Miz Scarlet and the Holiday Houseguests (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #3) by Sara M. Barton

a regular pit bull
in pumps, always looking for a way to cut you down to size. Larry’s
going to hit the roof about this mess.”
    “I haven’t gotten through to her
yet.”
    “What?”
    “I left her messages and sent her a
couple of texts, but I couldn’t reach her. Edna had the same
problem,” I told him. A funny look came over Max’s face. He fished
his phone out of his pocket and punched a few buttons.
    “Give me a minute,” he said, walking
away.
    “No problem, Max. I’m going to take the
dogs out.”
    Gathering the canine trio together, I
took them for a quick trip around the yard, just long enough for
them to get the job done. When I walked through the back door, the
retired homicide investigator was nowhere to be seen. I checked in
the living room, where I found the Googins girls watching the local
news channel. “Have you two seen Max?”
    “Oh, he poked his head in to say hello
and then asked us to tell you that he is expecting an important
phone call. He’ll catch up with you.”
    “Great,” I nodded. I hoped that didn’t
mean trouble for Larry. How complicated could it be to find out
where she was and why she wasn’t answering her phone? “In the
meantime, I think I’ll get cracking on dinner.”
    Stepping out into the hallway, I
noticed the library door was shut. Apparently, the experienced
investigator needed privacy. Surely he should have had an instant
answer when he called Larry’s unit. Someone had to know where she
was. Should I view the closed door as a harbinger of trouble? Now I
was definitely worried.
    Half an hour later, Max came to find me
in the kitchen, where I was in the middle of preparing a chicken
for the roasting pan. His eyes had a guarded look to them, his
mouth was drawn tight.
    “Want the good news or the
bad?”
    “How bad is it?” My stomach felt like I
was riding an express elevator down from the fortieth
floor.
    “Larry left the forensics lab in
Meriden two hours ago. She told the people on her team she had a
personal emergency. Her phone was just found on the seat of her
car, along with her purse. There were signs of a struggle, some
blood. Not a lot of blood, but enough.”
    “Dear God!” I sank down on a stool,
stunned. “This can’t be happening.”
    “Unfortunately, it is,” he reminded me.
“At least Michaela isn’t here.”
    “You think someone kidnapped Larry?” It
must be true. How else could we explain the items left in her car?
Larry never went anywhere without her phone. It was a lifeline,
especially since she was always on call.
    “It’s possible.” Max was hedging his
answer. Did he want to believe she’d be okay as much as I
did?
    “She was so worried about this case,
Max. Carmine Tossi’s kid....”
    “Yeah, I know. It’s an ugly
situation.”
    “Do you think someone’s trying to
squash the investigation?”
    “It’s hard to know what to think,
Scarlet. We really don’t have anything to go on at the
moment.”
    “What if she was
kidnapped....Or worse?” I suddenly flashed back to my dream. No, not a dream...a nightmare. Someone had wanted to get Larry. Even in my sleep, I had known
she was in grave danger. “What if someone wants to kill
her?”
    “Not to worry. I’m sure her colleague
misheard her,” he fibbed, pretending that there was a logical
reason why the homicide investigator was missing. “It’s just a
silly misunderstanding. The state cops will locate her before you
know it.”
    That didn’t explain why Larry left her
phone and her purse behind. Nor did it explain the blood in her
car.
    “And if they don’t?” I wanted to
know.
    “Don’t even say that, Scarlet.” Our
eyes met and I could see the painful doubt creeping into his
thoughts, feeding his personal sense of helplessness. He was no
longer running the show. Max couldn’t call in his people or launch
an investigation. He was a civilian now. “There’s got to be a
logical explanation. There has to be one!”
    “What can we do? We’ve got