Read Online Colleen Coble by Rosemary Cottage - Free Book Online Page A

with Noah asleep on his chest and took a nap. Heather was working.
    Libby rose from the rocker by the fireplace and patted her tummy. “I’m fortified with food and ready to check out Ben’s room with you if you’re sure you want to.”
    “I’m sure.” Amy led the way up the stairs to the first door on the right.
    Ben’s door had been shut ever since Amy had arrived. She steeled herself to turn the knob and step into the room. When she pushed open the door, the scent of Ben’s cologne was almost a physical blow to her midsection. She paused in the hall and gulped in courage.
    Libby touched her arm. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.” She wasn’t fine, but she hated to show weakness. It had always been her job to keep smiling and make sure everyone else was taken care of. Ben, her parents. They all looked to her to find the silver lining of any situation.
    Amy forced herself to walk through the doorway. “Look for anything that will help us figure out why Ben seemed tense thoselast few weeks. Who might have been calling him. A-And if he might have been involved with drugs.”
    Libby glanced around the room. “Can you get his cell phone records?”
    “I can try. The problem is, my parents don’t want me stirring up anything. They might have to be the ones to request them.”
    “Unless Tom could do it.”
    “He thinks it’s a prank too.”
    Libby pulled open the drawer in the bedside table. “I’ll have Alec talk to him. It can’t hurt to at least look into it.” She riffled through the drawer. “Nothing much but pens, paper, a few clips, and a flashlight.”
    Amy eyed the dresser, then resolutely opened the top drawer. It held his underwear and socks as well as his swim trunks, but it was in disarray.
    She frowned. “Ben was the neatest person I ever met. His clothes were always perfectly folded and arranged. This drawer looks like someone dumped everything in here without folding it.”
    Libby joined her at the dresser. “You think someone searched the room? Check the other drawers.”
    Amy pushed everything aside until she was sure nothing was there but clothing, then went to the next drawer of shorts and T-shirts. It was in the same condition. So were the other two drawers. “Someone has been here. Ben would never leave his things like this.”
    “Someone was looking for something. You need to make sure you tell Tom.”
    Amy nodded and moved to the closet. Clothing lay like confetti on the floor. “Look at this. Everything is off the hangers.”
    Libby joined her and murmured in dismay. “The question is, did they find what they were looking for? This proves something was amiss. Do you know where Ben might have hidden something important?”
    Amy stilled. She knew exactly where her brother would have hidden something. But she wanted to be alone when she went there. Instead of answering, she stood on her tiptoes and ran her hand over the shelf. She couldn’t quite reach to the back, but her fingers touched a hard rubber object. When she pulled it down, it was only one of his swim fins.
    Little Noah began to fuss in the other room. “I’m going to have to go. He’s hungry, and we’ve got our Bible study tonight. I’ll come over tomorrow and help you look more.”
    Amy thanked her and walked her to the living room, then hugged them all good-bye. Once Alec’s SUV pulled away, she dashed out the back door to the grove of trees at the rear of the property. The yard backed up to the state forest. The platform towered above her head in a live oak tree that had spread its branches in a canopy that shaded half the backyard. Their father had built it when he was twelve, and it had fallen into disrepair until she and Ben discovered it when they were about five and thirteen.
    The pieces of wood that served as steps looked new. Ben must have replaced them. She planted her right foot on the first rail and climbed the tree. Her knee scraped the rough wood as she hiked her leg onto the platform. She lay