He closed his eyes, his mouth opening with an unspoken Oh, dear God, his head tilting back. He took the picture from the gate agent and said, “Thank you. I have to get my bags off the plane.”

“Aren’t you going to board now, Mr. Holbrook?” she asked.

“No. I have to get my luggage off the plane and find my daughter,” he said.

Once he had his luggage, he phoned his lawyer. He tried Courtney’s phone and Stu’s, but was sent to voice mail both times. He called the hotel in Orlando; they wouldn’t tell him if there was a reservation in Stu’s name, but they would say no one by that name had checked in.

Then he called Kelly. “He tripped me up again,” he said. “I can’t find Courtney and she’s not taking my calls. Neither is Stu.”

“Oh, my God,” Kelly said. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Call the police, I guess. I’ll call you in a while.”

Fifteen

Kelly was feeling a little lonely. Spike wasn’t quite enough company to sustain her. She tucked him into his kennel on his soft bed with a chew toy. Then she exchanged her sweat suit for a nice pair of jeans, boots, crisp white blouse and heavy wool blazer. She went into town to the bar, but she didn’t go empty-handed. She took a big batch of Christmas cookies, some for Jack’s family, some for Preacher’s. She found the place empty.

“Wow, did I rent the place out for a private party?” she asked jokingly.

“Well, missy, nice to see you,” Jack said. “We had some of the regulars for dinner earlier, but hunters are rare about now. Everyone’s home wrapping the presents and decking the halls. Just a few days till Christmas.”

“I brought cookies for you and Preacher,” she said, putting a couple of large covered plates on the bar.

“Thank God for you,” Jack said. “We had some cookie donations, but none of them made it home with me. Mel can’t bake. And I don’t have time.”

“She can’t bake at all?” she asked.

“At all,” he confirmed. Then he turned and banged on the wall to bring Preacher out. “Have you eaten?” he asked Kelly.

“Yes, thanks. I just thought I’d drop in for a little bit of brandy on a cold December night. Brandy and company. Courtney’s puppy and I have totally bonded, but he hasn’t learned to talk yet.”

“That’s right, you’re on your own,” Jack said. Preacher came from the back, wiping his hands on his apron. He wore his usual frown until he saw her, then grinned happily. Jack went on, “The Riordans are in D.C. with Sean and Franci, and Lief is out of town. You know you have a standing invitation at the Sheridan household. Don’t worry—I can cook even if Mel can’t.”

“And you’re always welcome at our house,” Preacher said.

She chuckled. “Thanks, boys. Just a little brandy will do it for now. I also have an invitation from General Booth.”

“Then let’s just have a drink,” Jack said. “No one around to make us work.” He brought down a snifter for her brandy, which he poured first, and a couple of shot glasses for himself and Preacher. Before anyone drank, he asked, “You doing okay, Kelly?”

“I’m getting by fine. It’s quiet, but I haven’t lived with anyone in my entire adult life and Jill and I could barely scratch together a holiday meal before she came to Virgin River. This is nothing new. It’s just that I…” She cleared her throat. “I miss Lief.”

“Have you heard from him?”

“I have,” she said, taking a sip. She needed to see a friendly face after Lief’s alarming call. “Remy,” she said appreciatively. “Thanks, Jack. Very nice. Yes, I’ve heard from him several times. He ran into some trouble. He got all the travel information from Courtney’s dad but when he got to the airport, none of them were on the flight they were supposed to be on. He’d booked himself on it, as well. Of course the hotel in Orlando wouldn’t tell him if Stu’s family had reservations there, but they hadn’t registered yet as of this morning. Lief doesn’t know where they went. He doesn’t know if it’s just a different flight and different hotel or a whole different place. Courtney’s not answering her phone. He can’t find them.”

“Jesus,” Preacher said. “That’s horrible. What kind of bastard does something like that?”

“Well, in this case, the kind of bastard who’s the custodial parent and doesn’t want anyone in his business. Lief texted Courtney’s phone immediately asking where she was and got no reply. He’s called Stu’s phone repeatedly, even trying the ‘unknown caller’ option—he’s not taking calls. She’s either having a wonderful time or he’s not letting her use her own phone.”

“Lief must be half-crazy,” Jack said. “Is he still in L.A. or did he go to Orlando?”

“He’s not budging till he figures out where to go.”

“He’s not coming back?”

“Are you kidding?” she said with an unamused laugh. “Not without Courtney. I think he’s living between a rental car and the airport. He’s been to talk to their neighbors, called the police, asked for help from a detective, tried to bribe airline personnel… That almost got him arrested. And it’s Christmas week—no one wants to get involved now. It’s not exactly kidnapping. It would be hard to even argue custodial interference since he gave Stu permission to take her on vacation. Everyone he talks to tells him to relax, it’s her father, she’ll be back soon. Etcetera.” Kelly put down her snifter and rubbed her temples. “I feel for him. Feel for them both. But this is seriously bigger than I am.”

“Been there,” Preacher said, lifting his glass.

“You have?” she asked him.

“When I met Paige, she was married and already had Chris. She came in here one night on the run from a bad husband. Took a lot of doing before all that could be left in the past and we could start a life.”

“A lot of doing,” Jack confirmed.

“I thought the kids were both yours,” she said.

Preacher shook his head. “Really, I didn’t think I’d ever marry and have kids. It’s a pure miracle.”

“So let me ask you something,” Kelly said. “How old was Chris? Did you have trouble getting on his good side?”

“He was only four. We got along fine from the start, but not because I had any idea what I was doing. It was Paige I had to win over. She’d been in a real bad abusive relationship and was pretty worried about making another mistake like that. Takes a lot of patience, Kelly. Patience and maybe blind faith.”

