Kilt at the Highland Games Read Online Free PDF Page B

deep, two-inch long scratch. She hadn’t felt it until she returned home to take a shower and dress for the day. Then it had stung like the dickens, and the tape she’d used to cover it with a gauze pad made her skin itch.
    â€œThank you,” Sherri said.
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œListening. I couldn’t unload on just anyone, you know. I’m supposed to be the boss—in charge and in control.”
    â€œYou were right to stay with your children. They must have been scared, what with the siren wailing and all. They needed their mom nearby to reassure them everything was okay. Pete was working. I saw him on the far side of the town square, directing traffic. That left you.”
    â€œAnd Mike handled things at the scene just fine without me.” The side of Sherri’s mouth quirked into a wry half smile. “You might as well say it—I wasn’t needed at the scene at all.”
    Liss rolled her eyes. “Feel sorry for yourself some other time. You’re obviously running the show now. What happens next?”
    â€œWe wait for Angie to turn up.”
    â€œThat’s it?” Liss frowned. “What’s wrong with that picture?”
    â€œA lot,” Sherri admitted.
    â€œAngie would never take Beth and Bradley and disappear, no matter how shook up she was by the fire, not without telling someone where she was going. She’d know how worried everyone would be.”
    â€œAnd yet it appears that’s just what she did do. Her car is missing.”
    Liss didn’t like the sound of that.
    â€œI’ve been talking to neighbors this morning, hoping someone noticed them leaving. So far my inquiries have yielded zip. No one saw anything. When was the last time you saw Angie?”
    Liss had to stop and think. “The fire broke out around three-thirty this morning—Friday. Wednesday, maybe? I’m not sure. But I’m certain I’d have noticed if the bookstore was closed on Thursday. Even if I didn’t, someone would have mentioned it to me. That means Angie was open yesterday. She can’t have disappeared into thin air between one day and the next.”
    â€œNot unless she wanted to.”
    â€œWhat are you saying?” Liss didn’t wait for an answer. Sherri’s suspicions weren’t hard for her to read. “No! You can’t believe Angie set that fire.”
    â€œI don’t know what to believe, but there is definitely a strong suspicion of arson. The state fire marshal’s office has already sent someone to investigate.”
    Liss racked her brain to come up with another explanation. “Maybe they were kidnapped.”
    A faint smile touched Sherri’s lips. “You know that theory doesn’t make a lick of sense.” Her hand was unsteady as she placed her empty mug on the coffee table. Ceramic and wood collided with an audible thunk.
    â€œIt makes more sense than thinking that Angie set the fire and then ran away. I mean, think about it. If you’re going to torch your own business, it’s usually so you can collect the insurance. That means you have to stick around for the payoff.”
    They sat in glum silence for a few minutes more. Realizing that her coffee had gone cold, Liss abandoned her mug next to Sherri’s. She ought to get up and take them both back to the stockroom to be washed, but these depressing speculations had drained the energy out of her. So much for the reviving power of caffeine!
    â€œI’ve got to get going,” Sherri said, although she made no move to rise.
    â€œWait. You said you’ve been talking to Angie’s neighbors?” That was a sensible thing to do. “Have you questioned everyone around the square?”
    â€œNot yet. Still working on it.”
    â€œWho’s left?”
    â€œStu Burroughs here on Pine. Then around the corner on Birch Street there are your neighbors on either side, Dance Central and the