Rock Harbor Search and Rescue (26 page)

“Why didn’t you say anything to Sheriff Kaleva?” Dad asked.

“Because we didn’t know who he was then. We just found out.”

“How’s that, dear?” Mrs. McDonald asked.

“We did some Internet research.” Emily met Naomi’s stare, then dropped her gaze into her lap. “He’s been fired by several models for
mishandling
funds.” She lifted her eyes. “But there’s no logical reason for him to be here in Rock Harbor unless he’s with Valerie. And if he’s with Valerie, then that was bad for Uncle Greg.”

Mrs. McDonald dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “Oh my. I can help you with that mystery. Mr. Lancaster is staying at the inn, and you all know Patty Solka, the manager, is my friend. Anyway, she said Mr. Lancaster has been dating Valerie’s older sister.”

Wow
. So Mr. Lancaster was dating Valerie’s sister.

“If memory serves me correctly, I believe Valerie mentioned something about picking out a gift for her sister’s birthday at the festival.” Mrs. McDonald folded her napkin and laid it across her plate.

Well . . . that made sense. But why had Valerie acted so strangely when Emily mentioned she’d seen her? Was it because she’d been with her manager, who was a thief? Did she know that? She had to. Maybe she couldn’t fire him because he’d break her sister’s heart.

Matthew spilled his milk in his lap. Dad grabbed him while Naomi reached for the glass.

“I’ll take this little man to get cleaned up,” Dad said and headed toward the bathroom, Matthew in his arms.

Naomi threw napkins on the spill, sopping up the milk.

“I heard Mary Dancer has put up a reward for the return of her necklace,” Mrs. McDonald whispered to Emily.

“I heard that too,” Emily whispered back.

“I wonder if Mason has received any tips?” Mrs. McDonald handed her napkin to Naomi, then turned back to Emily. “Have you heard of any?”

“No, ma’am.” But maybe that’s what his visit yesterday was all about. Feeling her out, seeing what she knew.

Her gut knotted. What if he thought she was guilty and told her about the reward just so she’d be tempted to “find” the necklace to get the reward money? Had he come by just to feel her out about it?

“I also heard Mary’s family is very interested in getting the necklace back. It had apparently been made with the beads that had been ‘blessed’ with the tribe’s medicine man equivalent, so it is believed to have serious protective and preventive power. They weren’t very happy she was selling it.”

Hmm
. Maybe she could ask Brandon about who in their family wanted that necklace back and if any were serious enough to take it.

“Do you believe that?” Emily whispered. “That such a blessing could give something power like that?”

“Of course not, dear. I believe in God and his Son, Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s all the protection I need.”

Very true.

Mrs. McDonald peered down her nose at Emily. “You don’t believe it either, do you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Good. I’d hate for you to fall prey to such nonsense.”

TWENTY

“Have you heard the news?” Olivia shoved off the lockers as soon as Emily entered the school’s hallway.

“They found the necklace?” This could so be the answer to her prayers. She held her breath as she slumped her backpack to the floor.

Olivia frowned. “No. I’m sorry. I meant about the surfing championship.”

Emily reached for her lock and rolled the dial for the combination. “It’s okay.” She let out a disappointed sigh. She should’ve known better. If the necklace had been found, surely the sheriff would have called Naomi and Dad.

The bell rang, and the girls went to their different home-rooms. Mrs. Harris stood at the front of Emily’s class. “Principal Sturgeon is asking all students to make encouragement cards for the surfing team for their championship meet this weekend. They’ll be distributed among the team members. So put away your books.” She gestured to the two boxes on the table in front of the first row of desks. “Please take one of the blank cards and
an envelope from one box, and markers and stickers from the other. Feel free to decorate your card however you wish.”

Students murmured to one another as everyone made their way to the front of the room to grab supplies. Rachel Zinn moved beside Emily, who waited behind the groups crowding around the boxes.

“Hi, Emily. How’re you doing?”

“Good.”

“Hey, did you hear about Mrs. Dancer putting up a reward for the return of her missing necklace?”

“Yeah.” Emily hadn’t quite gotten comfortable with the change in her and Rachel’s relationship. Ever since their truce had been called, Rachel had been friendly, but Emily didn’t know if she could trust that. After all, she and Rachel had been friends since childhood, only to have Rachel turn on her for something Emily had no control over. Would she do it again? Emily was hesitant to let her guard totally down.

“Did you know the bank’s been threatening to take her house because she can’t make her payments?”

Emily stopped moving forward with the group and faced Rachel. “I didn’t know that. How do you?”

Rachel’s face turned bright red. “Well, my punishment for running away is to help out at my dad’s fishing resort. Answering the phone, filing . . . stuff like that. I was in the office filing receipts yesterday when I heard Dad and Mr. Kukkari talking.”

“He’s running for mayor, right?”

“Yeah. He came by to ask Dad for a campaign contribution.” Rachel glanced at Mrs. Harris, who sat engrossed in whatever was on her computer monitor. “Anyway, Mr. Kukkari was appealing to Dad’s business sense, I guess. Saying how Mayor Kaleva had
gotten soft and that she was making business decisions based on emotions, not logic.”

