Devin watched Sienna’s expression as it changed from surprise to grief.
“Anita? Are they sure?” She grabbed Devin’s arm, as if needing something to steady her.
A protective surge rushed through him at her touch. “No, the police aren’t sure. But she matches the basic description of the victim, and her car was found on the street nearby.”
Sienna released his arm and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes filled with sorrow. “Did the detective say anything else? How did she die?”
“She had multiple gunshot wounds, and her body was burned beyond recognition.”
Even more color left Sienna’s face. She turned away from him, as if needing a moment of privacy to process everything. “That’s terrible. Anita had been in danger this whole time. Maybe that’s why she left Colby with me. Because she needed him to be safe.”
“It’s a possibility.”
She swung around, her eyes wide with a new question. “What will happen to Colby now?”
“We’re not sure. We’re going to watch him until the police have more answers.”
Fear continued to swirl in the depths of her eyes—fear over the boy’s future, for his well-being, for…justice. “Did they say that I could keep watching him?”
“Not directly. But I’ll make sure it happens that way. Colby doesn’t need to be taken away from one of the only other people he knows right now—especially not until we have some answers.”
Sienna shook her head as she turned back to the pot of boiling pasta. “This is just so terrible. What if her ex found her and demanded to know where Colby was? What if he killed her when she wouldn’t say his location? Or if she did say and he killed her so she wouldn’t help Colby? I don’t know. I know I’m rambling and not making sense—”
“You’re fine, Sienna.”
She seemed to startle as she looked up at him. “Thanks for not belittling me for my talk.”
Devin figured there was more to her sentence, but he didn’t ask. If Sienna wanted to share, she would. “The important thing is that Colby is safe now. They won’t have a positive ID on the body for a while, especially since they have nothing to identify Anita with.”
“Still no hits on that?”
“No hits. Apparently, Jenson contacted the authorities in Kansas—that’s where you said she went, right?”
Sienna nodded.
Devin flipped the steaks as they sizzled on the griddle. “They couldn’t find anyone with her last name there who knew Anita or recognized her. They looked at the area hospitals, as well, but couldn’t find anyone who matched the description of Anita or her mother. There are so many unknowns right now.”
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Sienna muttered.
“It doesn’t, does it? But it fits our theory that Anita is on the run. However, if she was on the run, why leave Colby with you?” Devin pulled the steaks off, putting them on a plate to rest for a moment.
“In case her ex—we’ll just say that’s who it is, but I suppose it could be any kind of enemy—found Anita, then he’d find Colby also. Maybe she figured he was safer with me.”
“Something just doesn’t sound right with that theory, though.”
Sienna shoved her hip against the countertop and turned the burner off. “What do you mean?”
“I just mean that if I were in Anita’s shoes and I was running from someone who was trying to take my child, the last thing I’d do was leave my baby with someone else. Other people might protect my child, but no one would love him or her like a parent, you know?”
Sienna nodded. “Yeah, that does make sense. But maybe there’s more—more that we don’t know or that we haven’t guessed yet. And I suppose it doesn’t matter right now. Not if Anita is dead.”
“There’s still a lot up in the air.”
“What do we do now, Devin?” Sienna’s round eyes met his.
At the emotion in her voice, Devin’s heart twisted. She’d been thrown in this situation, and she’d handled it like a trouper. But there was a hint of wistfulness to her voice now.
“Now we wait. Sometimes, that’s the hardest part. But it’s necessary.”
“And you think we’re safe?”
“For now.” He raised the plate of steaks. “We should eat.”
Just as he said the words, Colby let out a cry from the bedroom.
The boy was awake. And that was a good thing, because if Devin stood there with Sienna any longer, looking into those big eyes of hers, he might confess that he had a really bad feeling in his gut about all of this.
* * *
With a full belly and a content Colby playing on the couch beside her, Sienna leaned back into the stiff cushions, lost in thought.
It was so much to comprehend. Anita, dead? Sienna just couldn’t believe it. Her heart clutched with grief when she thought about Colby losing his mom. Who would he stay with after this storm passed? Anita’s family? Did Anita even have a family capable of taking care of him? Her mother had just had hip surgery. Or would officials try to put him in foster care?
