Alyssa’s mom had always tried to make Christmas memorable. Growing up, the holiday had been a brief escape into fantasy. After her dad died, it had become a break from a childhood filled with fear that her mom was about to crack under the strain.
As a result, she unapologetically loved the yuletide season and viewed it as a magical time. Although Kennedy was too young to know what was going on, Alyssa wanted to make their first Christmas together special.
She was determined that, as Kennedy grew up, the little girl would know how much Sean and Delilah had loved her. At the same time, she wanted her to look back on this transition as a positive point in her life. The holiday celebration, with its traditions and colorful cheeriness, would always be “their” time. The anniversary of when Kennedy came to them. She wanted pictures and mementos and laughter as reminders.
One of Alyssa’s favorite parts of the holiday had always been the shopping. The bright lights, tacky window displays, delicious food smells, tinny pop music—as far as she was concerned, it all added to the atmosphere. Of course, the presence of a six-month-old baby complicated the whole process of immersing herself in it this time.
“This is like a military operation.” Half an hour after they started out, Everett loaded the pink-elephant bag and the stroller into the trunk of his car. “How much stuff can one baby need for a trip to the shops?”
“Maybe I should pack more diapers?” Alyssa, who was carrying Kennedy, cast a look back toward the apartment.
“This is Cactus Creek. It’s a small town, but we have stores here that can deal with a diaper emergency.” He steered her toward the vehicle.
The baby was looking particularly cute in a fluffy pink coat and a matching hat. She eyed the car seat thoughtfully but allowed Alyssa to strap her into it without any resistance. When Everett handed her a teething toy, she bit into it with obvious delight.
“I still can’t believe her aunt might be behind the attempt to run you down,” Alyssa said, as Everett pulled out onto the road.
“That’s because you’ve never met Georgia Dodd. She’s not like any person you’ve ever encountered.”
Although she was pleased that he’d shared the details of his conversation with Casey without holding anything back to protect her, she was concerned at the turn events were taking. In her imagination, Georgia had become the caricature of a child stealer, and she couldn’t shake the foolish image. Even if Sean’s sister was behind the attempts to scare them, how much harm could she really do from behind bars?
“She created a very dramatic moment in court, wailing, clutching Kennedy to her, while she screamed that her brother and sister-in-law had been murdered,” Everett said.
“I guess it must have been an emotional time for her.” Even so, Alyssa was picturing the impact of that moment on Kennedy and hoping that, in the same situation, she’d have tried to keep things calm for the sake of the baby.
“You could say that.” Everett’s voice was grim. “Or you could say that Georgia likes to make a scene.”
Casting a sidelong glance in Everett’s direction, Alyssa decided to tackle another subject that had been bothering her. “What will you tell your parents about Kennedy?”
“Now that is an interesting question.”
Alyssa had met Ryker and Maribelle Colton a few times when she and Everett were dating. Everett’s dad was an oncologist and his mom ran the Cactus-Creek post office. The kindly couple had always been friendly and welcoming toward her and she had enjoyed the warm family atmosphere at their home.
“I’ll tell them the truth, of course.” A slight smile crossed his lips. “When they get back from visiting their friends in El Paso.”
“When will that be?” Alyssa asked.
“They are coming home for the holidays. Casey and his new girlfriend, Melody, are staying with them for Christmas.” He flicked a glance in her direction. “Which doesn’t give me much time to plan what I’m going to say.”
“I guess they’ll be shocked?”
He pulled into a space in front of Hoyles’ Department Store. “Well, the circumstances aren’t exactly normal. But I’m counting on the fact that my mom has been dropping hints about becoming a grandma.”
“Kennedy is a cutie,” Alyssa said. “Your mom will find her hard to resist.”
“Let’s hope so.” He brought the car to a stop and turned to look over his shoulder at the baby. “My mom plays a key role in the Cactus Creek community. Not just because of her job, but also because she does work for good causes. She’s a feisty lady, and she’d defend me and my choices to anyone, but—”
“She will find this hard to explain,” Alyssa said, finishing for him.
“I’m still struggling with it,” he admitted, as they got out of the vehicle.
