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So be it. They were mad at her more often than not. Norma Rose was always the odd one out. The other three giggled amongst themselves, shared clothes and jewelry and cosmetics. It was just as well; she didn’t have time to shop for new things when they lost or damaged her loaned items and she certainly didn’t want anything to do with the way they always mooned over some man—local or celebrity.
Finding Ginger proved impossible. Norma Rose checked everywhere, twice, thinking maybe they’d crossed paths somewhere along the line. It wasn’t like Ginger to shrug off chores. No one had seen her, not since the previous night when she’d been crouched near the stairway leading from the ballroom, watching Brock play. Norma Rose had seen her then, too, and had sent her to bed. That wasn’t unusual. Just a nightly occurrence.
By noon, fully flustered, because she didn’t have time for this, Norma Rose sought out her father. He was still at Dave’s cabin, having not left all morning. After asking about her uncle, who was sleeping and doing well from what Gloria said, Norma Rose inquired, “Have either of you seen Ginger?”
“No, Twyla was here, though,” her father said, grinning at Gloria. “Why?”
“I’d like her to go through a list of possible musicians.”
“Maybe she went to town,” Gloria suggested.
“All of the cars are accounted for,” Norma Rose answered, not bothering to mention that no one went to town without her permission.
Not one to miss anything, her father lifted a brow. “Twyla?”
“It’s Saturday,” Norma Rose answered. “She wants to go to the amusement park this afternoon. The keys are all in my office.”
Her father nodded.
“She’ll be lucky if that ear doesn’t end up good and infected,” Gloria said. “I’ll have to pierce the other one for her, so she can wear a pair of earrings instead of looking like a pirate.”
Her father chuckled and nodded. Norma Rose was in no mood for the humor flashing between Gloria and her father. She’d said no pierced ears and she meant it. At times, it felt like she was the only one who understood how important it was that none of the Nightingale girls became molls. They were a respectable family, and would remain so.
Heading for the doorway, she said, “If you see Ginger, please send her to my office right away.”
“Hold up there, Rosie,” her father said. “You really can’t find her?”
“I’ve looked everywhere,” she answered.
“That’s not like Ginger,” her father said.
A tiny shiver tickled her spine. “I know. It seems no one’s seen her since last night.”
Saying it aloud and seeing the way her father’s face grew grim increased the shiver rippling down Norma Rose’s spine.
Rising to his feet, Roger pulled his maroon vest down over his thickening waist. “Where’s Ty?”
“Last time I saw him, he was heading toward the barn, but that was before I started looking for Ginger,” Norma Rose said half-heartedly, irked by the way her father said the name so familiarly.
“Roger, you aren’t thinking—” Gloria began.
“Yes, I am,” her father interrupted.
For all Norma Rose knew, Ginger hadn’t even met Ty yet, so she struggled to gather what her father might be thinking. He didn’t encourage any of his girls to date, so that couldn’t—
“If someone tried kidnapping Dave, and failed,” he said, “they could have taken Ginger.”
Chapter Six
“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Ty said.
“If Ginger was kidnapped, we have to call the sheriff, and notify the police in the city,” Norma Rose argued. “They can search and—”
“Hush down, Rosie,” her father snapped before instantly turning his attention back to Ty. “Now, you were saying?”
“First we need to figure out the places where Ginger definitely is not,” Ty said.
“Here,” Norma Rose interjected. “I’ve checked everywhere. Don’t you think it’s a bit coincidental that we’ve never had any such happenings before, but as soon as Mr. Bradshaw appears we have not one, but two suspicious incidents? Potentially tragic ones?”
“No, I don’t,” her father bellowed. “I call it luck, now if—”
“Luck!” she spluttered. “If that’s—”
“Roger,” Ty said, interrupting her rant. “I’m glad your daughter is suspicious. The position she holds dictates she be suspicious and diligent, otherwise everything you own could be in jeopardy.”
