

They found Doug and Rainey in the kitchen, washing cups and plates brought over from the cabin. Rainey turned when Travis and Cody entered the kitchen, but Doug remained hunched over the sink. “What can I do for you two?” she asked.

“We wanted to talk to Doug for a bit,” Travis said. He crossed the room and opened the back door. “It won’t take long.”

Rainey dried her hands and started to remove her apron.

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