The Christmas Rescue by Laura Scott Page A

thorough search.”
    â€œHmm.” Luke stared at the sketch for a long moment before meeting Rafe’s waiting gaze. “All right, I’ll give you the time you need. Keep me informed of your progress.”
    â€œYes, sir.” Rafe hesitated, and then asked, “Have youheard from my partner? Last I knew Evan was following Yancy’s yacht.”
    â€œYes, Evan checked in this morning,” Luke affirmed. “Said Yancy has his yacht moored near Harbor Springs, Michigan. No movement toward shore yet and no evidence of another passenger. Evan is going to stay on him to see what happens.”
    Perturbed at the news, Rafe simply nodded. How would Evan know if there was a passenger seeking to escape into Canada when he was way out in the middle of the lake when Yancy took off from shore? If Evan had waited on shore, then he might have gotten a glimpse of a passenger climbing on board.
    He debated giving Luke his opinion, but then decided against it. No point in bringing his commanding officer into the personal issue going on between him and his partner. Evan was his junior partner since Rafe had many more years of service under his belt, but Evan obviously had issues with taking leadership advice from Rafe.
    And if Karl Yancy did have a criminal passenger on board, Evan would eventually get a glimpse of the guy once they arrived at their final destination. Surely Evan wouldn’t mess this up, would he?
    â€œI’d like to make a copy of the sketch,” Rafe said, turning back to the issue at hand. “Before you send it out to the rest of the crew.”
    â€œSure.”
    Rafe made a quick copy and then handed it back. “Anything else, sir?”
    â€œNo, that’s all for now.” Luke nodded toward Kayla. “Nice meeting you, Mrs. Wilson. Take care of yourself.”
    â€œI will.”
    Kayla was unusually quiet on the ride back to her bed-and-breakfast. He glanced at her several times, but she continued to stare out the passenger side window, as if lost in her thoughts.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked finally, when the silence had stretched beyond his patience.
    She looked at him, her expression troubled. “I was thinking about Jeremy.”
    His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. For some reason, the way Kayla clung to her dead husband got under his skin. “What about him?”
    â€œYou said you were only watching Bill Schroeder for the past few months, right?”
    â€œYes,” he said slowly, as the direction of the conversation made him feel as he was treading on thin ice.
    â€œAnd there’s no reason to believe Jeremy was involved in the criminal smuggling?” This was a question more than a statement of fact.
    â€œThat’s true.” Of course they didn’t have any reason to believe Jeremy wasn’t involved in the criminal activity, either, but he didn’t go there.
    â€œSo I shouldn’t be worried that Jeremy’s death could be the result of something more sinister?” Kayla said finally. “Like murder? The way Bill was murdered?”
    Â 
    Kayla held her breath, waiting for Rafe’s response. She didn’t know why the thought hadn’t occurred to her before now. But for some reason, standing in the middle of the coast guard home port substation and meeting Lieutenant Commander Luke Sanders had made Rafe’s investigation more real.
    More official.
    What if Jeremy had stumbled upon the truth? And had died because of it?
    â€œI don’t know, Kayla,” he said finally. “I wish I could tell you for sure one way or the other, but the honest answer is that I simply don’t know.”
    She couldn’t seem to leave it alone. “But the circumstances around Jeremy’s death would have been investigated, right? And I’m sure they would have told me if there was some question about how he died.”
    â€œYes, I’m sure they would have,” Rafe agreed.