Disappear

Alexis found the right key, unlocked the dead bolt and walked quickly into her parents’ house.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, the shadows seemed thicker than they had before, closer somehow, pressing down against her and making it tough to breathe. She wanted to call out, but she knew no one would answer, so she didn’t bother. Her fingers found the light switch a second later and she flipped it up. Nothing happened. Her mouth went dry as she tried once more. The darkness remained and seemed to increase.

She took a step into the living room, then stopped.

A man dressed completely in black sat in her father’s chair. Alexis stared at him in shock, a sense of dread coming over her with such intensity, she felt her entire body go hot. In the span of a heartbeat she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t do anything but stare at the stranger.

He looked at her through the gloom and spoke in a low voice. “You’re Alexis.”

Wishing she could answer another way, she nodded.

“I’m Gabriel O’Rourke. I’m here to explain.”

Dear Reader,

Losing what you care about most is everyone’s biggest nightmare. For me and, I suspect, a lot of you as well, that’s family. My husband, my parents, my siblings and their children…all these people are part of who I am. Their influence has made me the woman I am, and because of that, much of what I do is a reflection of them.

In this book, my heroine suffers the loss of her family. At a young age, even as she wants to become independent and cast off those family ties, sudden circumstances take away her mother, her father and even her baby brother.

When the man behind their disappearance reenters her life, Alexis Mission wants nothing to do with him. Gabriel O’Rourke is someone she’s never trusted and never will. He took from her everything that was important. How can she ever forgive him, much less trust him? The answer, as always, lies in love. Through it, all things are possible, including pardon and understanding.

Families are curious things. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with those closest to us. Their foibles drive us crazy, and they never act the way we really think they should. But when things don’t go right, they’re usually the first people we call for sympathy and support. And they give it—because they love us.

If it’s been a while since you talked to your mother, your father, that crazy cousin who still lives back home, give them a call when you finish reading this book. Connect with them and let them know they’re in your thoughts. In the end, families are what matter.

Sincerely,

Kay David

Disappear

Kay David

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to anyone who has lost someone important. Be it by bad luck or choice, long expected or a surprise, the void left behind is one that can never be filled. Once you love, a part of you always loves—whether those you love are present in your life or far, far away. I hope all of you know that time and love helps heal the wound.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

ALEXIS MISSION HADN’T driven a car in more than a year.

She hadn’t gone to McDonald’s for a hamburger, she hadn’t stopped at a mall to shop, she hadn’t put on lipstick or worn a pair of panty hose or done any of the countless things Americans did every day without thought.

Coming home was a shock.

She walked out of the Albuquerque airport and into the chilly New Mexican sunshine. Everywhere she looked, people were rushing. The confusion was even more overwhelming on the sidewalk than it had been inside, the cacophony of horns, engines and movement too much for her to absorb. All at once, she felt as if she’d been living on a different planet instead of a tiny village in Peru.

Despite her anxiousness, Alexis threaded her way through the chaos with determination. She had to get accustomed to civilization again. Her family didn’t know it yet, but she had returned and not just for a visit. She was back home to stay. Her mother’s Thanksgiving invitation had provided Alexis the excuse she’d been looking for for the past six months.

She crossed the walkway to the rental-car buses and located the proper van. Five minutes later, it stopped in front of a low-rise building and everyone jumped out. Moving with the crowd, Alexis found herself in front of a neatly uniformed agent who had her stamped and ready to go with an efficiency she hadn’t seen in quite some time. In the lot behind the building, she located the small red Mazda he’d assigned her.

She threw her duffel bag into the spotless trunk, then climbed into the front seat and fumbled with the keys. After a second’s study, she started the compact vehicle, but didn’t put it in gear. With the motor purring quietly and the jets rumbling overhead, she simply sat in the car and thought, just as she had a thousand times, about the last time she’d seen her family.