Norma Rose wasn’t impressed, nor pacified by Ty’s pretense, or his silver tongue. Her sister could be missing, her uncle possibly blind, and if anyone, anyone at all, cared what she thought, she had a hunch that he was behind it all. There was no other explanation.
She didn’t have a chance to say any of that before a knock sounded and her father shouted for whoever it was to enter.
Walter walked in, followed by five groundsmen from her father’s inner circle. These men didn’t mow lawns or trim shrubs. They guarded the grounds, day and night. “I have everyone rounded up like you asked, sir,” Walter said.
“Close the door,” her father instructed needlessly. Walter was already doing so.
Norma Rose was forced to move slightly, making room for the big and burly men. Her father’s office was large, but so was the furniture, leaving little standing room. Taking a second step backward, her heel caught and she stumbled slightly. A firm hold grasped her, and the moment she realized who held her elbow, she wrenched her arm free.
Slightly behind her, Ty smiled, and she wanted to stick out her tongue, a childish urge and something she hadn’t done in years. Ty did that to her, put a notch in her suit of armor. She didn’t like it. Or standing this close to him.
“I want you all to meet Ty Bradshaw,” her father said. “Ty, this is Bronco Mitchell, Tuck Andrews, Duane Luck, Tad McCullough, Danny Trevino and you’ve already met Walter Storms.”
The men stepped forward to shake Ty’s hand, forcing Norma Rose back even farther, until she was standing at his side, her shoulder touching his arm. With all these men, they certainly didn’t need Ty’s assistance. Sheriff Withers would help, too. So would Ted Williams and several others. Kidnapping still seemed an impossibility, but Ginger was gone and needed to be found immediately.
“Ty will fill you all in,” Roger said, sitting down in his chair.
The blood in Norma Rose’s veins turned cold. Her father rarely turned things over to others. Especially something of this magnitude. The other odd thing was how readily her father’s men-at-arms complied. There wasn’t a single protest.
Ty stepped forward and nodded toward her father before starting. “Ginger, Mr. Nightingale’s youngest daughter, is missing. We are not jumping to the conclusion that she was kidnapped, at least not yet, because that would mean someone had been in this house, and we all know that’s highly unlikely. Right now we need to know everything you saw last night and this morning, whether or not it was out of the ordinary.”
A few mumbles could be heard, and muffled curses, but for the most part, the men remained quiet, until Ty indicated who should start, and then, one by one, each described what they’d seen over the past dozen or more hours.
Both Bronco and Tuck said they’d seen Norma Rose being followed home by Ty and Dave last night, and had seen Ty go to his cabin. Others talked of the comings and goings of the workers refurbishing the cabins, and guests. Nothing out of the ordinary. Bronco then added he’d witnessed a couple from one of the cabins swimming after midnight, nude, which raised a few grins and had Norma Rose fighting to keep the heat from going all the way to her cheeks.
She failed miserably when Ty flashed a glance her way. Flustered by the heat that suddenly rushed to places other than her cheeks, she lowered her gaze, but a second later, her head snapped up as Tad McCullough explained he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the person who’d been watching the resort last week.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “What person?”
Tad looked at her father for permission, and said, “Someone with a pair of binoculars. I saw him a couple of times, but never could get close. It might have been one of those bird-watchers that stay over at June and Harold Whitmore’s place. A number of them arrived last week from out east, where the Whitmores are from.”
The Whitmores had regular visitors from Maine, who knew all there was to know about birds. A couple of those men had been guests at Josie’s ladies aid meeting last week, which her sister had insisted Norma Rose attend. She’d gone, and had been bored out of her wits.
“But you aren’t sure,” she asked Tad, “who this person was?”
“No,” Tad answered. “Your father knew all about it.”
“Okay, then,” Ty said. “I suggest we scour every inch of the resort. Maybe Ginger has a favorite place to read or think.”
“She has her bedroom for that,” Norma Rose insisted.
As if she hadn’t spoken, Ty turned to Bronco. “Did you see anyone else swimming?” When the man said no, he turned to her. “Do you or your sisters go swimming at night?”
