Sealed With a Kiss (21 page)

Tank looked at Bella. She used her big brown
eyes, silently pleading her case better than any adult Rachel had
ever seen.

Tank glanced at Pastor Stevens, then back at
Rachel. “Okay. But if we get there and it doesn’t look safe, we
leave straight away. Where is the store?”

“On Main Street, beside Angel Wings Café.
It’s called Crafty Crafts.”

Tank raised his eyebrows. “You’re kidding
me?”

“It’s a great name.” Rachel had known the
store’s owner, Kelly Harris, since eighth grade. She was a good
friend and loyalty ran deep in Montana. “Kelly turned a musty old
building into the prettiest craft store in Bozeman. Scoff all you
like, but a lot of people buy their supplies from her. But craft
supplies aren’t the only thing she sells. She has the best
selection of local artists’ work in Bozeman, and she runs workshops
teaching people how to paint.”

“She sounds like a saint,” Tank grumbled.

“She’s better than a saint.” Rachel walked
across to her bag and took her cell phone out. “She sells what we
need. You’ve just made one little girl very happy.”

“The only thing that matters is that Bella’s
daddy is happy when we get home. Otherwise, both of us might be
looking for new jobs.” Tank looked across at Bella and his
hard-as-nails face softened.

Rachel couldn’t think about John at the
moment. Kissing him last night had been the most reckless thing
she’d done in months. And recklessness, she’d learned, always came
at a price.

She turned her phone on and searched through
her contact list for Kelly’s number. “How did you know that Walmart
was busy?”

“I have my sources,” Tank said as he pulled
his own cell phone out. “I just hope my sources can get across town
before we arrive at the craft store.”

Rachel held her phone to her ear and waited
for Kelly to answer. Buying the scrapbook supplies was important.
Bella wasn’t creating a run-of-the-mill Christmas present. It was a
heart-wrenching, emotional present that might make John realize how
his daughter felt about him.

And if that didn’t work, Bella could always
bake him his favorite cake and hope for the best.

***

“It’s a parade,” Bella screeched from the
back seat of Tank’s SUV. “It’s the Christmas parade. Look…there’s
Santa!” Bella pointed to the merry man in red.

“There’s no way I’m going to be able to park
close to the store,” Tank said. “You know what that means, don’t
you?”

Bella stopped craning her neck for long
enough to understand what Tank was saying. “You can’t go back on
your word. I need the craft supplies for dad’s present.”

“I’m sorry, Bella. But a deal is a deal. I
told you before we left Pastor Stevens’ house that if this didn’t
feel right, Rachel wasn’t going inside for your supplies. It
doesn’t feel right, so we’re going home.”

“I don’t want to go home. If we follow the
parade down Main Street, we’ll drive straight past the craft store.
The floats are going so slow that you wouldn’t even need to find a
park. Rachel could jump out and then run along the sidewalk and
catch up with us.”

“Rachel would slip feet first into the gutter
if she ran along the sidewalk. We’d end up in the hospital with a
concussed teacher who should have known better.”

Rachel glared at the back of Tank’s head.
“The so-called concussed teacher now has everything clearly spelled
out. Thank you, Tank.”

“Don’t get angry with me. I’m just telling
you that no one is going anywhere.” Tank stopped at a set of
traffic lights.

Rachel watched the people on the side of the
road. They were huddled in their jackets, with scarves and hats
firmly attached to their bodies. The Christmas parade was a big
deal in Bozeman. Most families made sure they were standing on the
side of the road to see the long trail of floats moving down Main
Street.

Tank was going to have to take a left-hand
turn up ahead if he wanted to go anywhere. Main Street had been
closed to vehicles and judging by the number of floats she could
see, it would be a long time before it opened.

Before Rachel could think of another craft
store they could visit, Bella had unclipped her seatbelt and jumped
out of the car.

Rachel made a frantic grab for her jacket,
but her seatbelt locked her in place. “Bella! What are you
doing?”

Bella kept running, disappearing into the
crowd of people walking along the sidewalk. “Tank, Bella’s gone.
I’m going after her.” She threw her seatbelt off, slid across the
SUV, and jumped out of Bella’s door. She ran around the other cars
waiting at the lights and hit the sidewalk at a run.

