A sound caught her attention, something like footsteps in the distance. Her heart started racing once more as she stilled, straining her ears to see if she could hear any more noises. No, nothing.
Hailey raised a shaky hand to her face. Maybe she was losing it. Going into shock or something. She really needed to get inside somewhere warm and bright. Being outside, exposed, was clearly getting to her. And there was only one place nearby. There had to be someone inside. There had to be.
Her mind was made up. She was going to sneak in. Her best chance of getting help was inside those walls, she could just tell.
She searched around the property—Riley by her side the entire way—searching for an area where she could sneak inside. To her relief, she found a small area of damaged chain link fencing behind a small enclosure with post and rail wooden fencing, just about short enough for her to climb over. She glanced around and pulled the chain link back, exposing the wooden fence.
She threw her bags and other supplies over first, hearing the dull thud as they landed in the snow. Next, she picked Riley up and set him down on the far side.
“Stay right there, Riley. Mommy’s going to need just a second to get over.”
Hailey hitched her leg up over the wooden beam, using her hands to steady herself. She pushed down hard, using the momentum to carry herself over. But in her haste, she failed to notice her pant leg catching on one of the posts. Instead of a clean hop, she instead found herself faceplanting into the snow.
“Ow,” she muttered.
Wincing, the she grabbed her ankle, and pain shot through it. She rolled it tentatively, and the pain doubled. A sprain. Hopefully not too serious, but it was going to be uncomfortable for a few days. Just what she needed. But at least they were in. Riley would be safe.
Riley?
She glanced round, and panic flooded her.
Her son was gone.
Chapter Two
Chase
Undercover work had always come naturally to Chase Langley. It helped, of course, that no-one ever suspected the reindeer of being an undercover cop. And, unlike most herd animal shifters, he liked flying solo.
The surrounding deer all kept their distance from him. Their senses told themsomethingwas off about him; they just couldn’t tell what. Though they were intelligent creatures, they were still only animals in the end. He was likely the first shifter they’d ever met. Or at least the first one in his animal form. In the weeks he’d been working the case, they hadn’t gotten over their suspicion.
Too bad they couldn’t tell him who was behind the crime wave that was sweeping across his beloved Alabaster Grove. He’d grown up here, and knew almost every resident by name, and he knew none of them were behind this. Which meant someone was coming to his town, to their only major tourist attraction, and preying on their visitors. And Chase had a real problem with predators.
Thus, he’d been putting in a lot of extra hours—unbilled. Alabaster Grove was his hometown, and it was his job to keep it safe. His home and his work were the two most important things in his life, and he was happy to keep it that way.
Mate,his reindeer reminded him morosely. Right, except for that. But he didn’t particularly like his odds of stumbling across her in a town where he already knew everyone, and his work didn’t leave much time for meeting new people. Except for crooks. A shudder worked its way along his large, furred spine.
Our mate is not a crook.
On that, he really hoped his reindeer was right. Sadly, it seemed he wouldn’t be finding out any time soon.
Especially if you keep taking on extra work.
Focus, he reminded his animal.We’re supposed to be looking for signs of anyone scoping the place out.
The herd is calm,his reindeer pointed out.There is no danger.
His animal was right, as usual. He felt it preen in response to the implied praise, and shook his furred head in exasperation. But he had bigger problems than his animal’s ego right now.
Over the last two weeks, four children had disappeared from this exact location. They’d somehow been taken right out from underneath their parents’ noses. Gone without a trace.
None of the parents Chase’s boss had interviewed had come across as particularly irresponsible. These were good, normal families who cared for their kids, kept them fed and clothed, and looked after. And safe. Until they weren’t.
Chase had his theories. Ones that involved the new owners of this establishment. The Corbyn family had first purchased the place around six months ago. Being the kind of business it was, it hadn’t opened until early December. And no long afterwards, the first disappearance had occurred.
As if that weren’t suspicious enough, there were also all the rumors surrounding the family. The Corbyn family were old money. They were also said to be caught up in all sorts of illicit businesses, one of which was human trafficking.
It was pretty clear to Chase what was going on here. They were barely even trying to hide it. To be honest, he’d wanted to come here to arrest them immediately, but his boss had banned him from trying, pointing out he had no proof. And though it chaffed, Chase had to admit his boss had a point.
