The Highlander's Touch

Page 32

Ruby gently rubbed her eyes with her fingertips, careful not to smear her mascara. She’d been up most of the night and wondered for the tenth time how Lisa had managed to survive working two jobs for so long. She had been closing at the club when she received an urgent message from Mrs. Stone saying that Lisa had been missing since the night before last. She had immediately phoned the police, then gone to the museum to see if Lisa had arrived at work last night—which she hadn’t—then gone directly to the police station after speaking with that horse’s ass Steinmann.
The officer had dutifully filed a missing person’s report, which had been amended in a matter of hours by a warrant for Lisa Stone’s arrest.
“No one has seen her since night before last,” Ruby informed Catherine. “The museum’s security cameras have her on tape. The last recorded image of her is outside Steinmann’s office.”
“So at least we know that she made it to work the night you saw her at the bus stop,” Catherine said. “Do the cameras show her leaving that night?”
“No. That’s what’s so strange. Her slicker is still hanging by the door, and none of the cameras register her leaving. There are no cameras in Steinnman’s office, but he was quick to point out that there’s a window she might have used.” And quicker to make heinous accusations that Ruby knew weren’t true. But how was she to prove it, and where on earth was Lisa? She didn’t mention to Catherine that she’d gone to the police a second time, then had called every hospital within a sixty-mile radius, praying there were no Jane Does; blessedly, there hadn’t been.
“Isn’t Steinmann’s office on the third floor?” Catherine asked, perplexed.
“Yes. But he promptly pointed out that Lisa took rappelling when she was younger. I guess she listed that on her application as one of her hobbies. I know she was pretty proud of that skill.” Ruby shifted in her chair and took a deep breath. “Mrs. Stone, there’s an artifact missing from the museum, and …”
“They’ve accused my daughter of stealing,” Catherine said tightly. “Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Her … er … disappearance does make things look bad. According to Steinmann and his trusty tapes, he and a colleague entered his office several hours after Lisa had. The door wasn’t locked and initially he thought she’d simply failed to lock up. Now he thinks she was hiding in the office, took the artifact after they left, and slipped out the window.”
“What is this artifact?”
“They won’t say. It seems they aren’t completely certain what it was.”
“My daughter is not a thief,” Catherine said stiffly. “I will go speak with them.”
“Catherine, let me handle this for you. You can’t get up—”
“I have a wheelchair!” She gripped the sides of her hospital bed with thin hands and tried to push herself up.
“Catherine, honey,” Ruby said, her heart breaking. “We’ll find her. I promise. And we’ll clear her name.” She placed her hand over Catherine’s, gently loosening her grip on the rails. “We both know Lisa would never do something like this. We’ll find a way to prove it.”
“My daughter would never steal and she certainly wouldn’t leave me!” Catherine snapped. “She should leave me, but she wouldn’t.” The sudden burst of anger drained her, and she lay still for a moment. She drew a shuddering breath, then said faintly, “Steinnman pressed charges, didn’t he? There’s a … warrant … out for her, isn’t there?”
Ruby flinched. “Yes.”
Catherine inclined her head stiffly, then sank back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She was silent for so long that Ruby wondered if she’d fallen asleep. When she spoke again there was steel in her voice: “My daughter did not steal anything, and she’s in great trouble. Lisa is too responsible not to come home unless something awful happened to her.” Catherine opened her eyes. “Ruby, I hate to ask anything more of you, but for Lisa …”
Ruby didn’t hesitate. “There’s no need for apologies, honey, you know I love Lisa like a sister. Until she comes home—and she will be found and cleared—I’ll be spending most of my time here. She may call or try to get a message to you, and someone who can move at the drop of a hat needs to be here in case she does.”
“But you have your own life …” Catherine said gently.
Ruby’s eyes filled with tears. Catherine’s health had deteriorated rapidly since she’d last seen her, the night they had gone out to celebrate Lisa’s birthday. She clasped Catherine’s hand in hers and said firmly, “We’re going to find her, Catherine, and I’m hanging around until we do. I won’t hear any arguments about it. We’ll find her.”