Page 3 of The Missing Couple

She moistened her lips. “The couple who rented the Willow cabin was supposed to check out yesterday, but they didn’t. I stopped by to check on them and there’s no one here. All their things, including cell phones, are here, but they’re gone. Their SUV is gone.”

More of that silence.

Charly made a face. God, she hated to do this and be totally off base. “I’m concerned that something has happened and—”

“Why?” he cut her off. “Do you see something that makes you concerned? Signs of a struggle? Blood? Has the place been ransacked?”

She blinked, made a face. “Well…no,” she admitted. “Everything looks fine. I mean, their nightclothes are on the floor, but all else appears…normal. Their phones were on the bedside tables, plugged in for charging. There toothbrushes are in the bathroom. I guess the part that bothers me is that none of the calls or messages they’ve received have been answered.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Hey—” The call ended before she could say more.

She stared at the screen. What the heck? She had no idea who she had just spoken to other than the man was one of the emergency contacts in the phone.

Obviously, the man—the emergency contact—felt something was wrong. Charly blew out an exasperated breath and did the only thing she could. She pulled out her own cell phone and called the sheriff’s department.

If the man she’d spoken to was concerned, then she should be as well. She had been from the moment she woke up that morning…but his reaction had confirmed she was right to be.

The problem was obvious.

The couple who had rented this cabin was missing.

Chapter Two

Office

Bradly Retreat, 6:00 p.m.

The deputy in charge, Cohen Lathan, had put out a BOLO on the couple’s car mostly because Charly had pushed him. They were searching the woods around Charly’s property still. She wasn’t so sure they would do the job the way she would, but the decision hadn’t been up to her. Cohen hadn’t wanted her in the way—potentially disturbing evidence and so forth.

Clearly, he wasn’t aware of Charly’s reputation. The guy was a couple years younger than her thirty-four years. A newbie to the area—meaning he’d only been in Marshall County for about five years. A good cop he might be, but he didn’t know this place the way she did.

Exasperation swirled through her, but Charly opted not to make a fuss about his decision. She had a good relationship with the sheriff’s department as well as Guntersville PD. She had no desire to step on anyone’s toes. The police had their way and she had hers. When they were finished, she would redo the search using her own methods. Her father, who used to be sheriff of Marshall County, had been a fine tracker. She would bet money she knew how to follow a trail far better than the deputy leading this thing.

A forensics guy had taken fingerprints from Willow cabin and had a look around for potential evidence. All Charly could say to that was: good luck. No matter how well she cleaned, it was not possible by any stretch of the imagination that she had cleaned away all fingerprints from previous occupants. There were likely hundreds of fingerprints to be found. She rolled her eyes. Whatever. Let them look! It was their time and resources. She just wished they would wrap this up. She only had a couple of hours of daylight left, and picking through the path left by the couple and/or their abductor after the four deputies traipsed around the woods wouldn’t be easy.

Charly swallowed at the tension tightening in her throat. Why would anyone abduct the honeymooners? Why here? If they were rich or had some desirable resource, had the person watching them waited until they were here—away from the security they might have back home? God. She wrapped her arms around herself. Surely, her imagination was running away with her. If someone had harmed those people…

“Don’t even go there yet,” she growled. No need to borrow trouble.

The two may have taken a hike and gotten lost. One could have been injured and the other was attempting to haul him or her out. Or maybe they’d made it back and gone to the ER, which would explain the missing vehicle. Except why not call or return by now? Then there was the issue of the cell phones. Certainly, the devices being left behind may have been a simple mistake. Everyone forgot their phone at one time or another.

The man from the woman’s contact list, the one named Billie, hadn’t called back or arrived. Depending on where he was coming from it could be tomorrow before he showed up. Then again, he may have changed his mind. But if he did call back or show up, maybe he could provide some insights into the possibilities—the ones Charly didn’t want to think about.

She paced the floor some more back and forth. From her front door she could see anyone arriving up the long stretch of drive to the kitchen. The windows allowed her to see the road that disappeared deeper into her woods where the guest cabins were. The two sheriff’s department cruisers were parked out front. She’d suggested the deputies use Lola for their foray deeper into her property.

Maybe they needed a helicopter. A rescue team.

Finally, the distant sound of Lola’s engine brushed her ears. Charly hurried outside. Her heart rate climbed a dozen more beats per minute as she watched her UTV roll into view. As soon as the vehicle stopped and the engine shut down, four lanky deputies climbed out. The grim set to their expressions warned they hadn’t found anything.

Cohen swaggered up to her. “Well, Ms. Nix, we didn’t find a sign of anyone or any indications of foul play. Once a missing persons report is filed we can start an official search.” He adjusted his sunglasses. “Fact is it would be very helpful if you could reach a relative who knows about this couple. We need as much information as we can get about where they may have gone or what kind of trouble they might have been in. The whole honeymoon thing could have been a cover.”

Charly would really like to argue the idea, but the truth was she couldn’t say. The two seemed nice. She’d had no reason to suspect they were anything more than what they presented themselves to be. As much as she wanted to protect her guests, she couldn’t prove anything one way or the other.

“I appreciate the effort,” she assured him. “You’ll let me know if you hear anything back on that BOLO or those fingerprints?” The last she said just to be nice. She had zero hopes that effort would be useful in any way.

A new worry had started to gnaw at the edges of her mind.