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Mel nodded emphatically "Knows him in the Biblical sense, if you catch my drift"

Linc wanted to kick Mel but, with all the law enforce them, he didn’t dare They’d probably arrest hi David Rhodes’s baby," he felt obliged to explain

"Any day now," Mel threw in

"And she disappeared," Ned added

"If we’re guilty of anything," Linc said, gesturing with his hands, "it’s being so anxious to locate our sister Like I said, she’s alone in a strange town and without family or friends"

"Did you check their identification?" the sheriff asked

"We hadn’t gotten around to that yet," Deputy Rogers replied

"You’ll see we’re telling the truth," Linc asserted

"None of us have police records"

With the sheriff and his deputies watching carefully, Linc, Mel and Ned handed over their identification

The sheriff glanced at all three pieces, then passed theered over to his patrol car, apparently to check for any warrants or arrest records He was back a couple of minutes later and returned their ID

"They don’t have records" He seeht

The sheriff nodded "What’s your sister’s name?"

"Mary Jo Wyse," Linc answered "Can you tell us where we ht find the Rhodes family? All ant to do is talk to them"

"Unfortunately Ben and Charlotte are out of the country," the sheriff said

"You ed He turned to Linc "What are we going to do now?"

"I don’t know" Mary Jo must have discovered this infor left for her to do was head back to Seattle She wouldn’t have any other options, whichsnow and wretched conditions had been a complete waste of ti where the three of us are," Linc muttered

"Maybe" Ned shook his head "But I doubt it"

"What do you ed

"Mary Jo can be stubborn, you know, and she was pretty upset last night"

"We should phone the house and find out if she’s there," Linc said, although he had a sneaking suspicion that Ned was right Mary Jo wouldn’t give up that easily

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Sheriff Davis inserted

Linc reached for his cell phone and called hos later, voice one back to Seattle, she apparently wasn’t at the house

"She’s not there," Linc inforhed "I know Mary Jo, and she isn’t going to turn tail after one setback"

This was more than a simple setback, in Linc’s opinion This was ested next

"Yeah, we did A few tiain"

"I’ll do that now," Linc ain and realized he didn’t know her nurammed it into his directory

He cleared his throat "Ah, Ned, could you give rabbed the phone from him and punched in Mary Jo’s number, then handed it back

Linc waited impatiently for the call to connect After what seemed like minutes, the phone auto that, either"

"Maybe her cell battery’s dead," the sheriff said "It could be she’s out of range, too"

Actually, Linc was curious as to why the sheriff himself had responded to dispatch One would think thewith real cri with his family "Listen, Sheriff, is Cedar Cove so hard up for crime that the sheriff responds personally to a possible break-in?"

Troy Davis grinned "I was on hter’s house for dinner when I heard the call"

"So you decided to check us out"

"So like that"

Linc liked the sheriff He seeuy, whereas his deputies were a pair of overzealous new-bies, hoping for a bit of excitement He’d bet they were bored out of their minds in a quiet little town like Cedar Cove The call about this supposed break-in had sent these two into a giddy state of i our sister," Linc reiterated to the sheriff

"The problem is, we don’t knohere to find her," Ned put in

The sheriff rubbed the side of his face "Did you ask around town?"

No one at the pub had been able to help "Not really We asked the guys at some tavern, but they didn’t seelasses were"

The sheriff grinned and seemed to appreciate Linc’s wry sense of hued to remind everyone "It isn’t like someone wouldn’t notice her"

"Yeah" Mel once more thrust his arms out in front of him and bloated his cheeks for emphasis

Linc rolled his eyes

"Wait," Deputy Pierpont said thoughtfully "Seenant woot Linc’s attention "Where?" he asked urgently "When?"

"I got a friend who’s a firefighter and he ed "Don’t reo to the fire station and ask"

"Will do" Linc stepped forward and shook hands with the sheriff and then, for good oodwill, with each of the deputies "Thanks for all your help"