Her baby brother had been too young to do anything but cry, his big eyes filled with confusion. A late surprise for her parents, Toby had been more like Alexis’s own child than a brother. But she’d kissed his plump cheek and turned away. The pain of that moment had carved a hole in her chest, but it was the anger—the disappointment—in her parents’ gazes that had haunted her.

When she was nineteen, however, nothing had meant more to Alexis than Esteban Garza. He was the only person she could think about. She’d met the handsome young social worker through a volunteer program in Peru. He was a teacher, doing incredible work high in the Andes, helping his people. She wanted to be his partner—his soul mate—and toil beside him forever. Everyone had been horrified at the thought of her moving so far from home to live with a virtual stranger, but Alexis had felt she was old enough to make such decisions on her own.

Her mother couldn’t say too much about Alexis’s plans because for years Selena Mission had filled her daughter’s head with romantic stories about Lima, Selena’s birthplace. The men were all handsome, the women gorgeous, the beauty of the country unparalleled. Alexis’s father, Robert, had had plenty to say, though.

“You’re too young. You don’t know what you’re doing… You’re throwing away your life, for God’s sake…” He’d followed Alexis out of the house the day she’d left, begging her to change her mind, then threatening her when she didn’t. “I swear to God, Alexis, if you get in that car, don’t bother to ever come back! No daughter of mine would do something this stupid!”

They’d always been close, so the fight with her father had been shocking to Alexis. Angry and ugly. She’d said things she hadn’t meant, and so, she hoped, had he.

One way or the other, she was about to find out, and then it’d be her time to beg…for forgiveness and understanding. Her throat tightened in anticipation. What if he ignored her pleas as she had his? Her mother was the one who’d written to Alexis. Come home for Thanksgiving, Alexis, she’d scribbled. We miss you terribly.

Knowing it would be easier to explain once she was there, Alexis had never replied. She’d simply packed her things and left. Controlling and critical, Esteban had been impossible to live with and impossible to please, his Latin machismo ingrained so deeply their relationship had been doomed from the very start. Her parents had realized that as soon as they’d met him; it’d taken Alexis a year to understand then another six months to admit it.

A commercial came over the car’s radio, the volume suddenly jumping, the holiday jingle loud and garish. She clicked off the noise then put the Mazda into gear and carefully backed up. The wheel felt huge in her hands, the brake pedal unwieldy.

In an hour, she reached Los Lobos.

Her parents and younger brother had moved to New Mexico right after Alexis had left for Peru. She didn’t know Los Lobos, but she’d seen thousands of towns like it in the years they’d moved around the country. Small and depressed, hanging on to what it’d been in better days. The community was still alive only because of the government think tank where her father and mother worked, along with some of the other top scientists in the world.

Alexis found the neighborhood and then the house. Driving slowly, she passed the brick home and circled the block with her nerves jangling. When she came back around, she slowed the car five houses down.

Her mother’s trademark Thanksgiving decoration was hanging on the front door. A diehard optimist, Selena Mission was a brilliant mass neuron scientist, but domestic tasks had always eluded her. Alexis and her father had always teased Selena unmercifully over the strange straw and pumpkin wreath, but seeing it now brought a quick sting to Alexis’s eyes.

She dashed away the tears then eased the car into the driveway and parked. Her heart jumped into her throat and stayed there, a lump that only seemed to grow larger. Finally, her hands shaking, she managed to open the door and get out.

On the porch, she paused. Should she knock? Should she ring the doorbell? Should she just stand there and pray someone would come? None of those options seemed right, and after a few more seconds of hesitation, she knocked once then opened the door and called out. “Mom? Dad?”

No one answered, but they didn’t have to.

Alexis had found home and she knew it.

The familiar furniture, the sound of the grandfather clock, even the spices filling the air—everything was known and dear. Alexis felt as if she’d been out to grab a gallon of milk at the corner store. The tightness in her chest dissolved and she started to cry. She pushed the door open wider and stepped inside.

