Read Online The Stranger's Sin by Darlene Gardner - Free Book Online
Authors: Darlene Gardner
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction - Romance, Young Women, Kidnapping, American Light Romantic Fiction, Romance - Contemporary, Romance: Modern, Single Fathers, Pocono Mountains (Pa.), Forest rangers, Bail
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have run out of patience.
Then, as she was waiting to cross a side street, she turned around.
The heavy feeling in his chest lessened. He grinned and waved, thinking that he just might be able to buy some more time after all.
CHAPTER FIVE
K ELLY’S PALMS SWEATED and her stomach clutched as she waited for the owner of Angelo’s to react to her story about the broken necklace. The more she told the tale, the more holes it seemed to have.
Or maybe, after apparently convincing Chase she was telling the truth, she’d lost her taste for lying.
Kelly shored up her nerve and looked Aaron Hirschell directly in the eyes, reminding herself she’d do whatever it took to find Mandy.
Hirschell cast a backward glance at the kitchen, one of many since he’d reluctantly responded to her loud knocking. He’d already told her the restaurant wouldn’t be open for business for another thirty minutes.
“Mandy doesn’t work here anymore so I don’t understand why you came to me.” Hirschell tapped his foot against the glazed porcelain-tile floor. He was a fair-skinned, light-haired man in his fifties, as far removed from Kelly’s image of an Italian restaurant owner as he could be.
Kelly relaxed slightly, relieved he hadn’t asked any questions about the necklace. “I thought you might be able to tell me about her. Previous address. Namesof references. Any information that would help me find her.”
“Find her? What happened to her? Is she a missing person?”
Kelly stifled a groan. She was loathe to make trouble for Chase by advertising that Mandy had abandoned her child.
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Kelly insisted. “She’s out of town, that’s all.”
The interested light left his eyes. “If she’s out of town, ask that forest ranger she lives with where she is. A good guy. Name of Chase Bradford. He’s probably in the phone book.”
Kelly hesitated, mentally phrasing her response so he wouldn’t know she’d been in contact with Chase. “Since I’m already here, I might as well find out what you know.”
His arms crisscrossed over his chest, his foot tapping a steady beat, his brows drawing together. “Not much. She only worked here a few weeks.”
“Then you must still have her application,” Kelly said, then added lightly, “and her employment papers.”
Specifically her tax form. If Kelly could get her hands on Mandy’s social security number…
“What business is that of yours?” Hirschell’s demeanor switched at a lightning clip from impatience to suspicion. “Are you some kind of investigator?”
Kelly could have kicked herself. In her zeal to find Mandy, she’d gone too far. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
“You come in here, telling some cock-and-bull story about a necklace, then wonder how I caught on to you.”He pointed his index finger toward the door. “I’d like you to leave.”
“But—”
“Just go.” He waved her away with a sweep of his hand, pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen.
She stared after him, trying to figure out why he thought she was a private investigator, and why he’d gotten so upset. Asking about Mandy’s employment papers admittedly was a mistake since they were confidential, but it shouldn’t have put him on the defensive unless…
He suspected Kelly not of being a private eye but of investigating tax fraud for the IRS. It could be that Aaron Hirschell was paying his waitresses under the table.
The theory crystallized during her next stop, the law office of Sara Brenneman.
The lawyer was a tall, engaging brunette dressed in a leopard-skin top and slacks instead of a business suit. She sported a sparkly engagement ring Kelly might not have noticed if Sara hadn’t kept fingering it.
“You’re going to all this trouble because of a necklace?” Sara quirked a brow, her demeanor even more skeptical than the restaurant owner’s. Kelly didn’t dare wipe her damp palms on her blue-jean skirt.
“The necklace
Then, as she was waiting to cross a side street, she turned around.
The heavy feeling in his chest lessened. He grinned and waved, thinking that he just might be able to buy some more time after all.
CHAPTER FIVE
K ELLY’S PALMS SWEATED and her stomach clutched as she waited for the owner of Angelo’s to react to her story about the broken necklace. The more she told the tale, the more holes it seemed to have.
Or maybe, after apparently convincing Chase she was telling the truth, she’d lost her taste for lying.
Kelly shored up her nerve and looked Aaron Hirschell directly in the eyes, reminding herself she’d do whatever it took to find Mandy.
Hirschell cast a backward glance at the kitchen, one of many since he’d reluctantly responded to her loud knocking. He’d already told her the restaurant wouldn’t be open for business for another thirty minutes.
“Mandy doesn’t work here anymore so I don’t understand why you came to me.” Hirschell tapped his foot against the glazed porcelain-tile floor. He was a fair-skinned, light-haired man in his fifties, as far removed from Kelly’s image of an Italian restaurant owner as he could be.
Kelly relaxed slightly, relieved he hadn’t asked any questions about the necklace. “I thought you might be able to tell me about her. Previous address. Namesof references. Any information that would help me find her.”
“Find her? What happened to her? Is she a missing person?”
Kelly stifled a groan. She was loathe to make trouble for Chase by advertising that Mandy had abandoned her child.
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Kelly insisted. “She’s out of town, that’s all.”
The interested light left his eyes. “If she’s out of town, ask that forest ranger she lives with where she is. A good guy. Name of Chase Bradford. He’s probably in the phone book.”
Kelly hesitated, mentally phrasing her response so he wouldn’t know she’d been in contact with Chase. “Since I’m already here, I might as well find out what you know.”
His arms crisscrossed over his chest, his foot tapping a steady beat, his brows drawing together. “Not much. She only worked here a few weeks.”
“Then you must still have her application,” Kelly said, then added lightly, “and her employment papers.”
Specifically her tax form. If Kelly could get her hands on Mandy’s social security number…
“What business is that of yours?” Hirschell’s demeanor switched at a lightning clip from impatience to suspicion. “Are you some kind of investigator?”
Kelly could have kicked herself. In her zeal to find Mandy, she’d gone too far. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
“You come in here, telling some cock-and-bull story about a necklace, then wonder how I caught on to you.”He pointed his index finger toward the door. “I’d like you to leave.”
“But—”
“Just go.” He waved her away with a sweep of his hand, pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen.
She stared after him, trying to figure out why he thought she was a private investigator, and why he’d gotten so upset. Asking about Mandy’s employment papers admittedly was a mistake since they were confidential, but it shouldn’t have put him on the defensive unless…
He suspected Kelly not of being a private eye but of investigating tax fraud for the IRS. It could be that Aaron Hirschell was paying his waitresses under the table.
The theory crystallized during her next stop, the law office of Sara Brenneman.
The lawyer was a tall, engaging brunette dressed in a leopard-skin top and slacks instead of a business suit. She sported a sparkly engagement ring Kelly might not have noticed if Sara hadn’t kept fingering it.
“You’re going to all this trouble because of a necklace?” Sara quirked a brow, her demeanor even more skeptical than the restaurant owner’s. Kelly didn’t dare wipe her damp palms on her blue-jean skirt.
“The necklace
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