“What does that have to do with Mrs. Dancer?”

“Give me a second.” Rachel smiled. “He said something about her making a recommendation to the bank to give certain Rock Harbor people longer to pay their house notes. He said that the bank could take homes and sell them for a profit, and someone else could buy and flip them, or something.”

That sounded cold. Banks could just do that?

“Dad asked him for an example, and Mr. Kukkari said people like Mrs. Dancer, who didn’t even have a
real
job with no means of a paycheck.”

“Girls, come on.” Mrs. Harris stood and stared.

Emily had been so engrossed in Rachel’s story that she hadn’t noticed there was no longer a line at the boxes and everyone except her and Rachel had returned to their seats and were working on cards. She grabbed a blank card and envelope, two markers, and a couple of sheets of stickers and rushed back to her desk.

But her mind wasn’t on creating a card. If Mrs. Dancer couldn’t pay her house payment, how would she pay a reward for the return of her necklace?

Emily absolutely adored being in Bree and Kade’s lighthouse. She loved the age of it, the way the wood floors squeaked when she stepped on them, and the way the sun slanted through the wavy glass in the windows.

“This is such a cool house,” Olivia said as they finished putting the dinner dishes into the dishwasher.

“I love lighthouses. I’d like to see the Tower of Hercules. It’s a Roman lighthouse in Spain.” She sighed. “I love Roman history.”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “You like all history.”

Hannah, one of Bree’s three-year-old twins, tugged at Emily’s leg. “I want to swing.” Her twinkling eyes tugged at Emily’s heart.

“Okay.” Emily allowed herself to be pulled toward the door. Hunter ran to join them too. “Just for a bit, though. It’s almost time for your baths.” And bed, but Emily didn’t want the wailing to start.

“Thanks for helping out this afternoon, girls,” Bree called after them.

“You’re welcome,” Emily and Olivia said in chorus.

Bree had asked them to keep the children entertained while she got the house ready for company. Dave was with Kade, so they just had the twins to take care of. Samson, trailed by Emily’s adoring puppy, followed them outside. He rarely let the children out of his watchful sight, and Sherlock never let the big search dog out of
his
sight. That was fine with Emily. Maybe her puppy would pick up some of Samson’s expertise.

They put the children in the swings and began to push them. Samson lay down on the ground, and Sherlock curled up by his belly. So cute. Emily yanked her cell phone from her pocket and snapped a picture. Lightning flashed high overhead. Emily glanced at the darkening sky and winced at Olivia. “We’d better get them inside. The storm’s coming fast.” As was common in Rock Harbor, storms could build and erupt without much notice.

Samson lifted his head and gazed toward the house. Moments later Bree charged through the door with his search vest and backpack in her hand. “Samson, come!”

“Wait here,” Emily told Olivia, who worked to get Hannah out of her swing.

Emily ran to join Bree. “What’s wrong?”

Bree was white. “The Coopers were having a picnic, and Mrs. Cooper’s daughter, Pansy, wandered into the woods while Lucy was taking stuff out of the car.” She knelt to slip the search vest on her dog.

“Oh no! Naomi was taking Timmy to a movie after his doctor appointment. I could get Charley and help. Olivia could stay with the twins.” She didn’t like that Pansy was missing, but she’d love the chance to go out on another SAR.

Bree considered the offer. Emily could tell that she didn’t want to risk Emily getting hurt again on a rescue, but she finally nodded. “We need all the help we can get with the storm coming up. I have two on my team I can call, but Charley is one of our better dogs. Let me make sure your dad doesn’t mind.” She pulled her cell phone out and dialed.

“I’m sure he won’t mind. I’ll tell Olivia.” While Bree made the call, Emily ran to tell Olivia what was going on. Emily helped get Hunter out of the swing too and handed him off to her best friend. Olivia promised to pray for them while she watched the twins and Sherlock.

“Your dad says it’s okay,” Bree said when Emily returned. “We’ll stop and get Charley on the way.”

They piled into Bree’s SUV. A few minutes later, both Samson and Charley were securely contained in their crates, and they were on their way to the forest.

The storm front pushed out the bright autumn weather and replaced it with a cold drizzle as they drove toward the park.

“It’s going to be cold and wet,” Emily said. “Will that make it harder to find Pansy?” Not to mention that it’d be dark soon.

“No, the dogs will love it. The moisture in the air will help
them.” Bree pulled into the parking lot next to the picnic area and turned off the vehicle.

Emily jumped to the ground and went to let the dogs out. None of the other team members were there yet, but other searchers milled around the area. Emily’s cheeks heated when she recognized Brandon pushing aside branches and calling for Pansy. What was he doing here?

Mrs. Cooper saw them coming and rushed toward them. Slender with fine blond hair and green eyes, she looked frantic. “You’ve got to find her, Bree.”

Her face was wet, and it wasn’t from the rain. Samson whined and pressed against her leg as if to offer comfort. She dropped to her knees and buried her face in his fur.

Bree put her hand on Mrs. Cooper’s shoulder. “We’ll find her. Any sign of her at all?”