A few minutes later, they had Kennedy strapped into her stroller. Like everything else the Dodds had purchased for their daughter, it was made of the finest material and Alyssa suspected it had come with an eye-popping price tag. With its leather trim, supersoft cushions, and both rear-and forward-facing options, it was surely the ultimate in designer baby transport.
“It will be comforting for Kennedy to be able to see us and hear our voices while we shop,” she said as she instructed Everett to turn it to face the rear.
They headed toward the entrance of the store. It appeared to Alyssa that the whole town had decided to go shopping at the same time. As they entered the brightly lit foyer, she looked approvingly around her. When it came to an over-the-top Christmas, Hoyles’ could compete with any of the stores she had seen in bigger cities.
“Everett!”
She sensed Everett stiffen and turned to look at him. His face had taken on an almost comical expression of dismay. Together, they swung slowly around to face the person who had called out his name.
“Mom?” Everett managed to sound pleased as well as stunned. “I thought you were out of town.”
Maribelle Colton’s build was statuesque and her bearing regal. With her dark brown locks, prominent cheekbones and deep-set eyes, she cut a striking figure as she strode toward her son.
“We had car trouble.” She rolled her eyes. “You know what your dad is like. He doesn’t trust anyone except Brian at Bauer Motors with his precious baby. So he had a quick repair job done in El Paso, then we left early. He’s at the shop now getting the car fixed.” The bright gaze that missed nothing took in Everett’s companions. “Alyssa. How lovely to see you again. Goodness, what a beautiful baby.”
Everett turned to Alyssa with a rueful smile. “So much for planning.”
“I don’t understand.” Maribelle looked from one to the other. “Whose baby is she?”
“Mom, this is Sean Dodd’s daughter, Kennedy,” Everett said.
“Oh.” Maribelle’s expression softened. “The poor little sweetie. Heaven knows I didn’t think much of her father, but—”
“Alyssa and I have custody of her now.”
For a moment or two, it appeared as if Maribelle hadn’t understood. A blank look washed over her face, like her brain cogs couldn’t turn fast enough to take in the information she had just been given. Then, with slow, robotic movements, she reached into her purse and withdrew a lily-white handkerchief. With a hand that wasn’t quite steady, she dabbed at the corners of her mouth.
“Is this one of your jokes, Everett?”
“You know I wouldn’t joke about something like this. I was hoping to find a more diplomatic way to tell you.” He placed a hand under her elbow. “Why don’t we go to the coffee shop? We can sit down there and talk some more.”
She shook her head. “I was supposed to meet your dad ten minutes ago. You know what he’s like. He’ll already be pacing and checking his watch. Five more minutes and he’ll call Casey to see if I’ve been in an accident.” She looked down at Kennedy again. “And I think I need a little more time to digest this news.”
Everett kissed her cheek. “Call me in a day or two and we’ll bring Kennedy to visit.”
“So nice to see you again, Alyssa.” She waved a hand. “A new baby in the family. Oh, my.”
Alyssa watched her disappear into the crowds. “She seemed less than overjoyed.”
What else had she expected? If anything, Maribelle’s reaction had been remarkably tame. Most women in their sixties, when confronted with the news that their son had suddenly acquired a child, would have been stunned. The knowledge that the child belonged to a criminal once responsible for ruining the happiness of her other son could easily have tipped Maribelle over into fury.
Her protective instincts toward Kennedy were developing fast. The little girl had already lost so much, and Alyssa wanted to give her a happy life. It would be wonderful if her future included grandparents who would love and support her. That vision was starting to fade.
“She’ll be fine,” Everett said. “Seriously. By the time Mom gets home, she’ll be planning for Kennedy to have her own room in their house.” Alyssa gave him a skeptical look. “Trust me. Her love of kids will outweigh any other consideration.”
“I hope so.” She gripped the bar of the stroller and consulted the store guide. “Which way to the toy department?”
An hour later, Everett was in danger of disappearing under the pile of the things they’d bought and Kennedy was getting cranky.
“She probably needs something to eat before she has a nap,” Alyssa said.
“You mean we can finally head to Hoyles’ coffee shop?” Everett asked hopefully.
