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them back.
    Wallace would catch Emmet soon. He had to. Then she could go home and everything would be all right.
    Resigned, she walked back to the kitchen, fixed herself a cosmo, then
    pushed the tissue paper in her gift bag aside. Surprise stole through her as she lifted a slinky red halter dress from inside.
    A card fluttered to the floor, and she picked it up and read it.
    A pretty dress for a beautiful woman.
    A shiver rippled through her. It was exactly the type of sexy dress Emmet would have chosen.
    Had he found her?
    Her finger shook as the punched Wallace’s number. He didn’t answer, so she left a message.
    “Call me. I have to know if Emmet’s found me.”
    Her hand trembled as she stuffed the dress back inside the bag.
    Then she carried her drink to her patio. A cruise boat sailed by, Christmas lights twinkling. Voices and laughter drifted to her in the breeze. A party was on board, Christmas carols wafting through the air.
    Lucy had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.
    But she had never been so lonely either.
    Twice she’d walked along Venetian Drive down to Atlantic and strolled the streets, which were filled with tourists and locals enjoying the coffee shops and restaurants. She’d even gotten a little shopping in.
    Yet each step she’d taken, she’d searched the crowd for Emmet, afraid he was watching her.
    Even now, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was lurking in one of those small fishing boats docked along the pier.
    2 days until Christmas
    Reid woke to the sound of a rhinoceroses growling. No, a pack of them.
    A symphony of similar sounds roared through the cellblock, reminding him he hadn’t spent the night in his own bed.
    That he’d been arrested for stalking the woman he loved.
    It was also Christmas Eve, he had no gift for Lucy, and not a clue where she was.
    Footsteps clattered, the sound of a baton banging the cell doors echoing, then a guard stopped in front of him. “Reid Summers. Come with me. A federal marshal wants to talk to you.”
    Reid’s heart tripped a beat. A federal marshal?
    Keys jangled as the guard unlocked the cell door and gestured for Reid to go with him. Reid followed beside the man, reminding himself to remain calm.
    If he acted like a crazed person, they’d lock him back up.
    Five minutes later he was seated in an interrogation room, his handcuffed hands splayed on the table. A low light hung over the scarred table, the room bare except for the table and three straight chairs.
    He tapped his foot on the floor while he waited, straightening when a tall silver-haired man entered. His face looked slightly haggard, his eyes steely gray.
    “Mr. Summers,” he said. “My name is Marshal Bannister.”
    “What’s going on?” Reid asked.
    Marshal Bannister folded his arms. “What were you doing in Lucy Lane’s apartment?”
    Frustration knotted every muscle in Reid’s body. “She’s my girlfriend.”
    The marshal’s eyes flickered with interest. “Is that so?”
    “Yes,” Reid said. “We’ve been dating for the past few months.”
    “Hmm.” The marshal studied him. “She didn’t mention you to me.”
    “Why would she?” Reid asked. For cripes sake, surely Lucy wasn’t two-timing him with this crusty codger.
    Marshal Bannister leaned forward. “Listen, Mr. Summers, this is serious. According to the police, you broke in and Miss Lane’s clothing and shoes had been strewn across her bed and closet.”
    “First of all, Lucy showed me where she keeps the spare key,” Reid said. Although come to think of it, why hadn’t she given him a key? Because she didn’t want him catching her with another man? “And second, I didn’t make that mess.”
    “When did you last see Lucy?”
    Reid mentally counted back the days. “Six days ago. I spent the night with her, then she received a phone call from her agent saying he’d scheduled an audition for Lucy. She packed in a hurry and I left. I haven’t heard from her since.”
    “So what were