Saving what’s real, true, and solid is always the best plan.
—HAMMER GIRL BLOG
Grayson welcomed the opportunity to do what he came here for and pushed away the déjà vu that had hit him when he had gotten off the plane an hour ago.
He squinted in the bright sunshine. The feisty brunette had her fists clenched as if she’d like to punch him. Her earnest eyes were more golden than brown. As close to amber as he’d ever seen. His size could be intimidating to women, and she was eyeing him with a dubious glare, so he stepped away a few more inches. She was kind of cute standing there with such a pugnacious stance. The huge black glasses didn’t hide enough of her face to keep him from seeing her perfect skin and high cheekbones.
He folded his arms over his chest. “I have an appointment with the sheriff tomorrow afternoon, and I hope to get to the bottom of the theft. All the evidence points to your sister.”
Her lips parted, and a harsh breath escaped. “You are all set to railroad her into something she didn’t do. She’s missing! That stupid picture means nothing.” She looked away.
His ears perked. “What picture?”
She caught her full lower lip between perfect white teeth. “The sheriff will tell you anyway. He claims a tip came in that Mac isn’t dead, that she is in North Korea. I don’t believe it. She’d never run off like that and make us think she’d been murdered. Never!”
He didn’t know the woman or her relationships well enough to comment on them, but if he had a dollar for every time he heard that kind of avowal, he could retire at the beach. “You’d be surprised what people will do. And North Korea would make sense. She’s an Asian language expert.”
“Not Mac! I know her too well to believe something like that.” One perfectly shaped brow lifted. “What are you doing here anyway? Mac has nothing to do with this place. I just bought it in an auction.”
He dug out his phone and said nothing as he held a picture from his phone under her nose. It showed Mackenzie inside this house talking to Terrance Robb and another man. “Recognize either of the men with her?”
The pink washed out of her face, leaving her cheeks colorless. “That’s the owner of the house, Terrance Robb. The other guy is a man Mac had been dating. Dylan Trafford.”
“So tell me what this looks like. The cocaine is gone, and Trafford is missing along with your sister. Looks to me like they took the drugs and went off to enjoy the high life.” He already knew Trafford was out to sea and not really missing, but maybe prodding her would produce a nugget of information.
When she swayed, he started to steady her, but she shook her head and stepped away. “Just because she was here with them doesn’t mean anything. She broke up with Dylan two weeks ago. And he’s not missing—he’s been out on a boat.”
He shrugged. “Probably to throw suspicion off her. The picture in the sheriff’s possession may be found to be authentic, then how will you explain it?”
She blinked, and some color came back to her face. “Nothing you say could make me doubt my sister. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to check out the house I just bought.”
“I’d like to look around if you don’t mind.” When a frown wrinkled her brow, he shrugged again. “I can get a court order if you’d rather.”
“But why?”
He held up the picture on his phone again. “It’s probably nothing, but I want to be sure.”
“Fine. You can check it out, but the place is empty.” She pushed open the door.
“Hey, mister.” A little girl with a wagon hauling Girl Scout cookies came up the walk.
Ellie stepped past him to smile at the child. “You’ve got a heavy load there, honey.”
The girl nodded, her black curls bouncing. “Want to buy some?”
“I sure will. I’ll take two boxes of the peanut butter ones.”
“Thanks, lady!” The girl picked up two boxes and handed them over, then accepted Ellie’s money with a huge smile. She peeked up at Grayson with a questioning smile.
“I guess I’d better buy some too.” He couldn’t let Ellie outdo him. “I’ll take three boxes of chocolate mint ones.”
The little girl’s smile went up in wattage as he handed over the money and took the cookies. “Thanks!” She walked away from the house excited.
“You’re good with kids. You have any of your own?” He wanted to kick himself for directing the conversation to something so personal.
She shook her head. “Not married and no kids, but I like to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit.” She lifted a brow. “You?”
Touché. “Nope. I’ve traveled around too much in my duty stations to get serious about a woman.”
He followed her inside the house. The sea salt and sand had done damage to the floor over the years, and it was nicked in places. The finish was worn in the walk paths, but the place had good bones. An oak board ceiling’s natural color bounced light from the windows to the floors. The plaster walls bowed out from the lath in places, and the kitchen hadn’t been updated in twenty years, but he could see beyond that.
He pointed to the bowing plaster. “Looks like you’ll have to remove the lath and plaster, then put up drywall.”
She shook her head. “They make what are called plaster washers I’ll use with a drywall screw to tighten it back to the lath. Authentic plaster adds character to a home, and I like to keep it when I can.”
The young woman was cute in a girl-next-door kind of way. He hoped she wasn’t about to learn a hard lesson about the secrets people keep. “How’d you learn so much about remodeling? Most women aren’t interested in home repair.”
“My dad was a carpenter, and he taught me a lot when I was growing up. We kids often helped him.” A ghost of a smile lifted her lips. “Mac hated it, but I loved fixing things up. I went to design school that second summer after high school, and Dad loaned us the money for our first flip, a cottage in the woods that was practically falling down. We fixed it up and made a profit of fifty thousand dollars. That was five years ago, and my partner and I never looked back.”
He glanced at her left hand. No ring. Not engaged, either. “And what’s your decorating style?”
