Josh felt as though he’d been kicked in the stomach. “We’re going to be overrun with press.”
“You’ve got about an hour before the town is flooded,” Donaldson said grimly. “We can keep them off private land, but that’s about it.”
Josh eyed the house. Caroline’s place was far too open to hide from the press. He made a decision. “I’ll move her to the castle. She’s safer there.”
Mitch agreed. “I’ll call Lake and sort out security.”
Josh threw back his head and studied the clear blue sky. “She’s not going to like this.”
“Worse than that,” Donaldson said, “she’ll want to sort it.”
“Any chance we can deal with this before the cameras get here?” Josh pointed to the wall.
“I’ll get what I need as fast as I can,” Donaldson said.
“And I’ll work on hiding the message until it’s painted over,” Mitch said. “We’re going to have to paint the whole house. A patch job would stand out too much. I’ll sort it out.”
“I guess that leaves me to deal with Caroline.” Josh paused on his way into the house.
Donaldson and Mitch shared a grin.
“Aw, poor Joshy boy,” Mitch said. “He’s scared of the big bad Scottish lassie.”
Donaldson laughed.
Josh ignored them. He wasn’t scared of Caroline. He was wisely cautious. It was a completely different thing. He called out for Caroline as he strode to the kitchen. It was empty.
“Caroline?” he shouted up the stairs.
Nothing.
“Caroline?” He peered out the back window, then checked the living room.
She wasn’t in the house. He rushed back to the front door. “Caroline is gone.”
The smile disappeared from the cop’s face. His eyes narrowed. “Is there sign of a struggle? Did it look like she left on her own?”
“No sign of a struggle, but her handbag and keys are still here.”
“Let’s make some calls,” Donaldson said. “It’s probably nothing, but best we locate her before the press do it for us.”
Josh wanted to hit his head against the wall. Instead he turned on his heels back to the kitchen. He pulled open Caroline’s junk drawer. Her cell phone was still inside. He slammed the drawer shut.
Damn impossible woman.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
They were out of coffee. Caroline had been tempted to serve tea—she didn’t like coffee anyway, but she knew Josh hated tea and couldn’t do it to him. She nabbed her wallet from her bag, let herself out the back door and walked the short distance through the lane to the high street shops. It would only take her ten minutes to fetch what she needed.
She was studying the chocolate biscuit selection when she felt a presence behind her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Caroline jumped, placing a hand on her heart. Danny grinned at her. As usual, he was dressed in a black suit.
“You gave me a fright. And don’t call me sweetheart.” What was it with Americans and pet names?
“Whatever you say, darling.” He winked at her.