Three Days in Seattle Read online

  Three Days in Seattle

  By

  Debra Burroughs

  Praise for Three Days in Seattle…

  “I was sucked in from the first page, compelled to read on. The author gives you just enough information to make you want more. It keeps you reading until the very end, trying to put all of the pieces together. This is a great read if you are a fan of suspense and romance.”

  – Book Reviewer

  Wisconsin Book Reader

  “From the first page to the last page, I was totally hooked. This book was very exciting to read, and hard to put down. I will be researching more works by Debra Burroughs and adding them to my library.”

  Book Reviewer

  Yhavens

  “Burroughs is an author that just keeps getting better and better. This was her best work yet! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the twists in the story kept me turning pages to see what was going to happen next. Three Days in Seattle is a delicious blend of romance and suspense.”

  – Book Reviewer

  B. Drewett

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Acknowledgements

  Contact Information

  Copyright Information

  Prologue

  Whitney began to stir from a deep sleep, waking to find herself in pitch-black darkness, her hands and feet bound. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Yanking against the ropes proved useless, as the bonds were fastened to something solid.

  Her head began to pound and her breath was coming in short gasps, but she couldn’t get much air. Something was over her mouth—duct tape, maybe? She didn’t know or care, she just needed air.

  She struggled to scream, but the only sound she could make was a high-pitched moan.

  Where am I? What’s happening to me? Murky thoughts slogged through her disoriented mind. Maybe I’m dreaming, she thought. Wake up, wake up, wake up! But it was not a dream.

  The sound of something scraping the floor made her freeze. She tried to listen, hear if someone or something was coming, but her heart thudding in her ears made it hard to concentrate.

  A door creaked open, and she blinked as the harsh light hit her eyes. Was someone coming to rescue her? Or was it her captor? She decided not to risk it and shut her eyes, going as limp as she could, hoping her pounding heart would not give her away.

  Chapter 1

  “Forget it, Nigel! It’s been a very long day. I’ll finish up in the morning. I just need to soak in the tub for a while and get to bed. I will call you first thing tomorrow, I promise.” Kate McAllister clicked off her cell phone and set it on the bathroom vanity, exhausted after her hectic photo shoot in the Hollywood Hills ran late into the evening.

  The warm water in the claw-foot tub was beckoning her. She was anticipating being enveloped by its warmth, letting it soothe away the stress of the day. Kate dropped her fluffy white robe on the rich Travertine tile floor. Sticking one painted toe in the water, she checked the temperature before getting in. Perfect, she sighed softly.

  As she stepped into the bath, the cell phone shrilled on the vanity behind her. “Shoot,” she muttered under her breath. “If that’s Nigel again, I’m going to kill him.”

  A slight frown creased her brow as she turned and glanced at the Caller ID. She recognized the area code was for Seattle, where her baby sister Whitney lived, but if it were her sister, the phone would have shown her name and not Unknown Caller.

  Peering up at the wall clock, she saw the time was ten-forty-five pm. Why would someone I don’t know be calling me this late? Tension began creeping up the back of her neck. No one calls this late just to chat. She reluctantly picked up the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Kate, this is Suki. I’m sorry to call you so late.” The woman on the other end of the line rattled on, “But, I, well, I need to—”

  “Whoa. Slow down. You said your name is Suki?” Kate questioned, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, you know, Whitney’s roommate.”

  “Oh, yes, sorry. I didn’t recognize your name. Could you hold on for just a minute?” Kate felt chilly and exposed, standing there naked. She grabbed her robe and slipped it back on, tying the belt snugly around her slender waist. “Now, what’s wrong, Suki?”

  “Whitney’s gone missing.”

  “What? When?” Panic began to set in. Kate’s thoughts began flying in a thousand different directions, like a flock of sparrows spooked by the threat of danger. Gathering her thoughts, she tried to focus. Ordinarily, she connected with Whitney every day or two, but she had been so busy with work lately that Kate was ashamed to admit she did not notice when she hadn’t heard from her sister recently.

  “She’s been missing since last night. Well, no, today. I mean, well, I didn’t realize until this morning that she hadn’t come home last night.”

  “Maybe she just stayed overnight at a friend’s house. She is twenty-four years old. She can stay out all night if she wants.” Kate hoped that was all it was. The thought her sister could really be missing made her feel sick in the pit of her stomach.

  “No, no, I don’t think so, really. I think she would have told me so. We try to keep each other safe that way, you know. I have such a bad feeling about this, Kate. I think you should come to Seattle right away.”

  “You mean, like right now?” This news was all so unexpected. Frantic thoughts swirling in Kate’s mind made it hard to process.

  “Well, yeah. I mean, as soon as you can, of course.”

  “So, what do the police say?” Kate asked, searching for a voice of reason.

  “Police?”

