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studied his brother, then smiled as she apparently remembered meeting him. “Oh, yes,” she said, looking at Garrett, then back to Nick. “You and a female officer made sure I got into the shop safely, didn’t you? And then your partner came in and rented that chicken costume.”
    â€œThat’s right.” He nodded, hiding a smile. “Things going okay?”
    â€œYes, it’s been very quiet lately, since the festival anyway. Thanks for watching out for all of us downtown.” She looked sheepishly at him. “Garrett, since you have company, I’ll say good-night,” Amber said as she stood. “Stop in the shop sometime. Coffee and pastries are on me.”
    â€œOh, wait,” Garrett said. “Nick, Amber’s a…party planner. He’s the one who might need help…with a party.”
    Nick looked at Garrett as if he’d lost his mind.
    â€œSure….” She pulled a business card from her bag. “Give me a call. I guarantee I can give you a deal.”
    She made a quick exit, and Garrett hated to admit he didn’t want to see her go.
    The lieutenant glanced out of the ER room and waited a few minutes before speaking. “You let the woman who turtled you keep you company in the hospital?” he asked in disbelief.
    â€œSomeone had to do it. The doctor was looking for volunteers,” Garrett replied, hoping Chavez was in a better mood than he looked. “I’m not kidding. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time twice tonight.”
    Nick glanced at their supervisor then back to Garrett. “Sounds like you’ll heal, you’re cranky enough to scare any real damage away,” his brother said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
    â€œDid you find anything on the missing girl?”
    Lieutenant Chavez shook his head. “I think Ms. Scott has an active imagination.”
    Nick’s expression wasn’t as clear. “There’s still a BOLO out, so every officer in the county will be watching for her.”
    â€œMay as well inform Wyoming by now. If I’d stuffed a body into a car, I wouldn’t stick around,” Garrett muttered.
    â€œWe took Ms. Scott to the location she recalls seeing the incident, but didn’t find anything to support her claim of a struggle,” his supervisor insisted.
    â€œNot an abandoned car? Nothing?” His headache was getting worse. “It was in the area of the university, right? Maybe it was a coed who was going to work, or…”
    â€œMs. Scott insists the girl was getting into a yellow SUV. It was there, but the door was closed, and the vehicle is registered to a twenty-five-year-old male. We haven’t located him yet,” Lieutenant Chavez said. “We’ll need to wait for a missing person report to come in.”
    Garrett looked at his brother in disbelief. Nick didn’t look any happier than Garrett felt right now.
    â€œAmber Scott saw something. She was not making it up.” That woman couldn’t lie if her life depended upon it. He’d stake his life on that. He just had to figure out how to convince the lieutenant to find the suspect before he hurt anyone else. Especially before he realized someone from Parties Galore actually had witnessed the crime.

FIVE
    A mber waited in the hospital lobby for the victim’s advocate from the police department to give her a ride home. At least then she’d have contact with the police if there was a problem at the shop.
    The lieutenant hadn’t looked too happy to see her there checking on Officer Matthews. If only he knew how she really felt about police officers, he’d realize she was genuinely concerned. She paced from one entrance to the other, watching for Samantha Taylor, anxious to have this night end.
    She glanced at the clock on her cell phone. It had been half an hour since she’d called. Maybe dispatch hadn’t gotten the message to