Sienna didn’t know, and part of her hardly wanted to think about it. It seemed too tragic.
But it was like Devin said. Maybe the body they’d found hadn’t been Anita’s. Maybe the two women just shared similarities.
She just had to trust that the police were doing their jobs.
But what had Anita meant when she’d said not to trust the police? Was someone from inside the department trying to botch this? Did he or she have their own agenda?
Sienna had no idea, and her head hurt just thinking about it.
Devin sat on the other side of the couch. He stared at a yellow legal pad where he’d been scribbling notes.
Sienna found a surprising comfort in his presence. Apparently, Colby did also. He’d warmed right up to Devin, and the boy took turns sharing his toys with both Sienna and Devin. Right now, Colby played with some plastic cups Sienna had given him to stack. Instead of stacking them, he clanged them together like a percussion instrument.
“You know Anita from school, right?” Devin asked, looking up from his notepad.
“That’s right. She’s the teacher assistant from next door.”
“Walk me through the details again. When was the last time you saw her?”
“A week ago when she dropped off Colby at my place so she could get packed up and ready to leave for her mom’s hip replacement surgery.” Everything had seemed so normal then, and Sienna’s biggest worry had been trying to balance school work with watching Colby.
Devin leaned forward in his deep thinker pose. “How did she seem in the days before she left?”
Sienna shrugged, searching her memories for anything significant. “Normal, I guess. I mean, maybe a little stressed. I think she was nervous about her mom’s surgery. Surgery can be nerve-racking, though, you know? I didn’t think much of it.”
He cast her a side glance before picking up a plastic cup Colby had dropped and giving it back to him. “Did anything else unusual happen during that time? Maybe at school? Or did Anita bring up anything strange in conversation?”
Again, Sienna searched back through her memories for something that might help them now. Only one thing made her pause, but she wasn’t sure it was significant.
“There was this newspaper reporter who came out to the school,” Sienna said. “The school administration approved it, of course. She interviewed me and a couple other teachers about a new initiative we tried this year to help the kids with reading. We solicited area restaurants and businesses to donate prizes to our top readers.”
A glimmer of admiration flashed in his gaze. “What was so unusual about that?”
“Maybe nothing. But I remember that Anita walked into the room while I was being interviewed. She stopped in her tracks and went pale.”
“When she saw the reporter?” Devin clarified, a knot forming between his eyebrows.
“Yes, when she saw the reporter. She excused herself and left the room, apologizing for interrupting. But when she was gone, the reporter asked a couple of questions about her. Said Anita looked familiar and asked where she was from. The reporter played it off like maybe their paths had crossed at some point.”
“Did you ever ask Anita about it?”
“I was going to do. But the next day was when she asked me to watch Colby. It all seemed very sudden, which I thought was strange. Usually these surgeries are scheduled weeks in advance.” Sienna shrugged and let out a long breath. “I guess I didn’t think about it again until now. I figured it wasn’t relevant. Some people just become really shy around the media, you know.”
“Did the article ever come out?”
Sienna twisted her head in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think it has. I’ve been a little distracted lately, I suppose. You think it’s significant?”
“Maybe that reporter did recognize Anita and that’s why she acted cagey. It can’t hurt to look into it.”
“I agree.”
“Do you have the reporter’s name?”
“I have her name and cell.” Sienna grabbed her purse from the floor and fished out the woman’s business card. “Here it is.”
Devin studied it a moment. “Lisa Daniel. But there’s no newspaper on here.”
“She said she freelanced for several publications. I looked her up before talking to her, and I found her byline in several places. She seemed legit. Plus, the school vetted her.”
“Good to know.” Devin stood.
“Are you going to call her now?”
“There’s no time like the present. That’s what I always say.”
But before he could do anything, Sienna heard a rumble in the driveway. Her gaze veered toward Devin, but he was already on alert.
He drew his gun and rushed toward the door.
Someone was here.
The question was: Who?