The Stranger by Anna del Mar

Author:Anna del Mar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

By the time Seth came out of his office later that afternoon, I’d forced myself to tackle the present, where Tammy was nowhere to be found, my clients needed immediate changes to their plans, Jer’s project required lots of research, and my boss and stepmother vied for my head. Seth found me at the kitchen bar, parked in front of my laptop.

“Hey.” His strong hands kneaded my shoulders. “How are you holding up?”

His touch felt so good on my knotted muscles. “Jer’s tundra-friendly pylons haven’t been invented. Darius now wants the sixth floor redesigned. Hector demands I come back to Miami, even more urgently than before. Meanwhile, Louise thinks I’m in cahoots with Tammy to drive her insane.”

“I’m telling you,” Seth said, “your stepmother is off.”

“Seth!”

“No disrespect intended.”

“Right,” I said. “If all of that wasn’t enough, I talked to the innkeeper in Kenai. She has no idea where Tammy and Nikolai were going next. I swear I must have talked to every hotel, campsite, and bed-and-breakfast in south Alaska. It seems I’ve hit another dead end.”

“Too bad,” Seth said. “Maybe she’ll turn up again soon?”

“She better.” I got up from my stool and went to the fridge, where I pulled out my latest creation and settled it on the counter in front of Seth. “Here, I baked you a flan.”

“Wow.” He eyed the dessert and grinned. “When did you have time to bake me a flan?”

“I bake when I’m stressed.” I sliced the flan and spooned it onto a plate. “I’d rather abuse the oven than drugs and/or alcohol. It’s the lesser vice, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.” He grabbed a spoon. “You won’t hear any complaints from me.”

“Let’s see if you like it.” I parked the plate in front of him.

He dug in. “Hmm.” His delight trickled down my spine and softened my center. “Awesome.”

I ignored the little pangs of need coursing through my body, scooped myself a piece and tasted my creation. It’d turned out really good. I swallowed another bite. “I’ve extended my search for Tammy to the interior and the panhandle,” I said. “Maybe I’ll get something productive that way. Your guy hasn’t come up with anything, has he?”

“Nothing helpful,” he mumbled around a mouthful.

“I can’t stick around forever,” I said. “My job is on the line.”

“You can’t leave,” he said between gulps. “There’s Tammy, of course, and the police investigation. They want you to stay until they figure out why George Peterson wanted to kill you.”

I poked at my flan. “I wonder how George Peterson got access to Fountain Way. Back then, it was a new building with great security. A guy like him in Fountain Way? Doesn’t make sense.”

“I thought the same thing,” Seth said. “I had Spider and his team dig out the list of owners for the period. Peterson’s name wasn’t on any of them, which means he must have been staying with someone else. The question is, who?”

“Maybe I should go back to Miami and take a look.”

“No way.” Seth set down his spoon.

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