“You get a table while we go to the ladies’ room.” Alyssa turned the stroller toward the elevators. “A diaper change is called for before nap time.”
Although there were restrooms on each level, the baby-changing facilities were located on the third floor. As Alyssa waited for an elevator, Kennedy began to cry in earnest.
“Oh, hey, sweetie.” She squatted beside the stroller. “We’ll soon have you feeling clean and fresh. Then you can have lunch and a nap.”
A bell dinged, signaling the arrival of the elevator. Relieved, Alyssa pushed the stroller in and pressed the button for the third floor. The doors had started to close when a man suddenly stepped in.
With his hood pulled up, hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched, he drew her attention for all the wrong reasons. Was he a shoplifter hiding his face from the security cameras? Acting on impulse, she placed herself between him and Kennedy.
“I’m going to the third floor. You?” She was proud of the way her voice sounded so calm.
He didn’t answer, keeping his back to her as he faced the elevator doors. With her heart pounding, she kept her eyes fixed on the display showing them moving up the floors. When the red light showed the number three, the doors opened. The sight of shoppers moving around nearby made her feel safe again.
“This is my floor.”
He stayed where he was, blocking her exit.
“I need to get out.”
Nothing. When he reached out a hand toward the buttons, Alyssa knew she had to act fast. If those doors closed, she and Kennedy would be trapped inside again with this creepy stranger. Gathering all her courage, she pushed the stroller forward. At least Kennedy was facing her and couldn’t see what was going on.
Offering up silent thanks to the Dodds for their expensive tastes, she hit him hard in the shins with the heavy wheel guard. As he grunted in pain, she kept on going, barging past him and out through the doors. Once she had gained the freedom of the store, she drew a breath and looked around for a security guard. It was too late. The elevator doors were already closing.
She stooped to kiss Kennedy’s cheek, then drew her cell phone from her bag with shaking hands. As she leaned against a wall, she called the only person who could make this situation right.
“Everett?”
“Have you ever considered that there could be such a thing as too many holiday decorations?” Everett looked down at Alyssa with a twinkle in his eye as he stood on a chair and finished hanging a garland above a door in his apartment. He was trying to keep the mood up after the frightening incident at the department store a few hours earlier.
“No.” Although her expression was prim, her eyes danced. “Just like there’s no such thing as tacky tinsel or an ugly Christmas sweater. Bows, bells, baubles, stockings... I want Kennedy’s first Christmas to have it all.”
He stepped down and waved a hand to indicate the brightly lit tree that now occupied one corner of the room. “So this is all for Kennedy?”
“I can’t pretend I won’t enjoy it along with her.” The look of anticipation dissolved into a frown. “I just wish there wasn’t this shadow hanging over us.”
He knew Alyssa was still upset to think that one of Kennedy’s own relatives might act in such a malicious way. Since she’d never met Georgia, it was hard to explain that Sean’s sister was unlikely to be a warm and loving aunt toward her niece.
She was even more distressed at the realization that, if Georgia was responsible, she must have an accomplice. The idea of an unsavory character recruited to watch over and threaten them had taken hold of her imagination. It had become even more real since the incident in the elevator at Hoyles’.
When Alyssa had called him in the store and told him what had happened, his initial reaction had been one of fear. As he had rushed past the other shoppers, images of her and Kennedy in danger had crowded his mind.
Once he had seen they were physically unharmed, the sight of Alyssa’s pale face and trembling lip had pushed his anxiety aside.
His anger had been like lava bubbling up inside a volcano, erupting from him in waves. He’d kept it hidden for Alyssa’s sake, but its silence made it even more powerful.
And the memories it evoked... He’d shaken the thought aside. This was about Alyssa, not what happened all those years ago.
Now they were home, his fury had cooled a little. But it was still there. Waiting to resurface when he found the guy who had threatened his family.
Casey had acquired the security-camera footage from the store and inside the elevator, but it wasn’t helpful. The same guy who had gotten into the elevator had shown up a few other times, lurking close to Everett and Alyssa as they made their way around the store. Although it looked like he could have been following them, he had kept his face hidden the whole time. Everett had sent a copy of the film to the FBI laboratory for enhancement, but he wasn’t hopeful that it would reveal any clues to the guy’s identity.