“Mom? Dad? Toby? Anybody here?”

The only sound she heard was the ticking clock, the silence beneath it strangely empty. She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. The room was unoccupied but the oven was still on. Cracking the door open, Alexis bent over and peeked inside to see a turkey. The bird had been cooking way too long—the skin looked dry and the wings had already fallen off. With a puzzled frown, she turned off the heat and looked around. Two pies with lopsided crusts and dimpled tops sat by a window, which revealed an equally unoccupied backyard.

Stepping over a scattering of colorful blocks, her confusion grew as she glanced into the dining room connected to the kitchen. The old scarred table was set with the old unmatched china. For four, she noted with a catch, her own special glass sitting at the plate on the right-hand side. “Just in case,” Alexis could hear her mother say. A centerpiece Alexis had never seen was in the middle, but it had her mother’s stamp. No one else could arrange flowers that badly.

Alexis called out again as she headed toward the back of the house. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den. All empty. She stopped at the door to what was clearly the guest room, her own childhood furniture in place. The bed had been turned back and there were fresh towels waiting in two neat piles on top of the quilted coverlet. Her mother had obviously been hoping Alexis might come, even though the invitation had gone unanswered. Alexis turned away, blinking.

What could have taken them away? With a feeling of dread, she had the sudden thought—had someone had an accident…or worse?

Dropping her purse on the chest in the bedroom, Alexis returned to the front of the house where the garage was located. To her surprise, two cars were parked inside. Feeling foolish but needing the confirmation, she went first to the one she recognized—her father’s truck—and then to the other one, a new sedan. The registration papers for both cars were exactly what she’d expected, her parents’ names listed in black and white.

Walking back into the living room, Alexis sat down, her unease growing. It was too weird, too strange. Where on earth could they be? She argued with herself, thinking up a million explanations for their absence, but none of them made any sense. A tiny voice in the back of her mind told her she was being paranoid, but she ignored it and called the local hospital, getting the name and number from a scruffy directory underneath the phone beside the couch. There was only one facility in town and it took them less than a minute to check. No one by the name of Mission had been brought in.

She waited an hour more then she went to the neighbors. On the left, an older couple lived. They’d seen nothing, they both said, but would she like to come in and visit until her folks got back? Alexis declined politely and went to the house on the other side. A younger woman answered the door, two crying babies at her feet. She’d just moved in the week before, she explained, and didn’t know her neighbors yet.

No one had seen anything. No one had heard anything. No one knew anything.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Alexis hurried back to the house, the evening air growing bitter. What could have made them take off like this? And how had they left? She entered the empty house, a chill coming over her that had nothing to do with the weather. She hesitated for only a second, then she picked up the phone and dialed 911.

The dispatcher didn’t know what to make of her.

“Your parents aren’t there? How old are you, sweetie?”

“You don’t understand!” Alexis said in exasperation. “I’m an adult! I’ve been gone—for a long time—and they invited me home for Thanksgiving. They’re not here, though, and I’ve been waiting for hours. Has anyone…well, called anything in?”

“What’s the address?”

“It’s 2550 Red Oak.”

Alexis could hear the tapping of computer keys.

“No calls have been made to that address.”

“Are you sure? Nothing at all?” She started to explain the circumstances, but she didn’t get far. The dispatcher cut her off with a curt question, another phone line ringing in the background.

“Would you like to file a report, ma’am?”

“Not…not right now,” Alexis said finally. “But I may call back and do that.”

“We’ll be here.”

Alexis slowly hung up the receiver. In Pricaro, the closest village to where she’d lived, there had been only one telephone. Meant to be used for emergencies, most of the time the line didn’t work at all.

She might as well have been back in the mountains for all the good the call had done her.

