The Presence by Heather Graham

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    Bruce entered Jonathan Tavish’s office after a brief tap against the doorframe. Jonathan looked up and arched a brow. “Bruce, I thought you’d be guarding the family jewels, what with that houseful in the old estate.”
    â€œHardly an estate, and totally a crumbling castle,” Bruce said, taking a seat. “Actually, the more I walk around the place, the more amazed I am. They’ve taken care of a ton of minor things that I’ve put off for years.”
    â€œIt’s tough when you’re keeping up with too much,” Jonathan agreed. He grinned. “Now, if you were just among the local peasant law-keepers, you’d be here year-round, pluggin’ up holes at any given time. So…it seems you’re not quite as angry as you were when you first learned about your guests?”
    Bruce angled his head slightly as he surveyed his friend. They were close in age, had known each other since childhood. They shared a passion for this little neck of the world, though they didn’t always agree about how it should be run. Bruce was the local gentry, as it were, and Jonathan was the local law. But because Jonathan was local, and had always been local, he seemedto maintain a chip on his shoulder where Bruce was concerned.
    One day, maybe, Jonathan would run for the position of provost. As such, he could implement more of his own ideas. Thus far, though, he seemed to like being Constable.
    â€œI’ve cooled down some, yes,” Bruce said. “Since no one threw them out in my absence, I thought another few days couldn’t hurt too much.”
    â€œAh,” Jonathan teased. “It was the blonde, eh? What a beauty—and what absolute hell on wheels!”
    â€œShe does have a way about her,” Bruce agreed. “But this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about this happening.”
    â€œYour castle being taken over?” Jonathan said, puzzled.
    Bruce shook his head. “This sort of thing in general. People going through what they think are private enterprises or legitimate rental agencies and winding up in a similar circumstance. I really want to find out what happened in this situation.”
    â€œLike you said, it happens too often.”
    â€œYes, but this time it happened to be my castle that was taken over.”
    â€œCome Monday, you can let those folks see all your records. They can bring their documents down, and we’ll get someone on it right away. Unfortunately, sometimes—especially in this age of the Internet—people can clean up their trails.” He lifted his hands. “I might have gotten started on it already, but they didn’t want to hand over the documents.”
    â€œIt’s all they’ve got to prove anything.”
    â€œGreat. They don’t trust the law.”
    â€œWell,” Bruce said, offering a certain sympathy. “They don’t trust me, either.”
    â€œAh, there we are! In the same boat, as they say.”
    â€œRight. But actually, that’s not why I’m here,” Bruce said.
    â€œOh?”
    Bruce tossed the newspaper on Jonathan’s desk.
    â€œOh, that.”
    â€œAye, oh, that!”
    Jonathan shook his head. “Bruce, they’re not local girls disappearing.”
    â€œBut in the last year, two bodies have been found in the forest.”
    â€œIf you haven’t noticed, it’s a big forest,” Jonathan reminded him.
    â€œHave you had men out searching?” Bruce demanded.
    â€œThis girl just disappeared,” Jonathan reminded him. “But yes, I’ve had men out searching.”
    â€œRight. The last two girls who disappeared wound up in our forest. We should be looking for this latest lass. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that’s where she’s going to be.”
    â€œCareful with that kind of prophecy, Bruce,” Jonathan warned, sitting back. “People will begin to think you know more