Caught in the Frame (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by ReGina Welling (novel24 .TXT) 📕

message, and then Ross said she had contacted him, so I assumed she had other reasons for not wanting to be with people right now; that she was dealing with distress over coming up empty yet again.”

“What does that have to do with Remy breaking into my room?” Chloe didn’t see the connection.

“If she was in trouble, Baylee would come straight to me, so it makes perfect sense that she might have made her way back here. And yet, she’s still missing. Perhaps she was intercepted by Vincent. You must help me find her.”

Chapter 18

Nate laid a sheet of paper out on the table. His hands flew across the pristine whiteness to sketch a quick diagram of the castle’s layout between Remy’s room and Lila’s suite. “Stashing her in his own room would be risky.”

“Lacking a key card, he wouldn’t have had access to a vacant room, even if he could find one,” Javier agreed.

“That leaves storage areas and the portion of the castle that hasn’t yet been renovated.” Nate looked up to see nods of agreement. “He’d have to get her out of sight quickly, which means he would have gone for the nearest area to where he caught her. Dragging a resisting woman through populated corridors would be stupid.”

“This is all my fault.” Javier paced the room like a caged animal. “I shouldn’t have let her get involved. We thought if we had some evidence to show the authorities—any kind of proof—they would have to take action.”

“We’ll find her.” Nate bit the words out.

EV stood behind Nate to look over his shoulder. “Assuming she made it back to here,” EV pointed to the area that corresponded with her own room, then glanced at the exterior photos on the castle brochure spread open near Nate’s drawing, “there’s an unused turret section there.”

Spinning the drawing to face him, Dalton pointed toward the south wing, “And an entire area blocked off over here. So we concentrate on this section? How did he get her past the security cameras?”

“I can answer that, I had the cameras along her route on a loop. Once Baylee was clear, she was supposed to text me so I could put them back on live feed. I waited an extra five minutes in case she’d gotten held up. By then, it was too late.”

“Is there anywhere between his room and ours where another camera may have picked up something?” EV ran her finger along the most direct route between Remy’s room and her own. “Be worth checking the videos to see if he shows up. Do the cameras record sound?”

Javier turned pale and slumped heavily onto a chair. “Yes, of course. I should have thought to check immediately. The footage would still be in the system.” He ran a hand over a day’s growth of whiskers; the perfectly pressed and groomed man was slowly devolving into a haggard, sleep-deprived one. Baylee was family, or close enough to it that he had let worry overrule common sense. “I’ll go right now.”

“I’ll come with you.” Lila insisted, “two sets of eyes and ears are better than one.” He squeezed her hand as the two headed for the door to be stopped by a question from Chloe.

“Is it going to be enough? What she found, I mean.” Chloe fidgeted with her hair; twirling it around a finger absentmindedly. “It would have to be, right? Otherwise, what reason would he have had to detain her.”

“Probably would have been.” The glance Nate cast at Javier was filled with pique. “If her bout of B&E hadn’t rendered the evidence useless by being obtained without a warrant.”

“I was trying to help. I had no idea anyone was actively pursuing Vincent. I’m sorry.”

Knowing that Baylee had put herself in danger for nothing took even more of a toll on Javier. Head down, and, shoulders slumped with defeat, he led Lila out the door to see if there was anything he could do to help salvage the situation.

“If we can’t count on Baylee’s evidence, it’s back to plan A. EV, are you sure you want to go through with it?” Dalton laid a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

“If I get him to confess, can we put him behind bars?”

“Fraud and identity theft carry a fifteen year maximum in the states—and we can prove multiple counts. Now that we know his crimes were not confined just to the U.S., I’ll need to contact Interpol. Even without Evan being alive to testify, I think we can add extortion to the list—and kidnapping. He’ll have good lawyers, but he’ll do time.”

“What about Baylee and Javier?” Chloe asked. “I assume there will be repercussions.”

Nate’s shoulders lifted. “That will depend on whatever the evidence shows. It will be up to the local authorities to pursue. It was a foolhardy thing to do.”

“What would you have done in his position?” Chloe demanded. Now that she’d accepted him as family, she would defend Javier to the bitter end.

Nate’s sheepish grin was enough of an answer, but he clarified anyway. “I’d have done the same.” His face firmed. “But, we can’t cover this up, or ignore the facts. Even with extenuating circumstances, he broke the law. Whatever happens, it’s out of our hands.”

* * *

The stage was set, the players ready to take their places. Javier, Lila, and Chloe would search for Baylee while Nate, Dalton, and EV handled Remy—keeping him away from Baylee and, with any luck, extracting a confession from him at the same time.

There was one more thing EV needed to do before it was time to act. Unable to sit still with nervous energy coursing through her veins, her feet carried her back and forth across seating area in Lila’s suite.

“Nate, I…”

“You’re not backing out on me are you, EV?” Looking up from the notes he was making on his laptop, Nate took in the set lines of her face, the stiff shoulders, and jumped to conclusions.

“Of course not.” EV crossed the