“It’s a blend of coastal cottage and farmhouse. Think Joanna Gaines mixed with a blend of contemporary coastal touches and pops of chrome.” She shrugged. “I do other designs for people, but that’s what I tend to go for when we’re flipping a house. And we always do a top-quality renovation with no cut corners.”
“Sounds nice. I’m going to look around, but I’ll try not to disturb you.”
There was no way her sister was innocent. He had a hunch about these kinds of things, and he was rarely wrong.
Why did the guy bug her so much? Ellie walked out to the deck and into the crisp, clear air to get away from his presence. He was just so . . . big and overpowering. Her dad was big like him, and he’d made her feel unimportant and weak. And this Bradshaw guy seemed so set on Mac’s guilt. He hadn’t even investigated yet, but he was ready to handcuff her.
Ellie stepped across the yard past a glorious rambling rosebush that wafted its scent on the breeze, then turned to examine the house. The smooth cedar siding was in good shape. Terrance had kept it sealed, and she saw no sign of damage from the salt air, which was a bonus. The windows didn’t need to be replaced, and the roof appeared sound. The yard was nicely landscaped too, so it would just be a matter of updating the inside and fixing the driveway.
She had no other excuse to loiter outside, so she moved slowly toward the back door again. Maybe he was done by now. She’d reached the seating area on the patio when her phone rang. Shauna Bannister’s name flashed on the screen. “What are you doing calling on your honeymoon, Shauna? How was Hawaii?”
“It’s gorgeous, and our Hawaiian cruise was . . . interesting. I’ll tell you about it when I get home.” There was a lilt in Shauna’s voice. “But I need a favor.”
They’d met when Ellie decorated the house Shauna and her first husband had built. Shauna had kept to herself after Jack died, but with her new marriage, she seemed to be herself again. It didn’t sound like she’d heard about Mac.
Ellie welcomed the reprieve from being in the investigator’s presence and walked over to drop into one of the comfy chairs overlooking the water. A gull swooped and squawked overhead, then landed on the deck handrail to peer at her with black eyes. “You know I’d do just about anything for you. Well, other than give up coffee. I wouldn’t do that for anyone.” Telling her about Mac could wait until she got back. No sense in ruining her honeymoon.
“Neither would I. This shouldn’t be too hard because he’s quite the hunk.”
“Uh-oh. I’ve had it with blind dates. I swear, all you newlyweds are alike. You want everyone else to share in the glow.”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. We’ve never really talked about this, but I had a brother and sister. I thought they died in the earthquake that killed my mother, but I found out they went into foster care. Zach found my brother here in Hope Beach!”
“You’re kidding! That’s wonderful. I bet you’re enjoying quite the reunion. Does that mean you’re not coming back on Saturday and you need me to keep Alex? No problem. I love that kid.”
“You keep jumping ahead of me.” Shauna laughed again. “No, my brother had to come to Lavender Tides on assignment. He’s with the Coast Guard. I told him he could stay at my place. I wondered if you’d mind taking him under your wing a bit. He hasn’t lived there since he was two and won’t know anyone. You know my place pretty well and could show him where everything is. Maybe tell him where to get groceries, that kind of thing.”
“Sure, I can do that. When’s he hitting town and what’s his name?”
“He should be there now. His name was Connor, but his adoptive parents named him Grayson. Grayson Bradshaw.”
The blood drained from Ellie’s head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s here now, poking around into Mac’s disappearance.”
Shauna’s voice rose. “What’s this about Mac? She’s missing?”
Ellie told her everything she knew. “He’s sure Mac took that cocaine, which is totally insane.” Her voice trembled. “He’s really your brother? He’s a little—overpowering.”
“I had no idea about all this. I’m so sorry, Ellie. Zach and I will be praying you find her safe. I can ask someone else to help out.”
“Thanks.” She exhaled and fisted her other hand in her lap. “I’ll do what I can for him. I don’t want you to worry about anything on your honeymoon. I’ll go talk to him now.”
“Are you sure? I can easily call someone else.”
“He’s here now anyway. I can do it, no problem. See you soon.” Ellie ended the call and stared out at a ferry chugging past. If it was anyone other than Shauna, Ellie might have found a way to get out of such an onerous favor.
She rose and entered the dining room, then stepped through to the kitchen. Grayson was nowhere to be found. Had he left? She glanced through the front-door window, but his SUV was still there. She walked through the living room to the laundry room, then saw the door to the basement standing open. A light glimmered from below.
She stepped to the top of the stairs. “Grayson?”
“Yo.” He appeared in a swatch of light with cobwebs draped over his hair. “Found something interesting down here.”
She hated basements. The dank smell, the damp chill, the drippy noises. She forced herself to plod down the stairs, and it was just as bad as his cobwebbed appearance indicated. The floor beams were only seven feet overhead, and she felt like she needed to duck under the debris hanging from them. She shuddered at the spider eggs swaying at her passage. Spiders were the worst.
She reached him where he stood at a wall covered with shelves containing old paint cans, cleaning supplies, and oily rags. “What is it?”
He shone a flashlight past the shelves to the wall. “Looks like a door back here. There’s a ton of debris around it, so I don’t think it’s been used in a long time. Okay if I move this shelf and dig around back in there?”
“I guess. I’m not sure what you think you’re going to find here about the investigation, though. The Robb family lived here, not my sister. And she would have had no reason to be poking around in the basement.”
“There’s more to all of this than I’m at liberty to say.”
That didn’t make sense. She moved out of the way to allow him to get to the door.