Wherever she had gone, he would find her.
He managed to get a grip on his imagination, which had been showing an uncharacteristic tendency to run away with him today. “You were expecting Rachel when you opened the door.”
The woman nodded her notably unsteady head. “I can’t imagine where she’s gone. I expected her hours ago. She told me she was going out tonight, but she said she’d be here to help me into bed first.”
“Are all her things still here?”
“Of course they are. She didn’t leave town. She just left to run some errands.”
“When was that?”
“Maybe four hours ago. She said she’d only be gone an hour or so.”
Lucas’s stomach had begun to clench. A chill slithered down his spine. “Mrs. Holder, do you know where Rachel went?”
“No. She just said something about some errands. Why was she going out to dinner with you, Mr. McBride? I didn’t realize you and my granddaughter even knew each other.”
“Yes, ma’am. We do.”
She studied him a moment longer. “Some people around town say you killed my grandson.”
“Those people are wrong.”
“I think a lot of your sister. She’s a nice girl. A real asset to this community.”
“She’s the best of the McBrides,” Lucas said simply. “Mrs. Holder, I’m worried about Rachel. If you have any idea where she might be...”
“I wish I did. I’m worried, too.”
“Will you be all right while I try to find her?”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine. Go find Rachel.”
“Lock your door,” Lucas ordered. “And wait by the phone. I’ll be checking in.”
He waited only until she had closed the door before he turned and dashed toward his car. He grabbed his car phone and dialed Emily’s number. Rachel would have called him, he told himself. Maybe she’d just been delayed somewhere...
“It’s Lucas,” he said when Emily answered, not even giving her a chance to speak. “Have you heard from Rachel?”
She seemed surprised by the question. “No. Was she supposed to call?”
His hopes sank. Something was wrong, damn it. And he needed help. “Is Wade there?”
“Yes, he...”
Too distracted to be polite, he interrupted her. “I need you to do something for me. Rachel’s grandmother is alone in her house and she needs someone with her. You know her friends. Her pastor, maybe. Will you call someone?”
“Of course. What’s...”
“I’ll explain later. Can you put Wade on now?”
A growing sense of urgency was driving Lucas. He wanted to find Rachel, and he wanted to find her now.
He hardly gave Wade a chance to identify himself before launching into an explanation.
Wade listened, then asked, “Where do you think she could have gone?”
“The last time I talked to her, she was considering going out to her uncle’s place—to look through her father’s things that are stored there.”