Love you to Death Read Free Page B

off. Do you live there?”
    She caught a glimpse of herself reflected in one of the windows, and the sight of her frizzing bun made her cringe. She’d been traveling for hours, and every one of them showed in her hair.
    Elise worked the hairpins out of the knotted mess of curls and untangled them with her fingers. “Sometimes. I’m a reporter. I was working on a story.”
    As soon as the word
reporter
came out of her mouth, Officer Bob flinched. “You’re not going to be stirring up any trouble here, are you?”
    Elise knew exactly what he meant, but she pretended ignorance. “Trouble? What do you mean?”
    “I mean you starting stories about women disappearing from Haven.”
    “A woman has disappeared. I’d say that’s newsworthy, wouldn’t you?” He didn’t have to know that wasn’t the kind of story she usually covered—that her work was mostly about the changes in foreign economy with a bit of fun stuff thrown in on the side, just to keep her interested, even if it didn’t pay the bills. Let him think that his town’s dirty laundry was going to be aired for the world to see. Maybe it would get him to cooperate.
    “We don’t know she’s disappeared,” said Trent from the top of the stairway. “Ashley has a tendency to run off for days at a time.”
    Elise turned her head to give him hell for talking about her sister in such a flippant way, but the words stuck in her throat.
    Hot Lawn Guy was more than just hot. He was scalding.
    He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but for him, covering up should have been a crime. Golden skin stretched tight over delicious slabs of muscles. His shoulders were wide and heavy, his arms thick and long. The ridges in his stomach stood out every time he breathed. But the beautiful part was that none of that was a show. He hadn’t removed his body hair or oiled himself up, or sprayed on a tan. He wasn’t coiffed or groomed. In fact, he was in desperate need of a haircut.
    He wasn’t trying to look good. He just did.
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” muttered the cop. “Would you put on a damn shirt? You make the rest of us mere mortals look bad.”
    “In a minute,” said Trent, staring at Elise. His eyes slid over her from top to bottom and back again, making her wish for a hairbrush. “I think the lady here was about to say something.”
    Yes, she was. Elise couldn’t remember what it was, so she ripped her eyes away and tried to concentrate.
    “Trent’s right, Ms. McBride. We had a couple of officers check things out when you reported her missing. They questioned the neighbors and everyone said the same thing. She goes away for days at a time. It’s not unusual.”
    “Yes, but she never goes this long without phoning me.”
    “Maybe her phone broke,” said Trent. “Maybe she’s low on minutes and doesn’t want to pay the overages.”
    Elise refused to let his good looks intimidate her. She did, however, keep her eyes fixed on his face. It didn’t help much, since the man’s face was a compilation of fascinating masculine angles, and nearly as attractive as the rest of him, but she managed to maintain her focus. “Ashley can’t go a day without talking to me. She tells me everything. She would have borrowed a phone, or called collect from a pay phone—something—if she was okay. I’m telling you that this is not like her. It may appear to be normal to her neighbors, but it’s not. If it was, I wouldn’t have abandoned the job I was on and flown halfway around the world to find out what’s wrong.”
    Trent’s blue eyes flickered with interest. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”
    “Friday afternoon.”
    “Trent,” said Officer Bob in a warning tone. “If you want to investigate this, you know there’s always a job waiting for you, but so long as you’re not wearing a badge, I want you to stay out of it.”
    Trent all but snarled. “We’ve talked about this. I’m not going back into police work.”
    “Then go home. Mind your own