Read Online The Christmas Rescue by Laura Scott - Free Book Online Page B

he’s part of this, Yancy will move soon. The weather has been cooperating, the temperatures are warmer than usual this time of year. I think the smugglers will make the most of the mild weather while it lasts.”
    â€œLet’s hope so. With Schroeder dead, we don’t have many leads.”
    â€œI know. Schroeder’s murder only tells us the criminals are fighting amongst themselves. Someone killed him because they wanted a bigger piece of the pie.”
    â€œLooks that way,” Luke affirmed. “Greed always wins out over loyalty between crooks.”
    That much was true. “There was another break in attempt at Kayla’s B and B. I took off after the intruder, but the guy wore night vision goggles and had a car waiting for him so he got away.” Rafe was still annoyed with himself about losing the suspect. “I’m more convinced than ever that there’s something inside Kayla’s house that is linked to our case.”
    â€œThen find it. And fast,” Luke advised.
    â€œI will. And I’ll check in when I have something to report.” He snapped his phone shut and stared out the window for a minute. Since his interview with Charlie had ended before it had even started, he decided to pay his partner a visit. Charlie’s hostile attitude bothered him. He really hoped Evan hadn’t ignored his request and had approached Charlie before Rafe had arrived. If he found out Evan had in fact messed up his interview, then he’d have no choice but to report Evan to Luke, even though he loathed the idea of ratting out his partner.
    He glanced at the clock on the dashboard, figuring there was plenty of time to spare before he’d need to head back to the bed-and-breakfast.
    Kayla hadn’t seemed angry with him this morning, so he hoped that was a good sign that she’d changed her mind about allowing him to search through her husband’s things.
    He really needed her cooperation in order to jump-start their stalled investigation.
    Although if he were truly honest with himself, he’d admit that he liked being close to Kayla for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with his case.
    Â 
    Kayla pulled out the last box of Christmas decorations from the basement. Finally, they were almostfinished. She was only going through all of this for Brianna’s sake. As well as for her mother-in-law’s. She knew Ellen missed Jeremy, too, and the anniversary of his death, so close to Christmas was a difficult reminder for all of them.
    Given a choice, Kayla would have preferred to simply pull the covers over her head and hibernate until Christmas was over. But that was hardly fair to Brianna.
    â€œMore houses for the Christmas village?” Brianna asked excitedly when Kayla hauled the box up to the main level.
    â€œThe last of them,” Kayla said with a sigh. Brianna loved setting up the various houses, businesses and figurines for the Christmas village. Kayla had started the collection and in the early years of their marriage, Jeremy had always surprised her with a new piece.
    She hadn’t added anything new in the two years since he’d died.
    â€œSo why exactly is Rafe staying here?” Ellen asked, when Brianna was preoccupied with rearranging her village. “I get the feeling he’s interested in you on a personal level.”
    â€œNo, we’re just friends,” Kayla said, glancing over at her daughter who was immersed in her project and not listening to the adults. “Brianna looks up to him, though, and I admit her hero worship of Rafe worries me. She’s at such a vulnerable age right now, and has been preoccupied with the fact that she doesn’t have a father like the other kids at school.”
    â€œSo why aren’t you interested in Rafe?” Ellen’s tone was deceptively casual. Kayla glanced at her in surprise. Was her mother-in-law insecure about her place in Kayla and Brianna’s