A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison Page A

men’s clothes hanging in her bedroom closet.”
    “A boyfriend, but I’ve never met him. He’s been under wraps. It’s a fairly new relationship, I think.” The shakiness in my voice pissed me off. How could I help Alice if I couldn’t remain calm?
    “Do you know his name?”
    I shook my head. How stupid that I didn’t know the name of the man my sister was involved with. Let me tell you, that one fact made me realize, like little else had, how much I’d pulled away from the people I loved in the past year. Alice and I used to share everything. What a rotten sister I’d turned out to be.
    “Elizabeth? I asked you if anyone in your family would know his name,” Officer Thomas said.
    I refocused. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone in my family has met him. She hasn’t been dating him for long.”
    “How long?” This came from Officer Neuman.
    “Um, maybe a month? No more than two, I think.” Damn, I couldn’t remember for sure the first time Alice mentioned the mystery man. I thought it was at least a good month before my birthday, which probably meant she’d known him longer. “Do you think he had something to do with this?”
    “We have no way of knowing that. Right now, we’re just trying to get a little information about your sister,” said the female officer. “When you talked to her, did she sound scared?”
    “Not scared. Sad. Like something really awful had happened.” Another shiver of cold fear struck me.
    I hated this.
    A knock on the door made me jump. I shot to my feet, but Officer Neuman laid a hand on my arm. “Let us get that,” she said, with a nod to her partner.
    Officer Thomas checked through the peephole before opening the door. “Hi, Nate. We were told you might stop in. You’re a friend of Elizabeth’s, right?”
    Nate stepped into the entryway, his eyes taking in the broken glass, and then moved on, searching. When his gaze landed on me, my composure fled. Every bit of what I’d been holding myself together with went flying out the window. He wasn’t in uniform, which meant someone had contacted him at home. I’d have to find out who the 911 operator was and send her a thank-you card. Or maybe some flowers.
    I started to cry, slowly at first. As Nate came toward me, my tears came faster. He didn’t say anything, just opened his arms and I walked into them. They closed around me, and I buried my head in his chest, my cheek rubbing against the rough grain of his sweater.
    “I don’t know where she is,” I mumbled.
    “We’ll do our best to find her,” he murmured in my ear, stroking my back. “Have you called your family?”
    I lifted my head and clenched my jaw, trying to stop the tears. “No. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to.”
    “Maybe she’s with your parents or your grandmother or your brothers? Could that be the case?”
    I shook my head. “No. She called me and asked me to come over. Why would she do that and then leave? Without letting me know.” I pointed to the cell phone. “She didn’t take her phone with her either, and she never goes anywhere without it.”
    “Does she carry a purse?” Officer Neuman asked.
    “Yes. Of course she does. Don’t all women?”
    “Look at me, Elizabeth.” I focused on Nate’s steady green eyes. Thank God he was there. “Did you see her bag anywhere in the apartment?”
    I mentally went over my frantic search. “No… but I didn’t look for it either. I was looking for her , not her purse.”
    “Do you want to do that now? If it isn’t here, that may be a good sign. It’s easy to leave in a hurry and forget a phone. After that, you should call your family. Before we send out the search dogs, let’s make sure she isn’t sitting at your grandmother’s place drinking tea.”
    It was useless to argue with him. The last place Alice would go in a crisis was to any of our family. Maybe she’d call her best friend, Chloe. But I didn’t think so, because she’d called me. I just hadn’t gotten