Rock Harbor Series - 01 - Without a Trace Read Online Free PDF Page A

truck. “I thought this was a hotshot K-9 team.”
    “Samson has been written up in more magazines than you can count,” Hilary said. “But even he isn’t perfect. They still haven’t found the plane that went down with my brother and their son.”
    An awkward silence passed between them. “Your family issues are none of my business,” Kade said. “But I don’t like the way Bree Nicholls disobeyed my orders and put those kids in jeopardy.”
    “She knows what she’s doing,” Hilary said. “You haven’t been here long, but she and Samson have found quite a few lost campers since she and Rob moved here.”
    Before Kade could reply, a familiar red car slid to a halt in a cloud of dust. The door on the battered Plymouth spilled open, and his sister, Lauri, got out, her face its usual mask of petulance. He’d often thought of taking her picture and showing her that expression. Would she want her face to take on those lines for the rest of her life? He hadn’t done it, because he knew it would just make her mad. Everything was his fault these days.
    “We’ve already missed the movies,” she said with her hands on her hips. Her gaze traveled to the two young rangers standing near the path to the pavilion. Straightening at their looks of interest, she preened and gave them a sultry smile.
    Kade gritted his teeth. She was way too young to be flirting like that. At sixteen, his sister was a budding Lolita, using the power of her beauty in ways he probably didn’t want to know about. “What are you doing here?” he asked abruptly.
    Lauri turned from her silent flirtation with the rangers and gave her brother a smoldering glare. “You didn’t even phone. If I hadn’t called headquarters, I’d still be wondering where you were.”
    “I should have called, but things developed too fast for me to remember. There are two children lost in the woods, and one of them is sick. I forgot all about the movies. Sorry, kid.”
    “Don’t call me ‘kid’!” Lauri tossed her head again. “I’m sick and tired of always taking second place to your job. If you don’t want me around, just say so. I could go stay with Grandma and Grandpa.”
    Kade sighed, weariness settling over him like a suffocating wave from Lake Superior. “We’ve been over all that, Lauri. You are not going to our grandparents. You’d run over them inside a week. Besides, I promised Mom you’d finish school here, and I intend to keep my promise.”
    Lauri gave him a calculated look far too mature for a sixteen-year-old. Where did she get that manner? He wanted her to enjoy her remaining years of school, to be a normal teenager, but he didn’t know how to ensure that, how to reach the vulnerable child he still sometimes glimpsed in her eyes. She refused to go to youth group at church. It was all he could do to get her to go to church at all.
    “Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ll see you later.” She slung her long legs under the wheel and slammed the car door shut.
    “Lauri, come back here!” he yelled. Her face set as though she didn’t hear, she tore off down the road, dust spitting from the tires. He clenched his jaw.
    “Why don’t we drive along the access road?” Hilary asked. “It would be better than sitting around here doing nothing.”
    Kade nodded, thankful the mayor had the tact to ignore Lauri’s little scene. He felt the need to be doing something. Otherwise, hemight go find his sister and strangle her. He opened the truck door for the mayor then slammed it shut and got in on his side. He started the truck and drove into the dark forest.
    Hilary cleared her throat. “Kids can be a trial, can’t they? I was a lot like Lauri at that age. It was an admirable thing to take on her care.”
    “I’m regretting it daily,” he said grimly. The mayor’s sympathy surprised Kade. In their few encounters, he’d always thought her all business. “You have any kids?”
    She turned to look out the window. “Not