Read Rock Harbor Series - 01 - Without a Trace for Free Online

straight there.”
    Bree stared at him. “Without asking me?”
    He shrugged. “You left the keys in it. I figured you’d be too tired to drive.”
    Bree motioned for Samson to jump into the back of Kade’s pickup. The dog moved slowly on sore feet. Charley followed him. “You were wrong,” she said. Her gaze dropped. “I had things I needed to attend to before going home,” she said softly. She bit her lip like there was more she wanted to say then headed toward the passenger door.
    His lips tightened. She had been no saint today in spite of her success. “And you disobeyed orders!” Kade snapped. Bree just looked at him, and the calm confidence in her face irritated him even more.
    Naomi jumped into the fray. “You have no idea who you’re talking to, do you? Bree and Samson are one of the top search teams in the country—in the world! Those kids would still be out there if we’d followed your orders.”
    “I’ve worked with some bad teams in my time,” he snapped.
    “Well, we aren’t one of them!” Naomi said hotly.
    Kade compressed his lips. This was getting them nowhere. “Howabout we call a truce? I made a mistake and so did you. Sorry, Miss Nicholls, Miss Heinonen.”
    Naomi opened her mouth, and from the fire in her eyes, Kade expected a scathing reply, but Bree shot her a quelling look and held out her hand. “Truce,” she said. “But it’s Mrs. Nicholls. And the only mistake was yours.”
    He gritted his teeth but held his tongue. “Let’s get you home.” Naomi opened the door and slid in first, then Bree scrunched in beside her. Suddenly anxious to be free of the whole prickly mess, Kade slammed the door behind them and crawled behind the wheel.
    They rode in silence to town. As they rounded the last curve, the twinkling lights of Rock Harbor came into view. Part of the town’s special flavor came from the setting. Surrounded by forests on three sides, it had all the natural beauty anyone could want. Old-growth forests, sparkling lakes where fish thronged, and the brilliant blue of that Big Sea Water called Superior along the west side.
    They drove through town, down Whisper Pike to Houghton Street and past the businesses that comprised Rock Harbor’s downtown. “You’ll have to direct me,” Kade said.
    Bree pointed toward the far light. “The lighthouse is mine. Naomi lives in the Blue Bonnet Bed and Breakfast right beside me—the house that used to belong to Captain Sarasin.”
    Kade knew the house. Built by a famous captain of the area so his wife could watch for his return, it was the last house on Houghton Street before it curved into Negaunee, the road out to the lighthouse. He hadn’t realized it was a bed-and-breakfast until now. He rarely drove to that side of town. The lighthouse was perched just behind it at the end of Negaunee on a sliver of land that bravely faced Superior’s fury.
    “You live in the lighthouse?” he asked. “I haven’t been to town much since I returned two months ago. When I was a kid, I used to prowl around that deserted lighthouse. I figured someone had turned it into a museum by now.”
    “It’s not a lighthouse anymore. The Coast Guard replaced it with the offshore automated light years ago,” Bree said. “I’m in the process of restoring it. I’m on the last room now.”
    “How long have you owned it? I figured someone from out of state bought it—someone with more money than sense.” He grinned to take the sting out of the slur.
    “That might have described me and Rob at one time.” Bree laughed. “When we bought it, the chimney had fallen through the roof, and the porch boards were all decayed. Rob had inherited some money from his grandmother and a plane from his uncle. The lighthouse was just another piece of Rob’s dream. Our dream,” she amended.
    “You’ve done most of it yourself,” Naomi said. “I don’t know how you’ve managed all alone.”
    Bree smiled. “I plan to reinstall the Fresnel lens and light the