Even though this end of Main Street was less
crowded, there were still a lot of people blocking her path. She
dodged strollers and preschoolers as she tried to see where Bella
had gone.

She crossed the street, slowed down as the
slippery road made it impossible to keep moving fast. She made her
way toward the craft store. It was still three blocks away. Three
icy, snow-covered, blocks.

Bella hadn’t been to the craft store before,
but she had been to Angel Wings Café. Rachel had taken her there
when they’d been in town.

Her phone started ringing and she pulled it
out of her pocket. The callers’ number had been blocked. She looked
at it again before answering. She hoped it was Tank and not
John.

“Where is she?”

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t
know. She’s probably heading toward the craft store, but I can’t
see her.” Rachel looked at the buildings around her. “I’m just
passing Pete’s Emporium.”

“Keep heading toward the craft store. Bella’s
got a GPS chip in her coat. I can find her with that.”

Tank ended the call and Rachel stared at the
phone. A GPS chip? She had no idea that John had gone to such
extreme lengths to keep track of where Bella was. Usually, she’d be
mortified, but not today. Bella had disappeared and she had no idea
where she was.

***

It seemed to take forever to get to the craft
store. The middle section of Main Street was bursting with people,
especially around Tess’ café. With a wide porch hanging over the
sidewalk, this part of the street was a popular choice for families
to gather. Add in hot coffee and fresh baking, and you had standing
room only.

Rachel used her body to push through the
crowd, finally making it to the front of Kelly’s store. Tank was
standing outside with his phone in his hand. “She hasn’t moved for
the last five minutes. Come with me.”

“She’s not in the store?”

“No.”

Rachel hurried after Tank, following him into
Tess’ café. She looked at the people sitting at the tables, the
line of cold and hungry families waiting to place their orders. She
couldn’t see Bella anywhere. “Are you sure this is the right
place?”

Tank looked down at this phone and nodded.
“She must be in the kitchen.”

Tess jumped a mile when Tank suddenly
appeared beside her. “Tank? What are you doing behind the
counter?”

“We can’t find Bella. Have you seen her?”

Tess shook her head. “It’s been so busy in
here that I haven’t done anything except serve customers. Caitlin,
Annie, and Kate are out the back putting orders together as fast as
I send them through. Go and ask them if they’ve seen Bella. Is she
okay?”

Tank didn’t bother replying. He pushed the
kitchen doors open and strode into the room.

Tess glanced at Rachel before turning to her
next customer. They both knew it was the worst possible day for an
eight-year-old to go missing. There were people everywhere, it was
cold, and the weather forecast wasn’t going to improve.

Rachel followed Tank into the kitchen.
Compared to the café, it was a calm oasis of tranquility. Caitlin,
a college student who worked part-time for Tess, was busy making
toasted paninis. Annie was beside a deep-fryer, churning out hot
chips, and Kate was about to take a big order into the café.

“Has anyone seen Bella Fletcher?” Rachel
asked. “She’s eight-years-old, has curly brown hair down to her
shoulders and big brown eyes. She was wearing a bright red jacket
and blue jeans.”

Kate balanced her tray on the edge of the
stainless steel counter. “No one’s been in the kitchen except us,
and I don’t remember seeing her in the café. How long has she been
missing?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Rachel said.

Tank wasn’t taking any chances with where
Bella might have gone. He opened the door to a walk-in storage
room, quickly searching the large space. When he couldn’t find her
in there, he threw open the back door and walked into the staff
parking area. Rachel followed him outside. The cold air hit her
face, making her eyes water after the warmth inside the café.

“What’s up here?” Tank was already walking
carefully up a set of exterior stairs.

“It’s Tess’ old apartment. No one’s living
there at the moment.”

Tank tried the door handle. It didn’t budge.
He glanced down at the snow and shook his head. “It doesn’t look as
though anyone’s been here.” He looked at the emergency fire escapes
attached to the walls of the other buildings beside Tess’ café.
“She wouldn’t have been able to reach any of those ladders. We’ll
take another look around the café and then I’m calling it in. We
need more help.”

