Still The One (Family Stone #4 Jack) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) by Lisa Hughey Read Free Book Online

stark living room.
    They stalked cautiously into the kitchen, empty except for a plain square table and two beat up wood chairs. A package of hamburger meat sat forgotten on the chipped Formica countertop—likely the source of the rotting smell—a dirty coffee cup rested in the scratched stainless steel sink, and an empty metal sauce pan sat on the old burner. The faded floral curtains over the window sink were pulled shut casting the room in darkness except for a sliver of moonlight.
    But that was it.
    The rest of the house was pristine.
    In the bedroom, the double bed had been made with the covers pulled precisely tight and the comforter smoothed. In the bathroom, a few cosmetics littered the tiny faux-marble vanity top. And shampoo and conditioner sat like little soldiers on the lip of the worn ceramic tub.
    In the closet, a variety of clothes, simple cotton dresses and sweat pants and sweatshirts hung carefully straight, some with the tags still on them. Even in the battered dresser, underwear and socks were folded and put away neatly. But she was still gone.
    For a second, Bliss’s shoulders slumped. “She really is gone.”
    “Bright side. No signs of forced entry, no signs that she was attacked, or abducted.”
    Bliss glanced around the bedroom one more time. “Looks like she left without taking anything with her. Except what she was wearing.”
    “However the hamburger on the counter suggests she took off impulsively.”
    “And didn’t know she wouldn’t be back?” Bliss straightened her shoulders.
    “Hard to tell.” Jack said, “But even if she thought that Fernandez had found her, she wasn’t harmed here. And based on your video surveillance she withdrew money and bought goods without being under duress.”
    Bliss tightened her mouth as she surveyed the old, rundown farmhouse one more time.
    “These are all good signs.” Jack felt compelled to try to cheer her up.
    “Yeah, but I didn’t figure on her running.” Bliss fingered the bottle of perfume on the old vanity. “At all.”
    Jack was quiet. He didn’t know this new Bliss. And he wasn’t sure what he could say to help. If anything. With a sense of dread, he asked, “You want to talk about it?”
    “About what?” She crossed her arms over her chest in a classic defensive body language.
    “The fact that you have psychological knowledge of what someone who is in protection would feel, what they would do.”
    “Years of working with them,” she tossed out far too quickly.
    Jack was surprised at the stab of disappointment he felt when she didn’t even pretend to give a truthful answer. Which was stupid. What was the end game of knowing more about her? Nothing. There was no end game. He just needed to get through this assignment, find Maria Torres, then they could go back to their separate coasts.
    And he could go back to...whatever.
    “Let’s clean up the kitchen and we’ll find a place to crash for the night.” His tone was abrupt, chilly.
    “We can’t leave for Monterey now?”
    Jack shared her impatience but they needed to follow FAA protocol. Not to mention the fact that their pilot was over a hundred miles away. “Shane needs a mandated rest before getting in the air again. Plus, he went to visit a buddy the opposite direction from here. He’ll be at the airport and ready to go first thing in the morning. We can get an early start tomorrow.”
    “Actually, since we aren’t tied to a commercial schedule, we should check out the places that Maria visited and see if anyone else has been asking about her.” Bliss sighed. “So we’ll need to wait until the stores open tomorrow anyway.”
    They headed downstairs to the kitchen. Jack scooped the package of ground beef into the garbage and then tied the bag up and lifted it out of the plastic can from underneath the sink. “I’ll take this out to the dumpster.”
    Bliss followed behind Jack and locked the door while he headed around the back of the house.
    Jack lifted the lid