Free Hidden Falls by Olivia; Newport Page B

to.
    Liam jiggled a door he was fairly certain led to a storage closet. When it opened, he felt along the wall for a light switch before swinging his hand into the middle of the room to catch hold of a string. He pulled it, and the bulb in the ceiling illuminated the cramped space full of folders and records from years gone by and ladders in three sizes. The bottom drawer of a file cabinet hung open.
    He moved down the hall to the next door. The identifying tag on the wall next to it said it was the marketing coordinator’s office. When, to Liam’s surprise, it was locked, he slipped a credit card out of his pocket and easily entered. A few things he’d learned during college proved handy in real life, and Quinn somehow could have trapped himself in this office. Liam left the door cracked for a shaft of hallway light. His eyes adjusted quickly. It was a tidy office with the computer turned off and folders neatly stacked in a silver wire rack. He saw no sign that it had been disturbed. Even the guest chair remained at a precise angle.
    Only one item appeared untended, an ordinary business envelope laid at a peculiar slant in a room of right angles, as if left out for particular attention and perhaps forgotten. Liam flipped it over. The printed label was addressed to the marketing coordinator at her business address, but it was the return address that caught Liam’s eyes. A Chicago bank with a branch in Birch Bend.
    The envelope seemed to burn his fingers as Liam slid it into his inside suit pocket. His heart pounded at the thought that the contents would include an account number—maybe more than one. A random account number with which Liam had no trail of history could be an even better way to buy time than new legitimate accounts. Liam had several clients who used the Birch Bend branch of this Chicago institution. Somewhere in his system he must have routing numbers for moving funds. The account number would complete the equation.
    It would be a short-term loan, that’s all.
    Liam opened several more doors, telling himself Quinn might have needed a quiet place to sit down.
    But, of course, he didn’t find Quinn. It was like looking for lost keys. Mayor Alexander, Principal Devon, the banquet hall staff, and half the town council would have already scurried through all the obvious places where Quinn might have taken refuge.
    Refusing to let himself hurry, Liam shuffled back toward the banquet hall. When he reached the door, he paused and let his eyes settle on the table he had left a few minutes ago. Cabe Mueller was still out of his seat, and now Dani’s chair was empty as well. Liam was grateful for an angle from which Jessica could not see him unless she turned halfway around. Nearly twenty minutes had passed since the spotlight turned up empty. Around the room, people had begun to slouch in their seats. Not Jessica. In the six and a half years Liam had known her, he never saw Jessica slouch. She maintained poise under every circumstance, her hair wavy in a controlled yet casual manner and her posture upright with relaxed shoulders.
    Beneath her demeanor, irritation simmered. The angle of her neck was slightly off as she listened to conversation. Even from the side and partially behind her, Liam could tell she looked attentive and had a smile on her face, but she had tilted her head in that way that meant she was making no effort to store any information coming through her ears. She was being polite. And could not wait to get out of there.
    “Find anything interesting?”
    Liam startled and turned. Dani.
    “She’s a poster child of manners, all right.” Dani stared at Jessica.
    “You’ve never made any effort to get to know Jessica.”
    “Like she would have any interest in knowing me.”
    “You’re being unfair.”
    “Am I? It’s a good thing I’m your cousin and not your sister. If you get married, she won’t have to pretend to like me.”
    There’s no
if.”
    “Whatever.”
    Liam put his hands in