Read Online The Vanishing by Jana DeLeon - Free Book Online

unanswered questions about why Anna had left and what had happened to her, but Max had finished the job he’d been hired to do.
    A wave of disappointment washed over her as she realized exactly what finding Anna meant—that she had no reason to see Max again. Perhaps once to wrap up the finer points, but then, Alex may handle that along with the billing.
    It was hard for Colette to wrap her mind around the fact that she’d grown so used to leaning on him in such a short time, even though it felt as if they’d lived a lifetime in a single day. He was so guarded, so private, that it had been hard to learn anything much about him, but when she’d been able to peek through the veneer into the man himself, she always liked what she saw.
    Max Duhon was a strong, capable man with a good heart. He was also the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen, and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was hugely attracted to him on a physical level. Maybe it had just been too long since she’d enjoyed the company of an attractive man, the feel of a man’s bare skin pressed against hers.
    She sighed. Whom was she kidding? It wasn’t a drought causing her attraction to Max. It was Max causing her attraction to Max. She’d have to be blind not to be attracted to him.
    It was just as well that the investigation had wrapped up so quickly. The last thing she needed was to get tangled up with another emotionally unavailable man, and Max showed all the signs of being exactly that. If only she could find a nice, balding accountant with a potbelly attractive, all her relationship problems would be solved.
    She rose and checked Anna’s charts and the machine readouts again, just to break her mind off from thinking about the unattainable Max. A couple of minutes later, she sat back down and closed her eyes, just to rest them.
    She didn’t even remember falling asleep.
    * * *
    H OLT C HAMBERLAIN STEPPED through the front door of his cabin and gave his wife a big smile. Alex stood in the kitchen, a place he thankfully didn’t find her often. She frowned over a pot of something red and bubbly.
    “I see you’re trying to cook again.”
    Alex tasted a bit of the red stuff and shook her head. “It’s just spaghetti sauce. It comes out of a jar, for goodness’ sake. How do I manage to mess that up?”
    Holt laughed and stepped up behind her, then wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. “You have talents that far outweigh cooking.”
    She turned around to kiss him and then smiled. “I don’t want Max to think I’m slacking, letting you prepare all the meals.”
    “I see. This isn’t about wanting to pull your weight or some burning desire to be a better cook. It’s about impressing my brother. Should I be jealous?”
    “Probably. He’s gorgeous.”
    Holt grinned. “All the girls always thought so.”
    “He did break a lot of hearts in Vodoun.” Alex inclined her head toward the kitchen window. “He’s outside. Said he was going out to the dock to think. That was over an hour ago.”
    “Hmm, you thinking something’s up?”
    “I think he’s at odd ends, trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life.”
    “I don’t understand. He’s here working with us.”
    Alex sighed. “You men are all the same. I don’t think it’s his profession that’s troubling him. Correction—I don’t think it’s his profession that’s troubling him the most. There’s far more to life than what you do to make a living, which is often the easy part.”
    Holt looked out the window to the dock. He could just make out the top of Max’s head in the fading sunlight. “I guess I should talk to him, huh?”
    She kissed him again. “That’s why I love you so much. You always know the right thing to say.”
    He opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Tums. “I’ll get him ready for dinner while I’m there.”
    She flicked a dish towel at him and he hurried out the back door, laughing.
    If anyone had told