“I think you’re right. Max started to pack his car Wednesday morning, but he didn’t have time to finish before his meeting. He left his briefcase open because he needed to pick up the speech that Betty typed up. When his meeting was over, he planned to come back here and leave for the convention. But Max didn’t come back. The last time anyone saw him he was in his office at Cozy Cow. His trail ends at the dairy.”

Andrea winced. “I hope you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say.”

“I am.” Hannah closed up the garage and ushered her sister out Max’s front door. “We don’t have a choice. We’ve got to check out the dairy.”

Chapter Nineteen

Hannah started her Suburban, reached for the bag of cookies she always carried in the back, and tossed them to Andrea. “Have a cookie. You need some chocolate. It’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t need chocolate. What I need is a shrink! It would take a psychiatrist to figure out why I ever agreed to this harebrained, idiotic idea of yours to…to—” Andrea stopped speaking, too rattled to go on. Then she reached into the bag, pulled out a cookie, and bit into it savagely. She chewed, swallowed, and then she sighed. “These are really good, Hannah.”

“They’re called Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights. Mother gave me the idea for the recipe when she told me how Dad used to always bring her chocolate-covered cherries whenever she was mad at him.”

Andrea reached into the bag for another and took a huge bite. “Are you absolutely sure we need to go inside the dairy?”

“I’m sure.” Hannah turned at end of Max’s access road and into the Cozy Cow parking lot.

“We can’t just try to call Bill first?”

“He’s got his hands full,” Hannah answered. She parked in the darkest corner of the lot and turned to her sister. Andrea looked a lot better and her hands weren’t shaking anymore. “Relax, Andrea. Max isn’t inside. He couldn’t be. Betty or one of the other employees would have found him by now. All we’re going to do is look for clues in his office.”

“That’s true.” Andrea managed a shaky smile.

“Then you’re coming in with me?”

“I’m certainly not going to sit in the parking lot alone, not with a killer on the loose! And it’s not like we’re actually breaking in or anything. You’ve got Max’s keys.”

“Right.” Hannah knew that this wasn’t the time to remind Andrea that they’d broken into Max’s garage to get those keys. “Grab the flashlights. I don’t want to turn on any lights inside. Someone might see them from the road.”

Andrea reached into the back for the flashlights. “You’re going to owe me a whole batch of cookies for this, Hannah. I’ll take the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights.”

“Deal.” Hannah grabbed her flashlight from Andrea’s hand and got out of the truck. The temperature had dropped in the past hour and she shivered as they walked across the parking lot to the rear door. She glanced down at the keys in the glare from the security lights and blessed Max for labeling them. She selected the one marked “Rear Door,” and was about to insert it in the lock when Andrea gasped.