Without a Trace
Authors: Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts
Hot Ice
Sacred Sins
Brazen Virtue
Sweet Revenge
Public Secrets
Genuine Lies
Carnal Innocence
Divine Evil
Honest Illusions
Private Scandals
Hidden Riches
True Betrayals
Montana Sky
Sanctuary
Homeport
The Reef
River’s End
Carolina Moon
The Villa
Midnight Bayou
Three Fates
Birthright
Northern Lights
Blue Smoke
Angels Fall
High Noon
Tribute
Black Hills
The Search
Chasing Fire
Series
Irish Born Trilogy
Born in Fire
Born in Ice
Born in Shame
Dream Trilogy
Daring to Dream
Holding the Dream
Finding the Dream
Chesapeake Bay Saga
Sea Swept
Rising Tides
Inner Harbor
Chesapeake Blue
Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy
Jewels of the Sun
Tears of the Moon
Heart of the Sea
Three Sisters Island Trilogy
Dance Upon the Air
Heaven and Earth
Face the Fire
Key Trilogy
Key of Light
Key of Knowledge
Key of Valor
In the Garden Trilogy
Blue Dahlia
Black Rose
Red Lily
Circle Trilogy
Morrigan’s Cross
Dance of the Gods
Valley of Silence
Sign of Seven Trilogy
Blood Brothers
The Hollow
The Pagan Stone
Bride Quartet
Vision in White
Bed of Roses
Savor the Moment
Happy Ever After
The Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy
The Next Always
eBooks
The O’Hurleys
Skin Deep
Without a Trace
Dance to the Piper
The Donovan Legacy
Captivated
Entranced
Charmed
Enchanted
Cordina’s Royal Family
Affaire Royale
Command Performance
The Playboy Prince
Cordina’s Crown Jewel
Nora Roberts & J. D. Robb
Remember When
J. D. Robb
Naked in Death
Glory in Death
Immortal in Death
Rapture in Death
Ceremony in Death
Vengeance in Death
Holiday in Death
Conspiracy in Death
Loyalty in Death
Witness in Death
Judgment in Death
Betrayal in Death
Seduction in Death
Reunion in Death
Purity in Death
Portrait in Death
Imitation in Death
Divided in Death
Visions in Death
Survivor in Death
Origin in Death
Memory in Death
Born in Death
Innocent in Death
Creation in Death
Strangers in Death
Salvation in Death
Promises in Death
Kindred in Death
Fantasy in Death
Indulgence in Death
Treachery in Death
New York to Dallas
Anthologies
From the Heart
A Little Magic
A Little Fate
Moon Shadows
(with Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne Willman)
The Once Upon Series
(with Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne Willman)
Once Upon a Castle Once Upon a Rose
Once Upon a Star Once Upon a Kiss
Once Upon a Dream Once Upon a Midnight
Silent Night
(with Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, and Claire Cross)
Out of This World
(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Susan Krinard, and Maggie Shayne)
Bump in the Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Dead of Night
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Three in Death
Suite 606
(with Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
In Death
The Lost
(with Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, and Ruth Ryan Langan)
The Other Side
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
The Unquiet
(with Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas)
Also available…
The Official Nora Roberts Companion
(edited by Denise Little and Laura Hayden)
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
WITHOUT A TRACE
An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Harlequin Books edition / September 1990
InterMix eBook edition / January 2012
Copyright © 1990 by Nora Roberts.
Excerpt from
The Witness
copyright © 2012 by Nora Roberts.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
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a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-56829-3
INTERMIX
InterMix Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
INTERMIX and the INTERMIX design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To black sheep
Table of Contents
“Pick up the beat on the intro, Tracey boy, you’re dragging it.”
Frank O’Hurley stood on his mark, stage right, and prepared to go through his opening routine again. The three-night run in Terre Haute might not be the highlight of his career, and it certainly wasn’t the apex of his dreams, but he was going to give the audience their money’s worth. Every two-bit gig was a dress rehearsal for the big break.
He counted off the beat, then swung into the routine with the enthusiasm of a man half his age. The calendar might put Frank’s age at forty, but his feet would always be sixteen.
He’d written the little novelty number himself, with the wide-eyed hope that it would become the O’Hurley trademark. At the piano, his oldest child and only son tried to put some life into a melody he’d played too many times to count—and dreamed of other things and other places.
On cue, his mother spun onstage with his father. Even after endless routines, endless theaters, Trace still felt a tug of affection for them. Just as, after endless routines, endless theaters, he felt what had become a familiar tug of frustration.
Would he always be here, beating out a second-rate tune on a second-rate piano, trying to fill his father’s big dreams that hadn’t a hope in hell of coming true?
As she’d been doing most of her life, Molly matched her steps to Frank’s. She could have done the number blindfold. As it was, while she dipped, spun and double stepped, her mind was more on her son than her timing.
The boy wasn’t happy, she thought. And he wasn’t a child any longer. He was on the brink of manhood and straining to go his own way. It was that single fact, she knew, that terrified Frank to the point that he refused to acknowledge it.
The arguments had become more frequent, more heated. Soon, she thought, all too soon, something was going to explode, and she might not be able to pick up all the pieces.
Kick, ball change, dip, and her three daughters tapped onto the stage. With her heart close to Frank’s, Molly could feel him swell with pride. She would hate for him to lose that pride or the hope that kept him the youthful dreamer she’d fallen in love with.
As Molly and Frank moved offstage, the routine eased smoothly into the opening song. The O’Hurley Triplets—Chantel, Abby and Maddy—launched into three-part harmony as if they’d been born singing.
They practically had, Molly thought. But, like Trace, they weren’t children any longer. Chantel was already using her wit and her wiles to fascinate the men in the audience. Abby, steady and quiet, was just marking time. And it wouldn’t be long before they lost Maddy. As a mother, Molly felt both pride and regret at the thought that her youngest had too much talent to remain part of a roving troupe for long.
Yet it was Trace who concerned her now. He sat at the scarred piano in the dingy little club, his mind a thousand miles away. She’d seen the brochures he collected. Pictures and stories on places like Zanzibar, New Guinea, Mazatlán. Sometimes, on the long train or bus rides from city to city, Trace would talk of the mosques and caverns and mountains he wanted to see.
And Frank would brush those dreams off like dust, desperately clinging to his own—and to his son.
“Not bad, darlings.” Frank bounced back to center stage to give each of his daughters a hug. “Trace, your mind’s not on the music. You need to pump some life into it.”
“There hasn’t been any life in that number since Des Moines.”
A few months before, Frank would have chuckled and rubbed a hand over his son’s hair. But now he felt the sting of criticism, man to man. His chin came up to a stubborn point. “Nothing wrong with the song and never has been. It’s your playing that’s lacking. You lost tempo twice. I’m tired of you sulking over the keys.”
Playing peacemaker, Abby stepped between her father and brother. The growing tension had been keeping the family on edge for weeks. “We’re all a little tired, I think.”
“I can speak for myself, Abby.” Trace pushed away from the piano. “No one’s sulking at the keys.”
“Hah!” Frank brushed Molly’s restraining hand away. Lord, the boy was tall, Frank thought. Tall and straight and almost a stranger. But Frank O’Hurley was still in charge, and it was time his son remembered it. “You’ve been in a black mood since I told you I wouldn’t have a son of mine harking off to Hong Kong or God knows where like some gypsy. Your place is here, with your family. Your responsibility is to the troupe.”