The back door opened and Tess walked outside.
“Have you found her?”

Tank walked down the stairs. “She’s not
here.”

“I’ll ask my customers,” Tess said. “Someone
might have seen her come into the café.”

Tank re-checked his phone. “She should still
be here.”

“What do you mean?” Tess held the door open
for them as they walked inside.

“Bella’s got a GPS tracking chip in her
jacket…” Rachel stopped in the middle of the kitchen and turned to
Tank. “What if she took her jacket off? What if her jacket’s here,
but she isn’t?”

“Then she’s really in trouble.” Tank ran into
the dining area with Rachel and Tess behind him.

Tess pulled an empty chair out from one of
the tables and stood on it. “Excuse me, everyone,” she yelled over
the loud conversations. “Can I have your attention, please.”

The chatter came to a standstill. “Has anyone
seen an eight-year-old girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes in
the last fifteen minutes? Her name is Bella Fletcher. She’s wearing
a red jacket and jeans. Can you also look around your tables for a
red jacket that doesn’t belong to you?”

A lady at a table at the front of the café
held a red padded jacket in the air. “Is this what you’re looking
for?”

Tank took the jacket out of the lady’s hand.
“It’s Bella’s,” he sighed.

“Thanks, everyone,” Tess said.

“Do you need help finding her?” A man beside
Tess picked up his jacket. “I was about to leave, but I could
search some of the other stores on Main Street for you.”

Tess looked across at Tank.

He shook his head. “She won’t go to someone
she doesn’t know. But thanks for the offer.”

He tapped his phone and walked into the
kitchen. The last words Rachel heard before the kitchen door closed
behind him were,
Bella’s missing
.

CHAPTER NINE

Rachel walked into Kelly Harris’ craft store with a
heavy heart. The last hour had been devastating. Police and
security staff were on the streets and on the roads, looking for
Bella. An AMBER alert had been issued and all of the airport,
train, and bus stations had posted messages and signs, looking for
her.

Tess followed her into the craft store. “I
just heard from Billy-Rae at the radio station. They’re
broadcasting messages between every second song, asking people to
look for Bella. He said all of the digital signs across the
Interstate have been changed and the AMBER Alert website has been
updated with her photo.” She gave Rachel a quick hug. “Everyone’s
doing their best to find her.”

Kelly walked out from the back room. “Bella’s
photo is on all of the television stations. Someone has to know
where she is.” She pulled a stool out from behind the front
counter. “Sit down. You look as though you’re about to fall to
pieces.”

Rachel sat on the stool and wiped her eyes.
“She has to be here somewhere. She isn’t wearing a jacket and it’s
freezing outside.”

Tess put her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “The
only thing we can do is pray hard that someone sees her. How is her
dad?”

“I haven’t seen very much of him. He’s really
worried.” While the police were interviewing Rachel and Tank, John
had given Dan Carter, the Chief of Police, a recent photo and
description of Bella. They were using that information for their
website and communication with the media.

John had barely spoken to her as they’d
passed each other in the corridor at the police station. She
couldn’t blame him for being upset. He’d warned her to be careful,
to stay at home rather than go into town. But she hadn’t listened,
and her mistake could be deadly.

Rachel pulled her cell phone out of her
pocket when it let out a shrill blast. “That’s the third AMBER text
alert I’ve had about Bella.” Her eyes filled with tears. “What if
she dies?”

Tess pulled a handful of tissues out of the
box that Kelly had left on the counter. “There’s no point dwelling
on things like that. Let’s go and look for her.” She passed Rachel
the tissues. “I can’t sit here and not do anything.”

“But John said to stay here,” Rachel said
with reluctance. “I’ve already made too many wrong decisions. If
Bella suddenly finds her way here, she won’t know what to do.”

Kelly waved her hand in front of Rachel’s
face. “Hello? Earth to Rachel? I’m not exactly invisible. If Bella
comes in the store, I’ll keep her warm and call the police. I’ve
got plenty of things she can do until they get here.”

“Are you sure?” Rachel asked.