  “Yes, Suki. You did call them, didn’t you?” Incredulous that her sister might be in danger and the police had not yet been informed, Kate’s eyes widened as she stared blankly at the phone. Are you kidding me? Her heart began beating hard against her chest, sending pulsing blood painfully racing to her head.

  “I’m sorry, Kate, don’t get mad. I think you have to wait twenty-four hours before you can report someone missing, don’t you?”

  “How should I know, Suki? I would have called them to find out, not just assumed.” A muscle twitched in Kate’s jaw.

  “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “I will call them as soon as we get off the phone. I want to talk to the police myself before I come running up there.” Suki had all day to call me, why did she wait until now? Was she hoping Whitney would eventually show up? Something doesn’t feel right.

  Perhaps Whitney was just staying over with a new boyfriend that Suki didn’t know about. Or maybe she went with some girlfriends for a long weekend. Suki is probably just overreacting. Kate clung to that thought to give her a sense of security.

  On the other hand, if her sister really were missing, of course she’d drop everything and hop on the first flight to Seattle. She felt uneasy just cancelling work and reorganizing her life on the whim of this woman she barely knew. Kate had photo shoots in the Los Angeles area lined up all week, people depending on her, so she wanted to be sure it was warranted.

  “Kate. Your sister is missing! You really need to come as soon as possible,” Suki pressed. “Surely,
you don’t have anything to do that’s more important than this, do you?”

  Kate recognized the guilt card being played. Her late mother had been a master at it.

  “No, of course not. Nothing’s more important than finding my sister, if she really is missing. However, I am going to call the police first and see what they say, even though you may be right about the twenty-four hour thing.”

  “Then you’ll come?”

  As much as Kate hated the thought of upending her whole world overnight, she had to consider seriously the possibility that Suki might be right. If Whitney needed her, she had no choice but to go to Seattle on the first flight she could get.

  “Yes, I’ll come, but I am going to talk to the police as soon as we hang up. After that, I’ll check for flights out of L.A. tomorrow.” Kate would have to wait until tomorrow to change her work schedule too. “I appreciate you letting me know, Suki. I’ll be in touch.”

  * * * *

  Suki hung up from her conversation with Kate and immediately made another call.

  “Hullo,” a young man answered.

  “It’s done.”

  Chapter 2

  “Hey, lady! You’re up,” a young male’s voice came from behind her.

  “What?” Startled, Kate looked around.

  “You’re up, over there at the counter.” The impatient teenager pointed to the airline ticket counter.

  His voice had jerked her out of a daze. She’d been standing in the long, slow-moving passenger line, replaying her situation and the unproductive conversation with the Seattle Police. She hadn’t been able to get beyond talking to the officer at the front desk because Whitney had not been missing long enough. He hadn’t told her anything of value one way or the other, except that if she was really concerned, she should come as soon as possible. She’s been offended. Of course she was concerned. She loved her sister. How dare he suggest otherwise.

  It was because of that bond, that if there were any chance Whitney actually was missing, Kate would drop everything and go. She had arranged to fly to Seattle on the next available flight.

  Unfortunately, getting to Seattle was not so easy. Engine trouble on her connecting flight from Salt Lake City had forced the plane down in Boise, where she had to spend the night and get a new boarding pass for her last-minute change in flights.

  Embarrassed when she realized she was holding up the line, her face reddened and she rushed to the counter.

  “I’m in a huge hurry, ma’am,” Kate said, slapping her driver’s license down on the counter a little harder than she’d intended. “Do you think you could get my boarding pass really fast?”

  The ticket agent glared at her, then moved like a snail. Kate was sure she must have offended the woman. Glancing up at the monitor on the wall, it showed that her Horizon flight to Seattle was departing in twenty minutes, but she was stuck at the ticket counter in this crowded Boise airport, awaiting the re-issue of her boarding pass.

  Kate checked her watch for the umpteenth time, feeling her heart thumping in her chest. Come on, come on, come on, lady! I have a plane to catch! She tapped a staccato beat with the heel of her shoe.

  Finally, the ticket agent offered up her pass. Kate grabbed it, tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and turned abruptly to run for the security gate.

  Splat!

  Kate normally considered herself a controlled, refined, twenty-eight-year-old woman. But here she was, sprawled out face first on the hard floor, having tripped over a child’s rolling backpack that she neglected to see in her haste. A manly, well-groomed hand reached down and helped her up. Mortified, her cheeks flushed a bright red.

  The helpful hand belonged to an attractive man who looked to be in his early thirties. Kate could not help noticing his deep green eyes, thick brown hair and the broad shoulders filling out his fleece pullover.

  “Are you okay?” His voice was warm and deep.

  “Yes,” she replied, a nervous giggle escaping her lips. “All, except my pride. Thanks for the help.”