Reaching over, she picked up a photograph at the end of the sofa table. The picture had been taken at a picnic just after Toby’s birth. Selena was holding the baby, Robert’s arm slung casually over Alexis’s shoulders. She clutched the snapshot, her fingerprints leaving marks on the frame as she rose from the couch and drifted over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she stared into the darkness.

Where were they?

ALEXIS PACED the living floor for twenty more minutes, then another possibility came to mind. Her parents sometimes worked strange hours—maybe something had come up at their office. It wouldn’t be the first time her mom had left the house with the oven on.

Hurrying into her father’s study, Alexis searched his desk for an address for the think tank. She found nothing but she wasn’t surprised. Her father didn’t bother himself with mundane little details like address books. With a groan of frustration, she slammed his desk drawer closed.

A pack of matches, obviously dislodged from somewhere at the back of the desk, fluttered down to the carpet. Alexis picked it up. Norman’s Service Station. Twenty-four Hours, Seven Days a Week. She opened it and inside, her father’s neat printing noted: “Grumpy but helpful.” Seeing his handwriting brought fresh concern…and then determination. It wasn’t much, but she knew no one in town. Memorizing the address, Alex dropped the matchbook, ran into the living room and grabbed her coat.

Praying the place wasn’t closed, Alexis found the gas station ten minutes later, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was open. She jumped from the car and ran inside. The temperature had dropped even more in the past hour and the wind had picked up. The chill cut into her skin and she started to shiver, trying to convince herself it was the weather and not her nerves.

An old man sat behind a grungy counter, his overalls spotted with grease stains, a filthy black cap covering his head. As Alexis came in, he tore his eyes reluctantly from the television set and a grainy football game, then immediately turned back to the screen. “We’re self-serve tonight—”

“Are you Norman?”

“Who’s askin’?”

“I need directions.” Alexis rubbed her cold hands together and blew on them. “To the Mansfield Operations Center. I’m Alexis Mis—”

“They don’t let visitors in there.”

“I don’t care. I’ve got to go out there and find—”

“Place is closed.” He spoke with one eye on the television, then finally gave her his attention when a commercial flashed on. “It’s Thanksgivin’, you know. S’ holiday.”

“Surely there’s a skeleton staff. I—”

He interrupted her again and she wondered if he ever let anyone complete a sentence. “Who you lookin’ for?”

“My parents. Robert and Selena Mission,” she answered. “They’re scientists at the—”

“Never heard of ’em.” He returned to the television as if she’d already gone. Helpful? Her father gave everyone the benefit of the doubt but his description had really pushed the limit this time. Alexis gave up. She’d just have to go somewhere else. As she opened the door to leave, the old man spoke one more time.

“Up the highway. Go left. Ten miles outta town.”

HE DROVE by the house slow and easy, the paneled van inconspicuous to any curious eyes. The windows in the small brick home were dark and the place looked empty. Relief eased some of the tension in his body, but not all of it. He had a lot of work ahead of him and not enough time to do it in.

Turning left at the end of the street, Gabriel O’Rourke circled back and parked a block over, in front of a home with a For Sale sign in the yard. Opening the vehicle’s double back doors, he pulled out a canvas bag printed with a plumbing logo that matched the sign on the van. He let his eyes search the street while acting as if he was getting out more tools. Everything looked quiet enough. Gabriel went to the front porch of the house. Pretending he had a key that didn’t work, he stood for a moment, then shook his head in a frustrated way and headed for the back. It took him thirty seconds to jump the fence on the side and shed the white plumber’s suit. Thirty seconds after that, he’d jumped the rear fence as well, landing in the Missions’ backyard, now dressed in black. He opened the metal panel on the side of their garage and threw all the switches, shutting off the power. The shadows covered his progress a moment later.

As soon as he stepped inside, the awareness hit him. Something was different. Someone had been in the house and had just left. The air still shimmered, as if disturbed by a recent passing. He cursed silently, but he wasn’t surprised. Everything that could go wrong with this operation had gone wrong.

