With the appropriate compliments delivered, the three of them headed for the buffet and then found a table. “What are you drinking, ladies?”
“The holiday special,” Lisa said. “It’s a whiskey-cider concoction this year. I’ll get water for all of us.”
Evie had forgotten she needed an answer for the question. “White wine for me, please.” She didn’t have to drink it and with so much activity in the room, she doubted anyone would notice whether she indulged.
They ate and mingled and danced some more. Jack found them and introduced his cousin and her new husband. Theywere an absolute delight and Evie enjoyed them both. More importantly, she and Lisa were confident they were on the right track with the special plans for the couple’s first-Christmas holiday.
It was nearing midnight when Evie finally admitted to herself she should’ve called it a night an hour ago. But they’d been having so much fun. Soon enough her pregnancy would be their focus. She wanted to savor this time with her husband.
They were swaying to a slow ballad when she and Wyatt noticed a ripple of movement near the entrance. She was too short to see through the crowd. “What’s going on?”
Heads around the room swiveled. “They’re looking for someone,” Wyatt said. “I see Jack and—” the crowd parted enough for her to see a sheriff’s deputy. His khaki uniform offered a stark contrast to all the black tie and glittering holiday formal wear.
“Us.” Evie’s stomach dropped and this time it had nothing to do with the baby. “He’s asking about us.”
“Or Jack wants us to open the sled hill.”
“If only,” she said. “I guess it’s my turn to get out there.”
“You’re not going out alone for any reason at night,” he countered. “Whatever it is, we don’t have to respond,” Wyatt reminded her, without much conviction. “They have an entire unit for this stuff.”
“I know.”
“It is our one grown-up event this season,” he added.
She looked up at him. If he knew about the baby right now, he’d definitely make her stay put while he handled it. But like him, she wasn’t about to let him go out alone in the dark. “We need to hear him out. Maybe they just want guidance or gear.”
Wyatt grunted, clearly the skeptic.
Jack spotted them and waved them over. As they hurried across the ballroom, Lisa joined them. At the door, it was easy to see the urgency stamped on the deputy’s face.
“What happened?” Wyatt asked.
“Best if we take this to the office,” Jack said, his voice low. “Yours is closer.”
Evie nodded, leading the way.
As soon as they were all inside, the deputy introduced himself. “Gio Clark.” He shook hands with each of them. “Really sorry to interrupt your party.”
“What do you need?” Wyatt asked.
“We responded to a domestic call early this morning.” Clark paused as if expecting questions, but they all waited, knowing better than to interrupt. “Annie and Christopher Bromley,” he continued. “The neighbors were worried about a shouting match next door. We found Annie and Chris contrite and mostly cooperative by the time we got there. Didn’t look like anything physical was going down. They summed it up as a fight about money, expensive holidays.” He rolled his shoulders. “We talked to them separately and together, and we left, confident they had it under control.”
“But?” Evie prompted.
The deputy cinched his gloves in his hands. “Couple hours ago,” he checked the wall clock, “we got another call. This time it was the wife. Said Chris got moody and went for a drive. His usual way of winding down after a fight. After three hours of driving, she called him. No answer. She called his friend and his favorite bar, no one had seen him.
“It’s not officially a missing person, but we went out looking.”
Evie understood. Small town, holiday season, of course they went looking.
“So approximately five hours with no contact,” Wyatt summed up.
“Yes. Annie says the two guns they own are still in the house, locked up.”
“That’s a relief,” Evie murmured.
“About the only one,” Deputy Clark agreed. “We can’t get a location on his cell phone, but we found his car.” Clark swallowed. “About three miles from the house. Looks like he lost control on a curve. He’ll need a tow, but no serious damage is visible. Unfortunately, from there, we don’t have any sign of him. Footprints leading away from the scene disappear in fresh snow. Our preliminary search can’t pick up the trail. Search and rescue will bring out the helicopter in the morning, but I was hoping?—”
