VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) by Suzanne Ferrell

God, how did that happen to him?”
    “Like you he was orphaned after his grandmother brought him here from Russia. He was a kid hanging out for scraps in a restaurant and somehow the mob bosses figured out his ability and exploited it.”
    “But your sister and brother-in-law adopted him?”
    “Yeah, after Jake kidnapped my sister and forced her to help stitch up Nicky, then they were on the run from the police and feds and mobsters, and from there things just got worse.”
    “You’re making that up.” She’d narrowed her eyes at him once more.
    He tensed, looked deep into her eyes, lowering his voice, all traces of humor gone. “I might bullshit about a lot of things, bend rules to get a case solved, but I never, ever make things up about family. Sometimes that’s all you have to cover your back. To me, family is sacred.”
    For a moment, she held his gaze, then her eyes grew watery and she closed them. “That’s how I feel about Brianna. She’s family.”
    Damn. He hadn’t meant to make her cry.
    “We’ll find her, Abby.” Settling his hand over hers, he squeezed it and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Nicky’s story made the local papers a few years ago. Look it up.”
    With a nod, he released her hands and watched her swipe the tears from her eyes.
    While she did exactly as he suggested and looked up the news feed on the case, because God forbid Abby should take his word at face value, he connected his phone to the laptop. Then he opened up the facial recognition program and uploaded hoodie guy’s photo to it. “This is going to take a while. What were the license plate letters again? Might as well see if we can get a lead on the car while we’re at it.”
    “ESC,” she said, not looking up from the article on the screen about his sister’s family. “Your sister and Nicky almost drowned?”
    “It was the only way to save Nicky from the man trying to kill him. But my sister is a lot tougher than she looks and smart to boot.” He pulled up the state license plate database. “Well, crap.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I was hoping we had enough to at least narrow our search to this area, but Cuyahoga county, which is where we are, and Franklin, where Columbus, the state capitol is, both have license plates that start with ESC.”
    “Crap.”
    Well, at least they agreed on something.
    Abby closed out the article she’d been reading, then lifted her phone and looked at the screen a moment before setting it aside again.
    “Expecting a call?”
    “I know it’s silly, but I was hoping Brianna would just call.”
    “Wasn’t her cell phone at the condo last night?”
    She closed her eyes and he imagined she was seeing the crime scene again.
    “No. Unless it was buried under something, I don’t see it anywhere in the mess.” She paused, her eyes still closed. “Her purse isn’t anywhere either.”
    Abby opened her eyes, now filled with a glimmer of hope.
    Damn he wanted to bolster that look, but he had no words. Then another thought hit him and a cold chill swept over him.
    “You haven’t tried to call her have you?”
    She gave him that “duh” look again. “Not since I arrived at the airport last night. I didn’t think of it once you came into the condo and everything seemed to happen in a blur.” She held the phone in her hand, staring down at the screen. “I didn’t want to tip her assailants off if she had it with her. You know…in case she tried to call me.”
    Thank God. Practical, analytical Abby hadn’t zeroed the target hanging over her any closer.
    Exhaling in relief, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jeffers number.
    “Got a question for you,” he said in lieu of a greeting when the detective picked up his phone.
    “Okay, maybe I’ll have an answer.”
    “Did the crime scene techs find Brianna’s cell phone or her purse?”
    “No. Neither, and my people are thorough. They even went through her car.” Papers shuffled in the background. “We have a warrant