  She scrambled to gather up her purse and coat and made a beeline for the security gate. Under any other circumstances, she would have been happy to linger and talk to the handsome stranger, but not today.

  Finally, reaching the security gate, Kate flashed her boarding pass and driver’s license at the beefy TSA official and took her place in line for the scanners. While waiting her turn, she noticed a young man in the next line over, putting his dull green backpack on the conveyor and stepping up to the scanner. He was about her age and wearing a navy blue baseball cap that covered his mop of curly brown hair. In the next moment, he and his backpack were pulled out of line and given the extra wand treatment.

  “Oh, come on! Are you kidding me? I’m gonna miss my flight!” he complained, holding his arms straight out from his sides, while another TSA agent rummaged through his pack.

  I can’t afford to be singled out and delayed like that, she thought, trying not to stare. Efficiently loading her purse, shoes and jacket in a gray plastic bin, she set it on the conveyor belt.

  Checking her watch again, she was acutely aware that time was ticking down. If she could get through this security check without incident, she would have a good chance of making her flight. Kate handed her boarding pass to the female TSA worker on the other side of the full-body scanner, stood against the scanner as instructed, trying her best not to think of what the male TSA worker was looking at on the screen.

  The alarm went off. Dread washed over her. Remembering her car keys were in her pants pocket, she dug them out, threw them into a small plastic bowl and set it on the conveyor belt. She stepped up to the scanner for another read. This time there was no alarm.

  Thankful, she scooped up her things, hurriedly stepped into her shoes and set off for Gate A-10. Following the overhead directional signs, she dashed down the wide corridor and found her gate.

  The last few passengers in the boarding line were entering the door to the jet-way. Kate made it just in time. Yes!

  Once on the plane, she found her assigned seat, on the aisle, and stowed her purse and coat. She leaned her head back against the headrest, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh.

  “I see you made your flight.” A deep and familiar voice came from the aisle next to her.

  Kate opened her eyes and turned to see who was talking to her. It was the man who had helped her off the floor at the ticket counter. He was storing his carry-on bag in the upper compartment over his seat.

  “Yes, yes, I did.” She was a little surprised to see him. He must have rushed for the plane, too. Then she realized he must have been right on her heels the whole mad dash to their gate.

  “Are you okay? That was a nasty spill you took back at the ticket counter. Anything bruised?”

  “Just my ego. I’m fine, really.” A twinge of embarrassment heated her cheeks once more.

  “My name’s Ryan, by the way,” he offered with a friendly smile, as he took his seat.

  Kate smiled back and was about to respond with her name when the young man with the baseball cap and the dull green backpack walked down the aisle between them. She was glad the extra security had not made him miss his flight. Then she turned her attention back to her dashing rescuer.

  “I’m Kate. I—” She was cut off in mid-sentence by the commanding voice of the captain, booming over the loudspeaker, welcoming all the passengers and thanking them for flying with Horizon.

  “Kate, what do—” Now he was cut off by the flight attendant asking everyone to fasten their seatbelts and turn off their cell phones, after which she proceeded to give the safety measure instructions. Ryan and Kate glanced at each other and grinned.

  She looked forward to talking with her attractive seatmate a bit more on the flight, once the announcements were over. It would be a pleasant distraction from the crisis at hand, at least for a little while.

  “Kate,” Ryan said, once the flight attendant was finished, “are you from Boise?”

&nb
sp; “No,” she answered. “I live in Los Angeles. I’m a photographer there.”

  “Oh, I would have guessed a model, not the person behind the camera.”

  “Thank you, that’s sweet,” she said humbly, “but no.”

  “Are you going to Seattle on business?”

  “No.” She was silent for a moment, floundering over a safe answer. “I’m going to see my sister. She lives there.” Kate wasn’t ready to tell this almost, perfect stranger that her sister was missing, and she was going there to help find her. “Are you from Boise?”

  “Yes...well, I was. I grew up here, went to Boise State. Then I moved to Seattle after graduation. You know, to make my fortune in the big city and all.”

  “What do you do?” Kate tried to sound nonchalant, not wanting to come across as a gold digger.

  “I’m a real estate agent. Fortunately, the housing crash hasn’t hurt the Seattle area as bad as it has in other parts of the country, so I do pretty well.”

  “Home for a visit?”

  “Yeah. I came for the weekend to see my mom and dad and go to a Boise State football game with them. My mom and dad are diehard BSU Bronco fans. They love their blue turf.”

  “Blue turf? You can’t be serious.” Kate thought Ryan was kidding her.

  “Oh, yes. Even ESPN loves our blue turf. If you’re ever watching college football on TV and you see blue turf, you’ll know it is Boise State.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She wasn’t sure that she should believe him.

  “Yes, really. The famous blue and orange, just like the Denver Broncos.”

  “Sorry, I don’t follow football,” she admitted.