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I dialed her and forced myself to sound cheerful. “Hey, love. Patty’s not back from shopping yet, so we may be late for dinner.”
“Wow. Is it dinnertime already?” she asked.
“We’re due at your place in a half hour, which means we need to leave now. She took off after lunch to shop.”
“Snow Creek isn’t that big.”
That thought had also crossed my mind. Snow Creek is tiny. How much shopping was there to do? An antique place, an old-style five-and-dime, a tattoo parlor, a vintage clothing store, a dress shop, and a shoe store. Patty could browse for hours, but this was getting ridiculous.
And given Sean Murphy’s recent demise and the eerie threat against baby Joe last night… Something was clawing at the back of my neck.
And I didn’t like it.
Again I forced cheer into my voice. “You know Patty. She’s got the shopping bug. I expected her back at the hotel by now.”
“I’ll tell Belinda you might be a little late,” she said. “Let me know when you’re on your way.”
“Will do. Thanks for understanding.”
“Patty dragged me out shopping a couple of days after I first met her. She’s a born shopper. See you soon.”
Time passed slowly. I watched the clock on our hotel room nightstand flip each minute. I paced the small room until I was certain I’d worn out the carpeting. A half hour passed. Then an hour.
I called Daphne again, and this time I couldn’t force cheer into my voice.
“She’s still not back, love. I’m going out to look for her.”
“Ennis, you don’t know the town. Let me come help you.”
“No!” I nearly shout. “You stay with the baby. If something happened to him, I’d never forgive myself. Please.”
“Yes.” She pauses. “Yes, of course. You’re right. Please keep me posted.”
“I will.”
I left the hotel and walked around the main area of the small Colorado town. It was after seven by this time, and most of the shops had closed. The tattoo parlor was still open, so I went in there.
“Good evening,” a heavily tattooed young man with a septum piercing said. “You got an appointment?”
“No, sir. I’m looking for my girlfriend. Her name’s Patty, and she left me to shop here in town right after lunch. Red hair, gorgeous. You can’t miss her.”
“Haven’t seen anyone like that. Sorry.”
Fear sliced through me as I left the tattoo place. Most of the shops seemed to be small and locally owned, so I went to each one and pounded on each door. Only one person came to the door at the shoe store.
“We’re closed,” she said through the glass.
“Are you Mariah?” I asked, glancing at the sign, Mariah’s Shoes and Stuff.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for my girlfriend. She was shopping here before. Red hair, beautiful, bright personality? Loves shoes?”
“Look, Mister…”
“Ainsley. Ennis Ainsley.”
“Mr. Ainsley, you’re obviously not from here with the accent and all, but Snow Creek is about as safe a place as there is. She may have run off.”