Placing the canvas bag on the floor, Gabriel removed his .38 from his waistband. With noiseless steps he checked out the interior, foot by foot. Until he came to the extra bedroom. When he saw the bags, he spoke out loud, his violent curse breaking the silence like a rock shattering a window.

The girl had come back. Dammit to hell, she’d come back!

He stared at the bags but he didn’t move. For the love of God, if she’d just been a little earlier…or if she’d only told them she was coming…things would have been so different. He uttered another oath and closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of regret.

Why in the hell hadn’t he listened to his gut? From the very beginning, he’d had a bad feeling about this operation. Civilians involved. International technology. Bad guys who went beyond bad. The ill-conceived fiasco had been doomed from the start, but he’d ignored his instincts.

He had thought it couldn’t get any worse, but with Alexis Mission’s arrival, the whole situation had gone from catastrophe to meltdown.

Pulling a radio from his vest, he spoke in an urgent voice, ordering a perimeter setup. He didn’t have a lot of men, but those he had were the best. They’d give him as much time as they could.

Disconnecting, he considered the solutions one by one, rejecting ideas as soon as they came to him. The Missions had told him about their daughter. They’d described her as smart and artistic, stubborn and headstrong. They’d emphasized the stubborn part. He had to keep that foremost in his mind.

Putting his weapon away, he searched the room with quick, efficient moves. She hadn’t unpacked, thank God. He put away the towels and blanket that had been left on the bed, then he grabbed her duffel and went down the hall, checking the other rooms. As he worked, he felt the weight of what he carried in his pocket. The rings weren’t heavy but his burden was.

Climbing into the Agency’s helicopter a few hours before, Selena Mission had yanked off her wedding band and given it to him, turning to Robert and demanding he do the same. “These are for Alexis,” she’d said. “She can keep them until we see her again…”

Obeying his wife, Robert Mission had handed over his ring. The scientist had then gripped Gabriel’s hand so hard, he’d left a mark that was still there. Selena hadn’t accepted the truth yet, but the two men knew. The chances of the Missions ever seeing their daughter again were nonexistent, especially if Gabriel was successful in his lies. And he’d better be. Everyone’s lives—including hers—depended on it.

“If she doesn’t show up—” Robert had said.

“I’ll find her.”

“And if she does…”

“I’ll tell her.”

“The story we agreed on.” Robert’s voice left no room for argument.

Gabriel had lied many times in his life, had a lot of regrets, too. He didn’t want to add this one to the list, but he didn’t think he had another choice. He asked the question anyway. “Look, are you sure this is—”

Mission shook his head violently, not even allowing him to finish. “It’s the only way. She’s smart but she’s stubborn, too obstinate for her own damn good. If she has any inkling of the truth—any idea that we’re still alive—she’ll come looking for us, no matter how well you guys hide us. It won’t matter.” He paused. “You’ve got to stop her, otherwise she’ll keep going until she finds us. And you know better than we do what that means…”

Robert Mission’s voice had broken at that point. “She’s…she’s the best part of us, O’Rourke. Please…please make sure she’s taken care of. Promise me you’ll make sure she’s—”

Gabriel had kept his expression stony but he’d nodded and given his word. Then he’d prayed the girl wouldn’t show up.

Obviously his prayers hadn’t been heard. Now he had to take care of business.

“I CAN’T LET YOU GO inside, ma’am, I’m sorry. This is a restricted area.”

“But you don’t understand! I’m looking for my parents. I’m sure you know them—Robert and Selena Mission? They work here.”

The guard pulled his cap down over his eyes, the furry earflaps doing little to keep him warm. In the distance, Alexis’s headlights shone on a fifteen-foot-high barbed wire fence, a low office building barely visible in the empty stretch of loneliness before her. Piñon trees with low twisted branches added their shadows to the scene. She stared at the facility in amazement. When had think tanks become equipped with security like this? The other places where her parents had worked had looked like college campuses.