“While you were having this patience, did you ever get very, very lonely?” she asked.

Jack and Preacher were both quiet for a moment.

“Come to our house for Christmas dinner, Kelly,” Preacher said. “I’ll even let you help in the kitchen if it makes you feel better.”

She laughed at him. “Nah, it’s not that. I’m used to being alone. It’s just that however this all works out, I have no idea how to convince Courtney I won’t take her dad away from her. That poor kid has been through so much. Who knows where she is now? And I don’t want to stand in line to be the next wicked stepmother.”

“She’s a little prickly,” Jack said. “Teenagers are like that anyway. Even the ones who haven’t been through a lot.”

“Right now I’d be so happy to deal with all her little prickly thorns if I just knew she was safely in Lief’s care.” She took a sip. “They need each other so much.”

And I need him a little too much, she thought.

Lief had exhausted almost all his ideas; it had been a very stressful couple of days. It seemed there was no help for a stepfather who’d been duped. He couldn’t imagine what Court might be going through, kept from him like this. Was she thinking that he’d broken his promise to be nearby in case she needed him? And he was panicked to think where she might be, though he was relatively certain Stu couldn’t have taken her out of the country. Lief had her passport in the strongbox at home along with her birth certificate.

He tried one last idea. Walt Booth’s number was listed, and he called it. Walt picked up on the second ring. “Walt, it’s Lief. I’m calling from Los Angeles and I need to reach Muriel. It’s urgent.”

“She’s right here. Hang on.”

When she came on the line, Lief explained what he was up against.

“Why, that bastard,” she said. “How does a person do something like that when a child is involved? How can he sleep at night? Don’t you worry. I’ll find him!”

“He’s not answering his cell phone, but here’s the number in case you can find a way to get through.”

“Oh, I’ll get through. I’ll get a patch through a studio or agency line. When Muriel St. Claire wants to make a movie, people tend to take the call. And even though it’s just a few days before Christmas, I want a meeting. I’ll offer to fly in, wherever he is. Just sit tight and try not to panic.”

“God, why didn’t I think to call you two days ago? Thank you.”

“Keep the phone on, Lief,” she said.

Less than an hour later his phone rang and it was Muriel. “He’s in Maui. Kapalua Beach in some condo. Got a pen?”

“Ready,” he said.

She gave him the address. “Can you get there, Lief?”

“I’ll get there if I have to swim,” he said. “Listen, I owe you.”

“Just go get your girl. I never did like Stu Lord. He’s an ass.”

Lief turned in his rental car and headed straight to LAX, determined to eat and sleep in the airport until he could find a flight. He had to wait several hours and couldn’t get a nonstop into Maui, but he was headed in the right direction and was grateful he could find anything at all this close to Christmas—the airport was mobbed.

Courtney had done three days of babysitting, counting their travel day, and was exhausted, even though Alison and Michael were good children and their parents were usually close by. Stu said he’d talked to Lief, and Lief had said to tell her to try to have a good time, that he wished he was at the beach. “Didn’t he ask to talk to me?” she had asked.

“Courtney, I asked him not to interfere and I promised him you were fine,” Stu said. “He warned me that I’d better be telling the truth and agreed to leave it alone. After all, I am your father.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“We have a deal,” he reminded her.

“I’m sick of babysitting!”

“Well, you decide what you want, Courtney. Life in L.A. or the mountains. It’s up to you.”

So she held out, and after just a couple of days she was feeling tired and bored. She wasn’t going to last through another week of this—chasing little ones, eating with them, reading to them, playing with them, falling asleep on the couch in Ann and Dick’s condo, right next door to Stu and Sherry’s condo, until Ann and Dick came back late at night after dinner, a little drunk. And Ann would cheerfully say, “Courtney, our last au pair would at least pick up the house before we got home.”

“But I’m not an au pair and I never wanted to be one!” she said.

“But you’re doing so well. The children love you!”

This was almost a practical joke.

At least she didn’t have to watch the older boys very much; Stu and Sherry let them run wild and kept tabs on them during the day. They hired a hotel service at night since Courtney babysat in Ann and Dick’s condo next door. Thankfully they didn’t want to hang out with a three-and four-year-old.

She kept trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this situation without the penalty being a life sentence with Stu and Sherry. Every last idea went through her head, even just running away and living on the streets. She thought about ditching right now—she had that credit card. She wouldn’t mind sitting at the airport until she could get a flight, even if it took days. But she’d have to at least tell Ann and Dick; she couldn’t leave Alison and Michael unattended—they were completely innocent. If something happened to them, she’d probably get life in prison. And if she alerted the Pagets, that would alert Stu. And while Ann and Dick seemed polite enough, always remembering to say please and thank you and smiling while they gave orders, they were not at all interested in watching their own kids. They were obviously quite accustomed to having full-time help.

She just wanted off this island so bad.

She was at the hotel restaurant for breakfast with Alison and Michael, as usual. They sat at a table on the other side of the room from Stu and Sherry and Dick and Ann; the adults didn’t want to be bothered or summoned unless it was absolutely necessary. The older boys were done eating and had taken off for the beach. While she and the Paget children were finishing up, an older couple she’d seen for the last few days sat down at the table next to them.

“You sure have your hands full, young lady,” the gentleman said.

“What a nice big sister,” the silver-haired woman said.

“I’m not related to them,” she said.

“Oh? Pretty nice babysitting job, I guess,” the man said.

And that fast, she knew she was done. Lief would have to find a way to get them out of this custody mess. She was not living with Stu.

“Excuse me, do you by chance have a cell phone?”