They would also run a comparison with the picture he’d taken of the car that had tried to run him down. Again, he didn’t have high hopes of a positive outcome. On both occasions, just as with the person who had purchased the gift card, the individual had taken great care to disguise his or her features.
He turned his attention to Alyssa. He could tell she was trying hard not to let the intimidation get to her, but now and then she would look out of the window at the parking lot, or check on Kennedy in her crib for no reason.
In addition, she was dealing with new-mom issues. Sleep deprivation, the baby’s teething, trying to work out Kennedy’s likes and dislikes, while also keeping up with the sheer amount of tiny clothes that had invaded the laundry. They were both discovering that becoming parents was an even bigger change than they’d anticipated. Bringing a baby into their lives had turned their emotions upside down, as well as their living arrangements.
“Kennedy is such a sweetheart. I can’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to her.”
Instinctively, he moved toward her. As he reached out his hands to grasp her shoulders, he paused. Was touching her a good idea? His intention was to reassure her but was that how Alyssa would see it? He gazed at her lovely face, and briefly questioned his own motives. Maybe comfort wasn’t the only thing on his mind.
“I won’t let anything hurt her.” He let his hands drop back to his sides. “Or you.”
“Oh.” Darkness bloomed in her eyes. “This is turning out all wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I always saw your job as something to be feared.” She made a helpless gesture, and he knew she was thinking of their breakup. “In the end, it was a worry I couldn’t live with.”
“I understood that.” After all this time, it still hurt so much to talk about it. “I didn’t like it, but I respected your decision to end things between us.”
“But don’t you see what’s happening here?” A corner of her mouth lifted, but there was no humor in the smile, only sadness. “I’m depending on your job—the cause of so many of my nightmares—to keep us safe from this threat. Everything has gone into reverse.”
This time, he didn’t stop to think. Closing the distance between them, he drew her into his arms. When she rested her head against his chest, warmth glowed deep inside him.
“Isn’t life supposed to be all about timing?” He ran a hand down the length of her hair. His mind hadn’t played tricks. It really was as silky as he remembered.
“If that’s the case, this sucks.” Her voice was muffled by his sweater.
“And I’m not sure I want a dangerous situation to be the reason you see my job as a positive.”
“Positive? Let’s not get carried away. I’m forced to rely on your role as an FBI agent to get us through this. I didn’t say I see what you do as a good thing.” She took a step back. “Now how about you get back on that chair and put the star on top of the tree so Kennedy can see it when she wakes up?”
He threw her a jokey salute. “Whatever you say, o festive commander.”
She gave him a little shove in the direction of the tree. Before he could step onto the chair, her fingers lightly brushed his wrist. “Thank you.”
He raised questioning eyebrows. “For putting a star on the tree?”
She smiled again, this time with no trace of sadness. “Among other things.”
“Sean and Delilah got married four years ago. They’d been together for three years before that.” Everett started talking almost as soon as Casey entered the apartment the following morning. He might have taken a leave of absence, but there was nothing he could do to stop his brain from working on the investigation. “During that time, had your department ever been called out to deal with any domestic-disturbance incidents involving them?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ll check it out.” Casey went straight through to the kitchen and helped himself to coffee. “What are you thinking?”
“The night they died, it appeared that they had been eating at the kitchen table when a disturbance took place. Chairs had been overturned and plates of food were smashed on the floor. There was a small amount of Delilah’s blood on the floor and the front door had been left wide open. Have I got this right so far?”
Casey nodded. “It looks like you’ve memorized every detail of the investigation report.”
“There were marks on the gravel drive that could have been consistent with someone having been dragged from the house to the garage.”
“That was speculation on the part of the first officer at the scene,” Casey said. “I’m not saying he was wrong, but there could be any number of explanations for those marks. Sean and Delilah could have moved an object earlier in the day, something that needed to be pulled over the gravel.”
“Or they could have had a fight and he hauled her from the house to the car,” Everett said. “That’s why I want to know about any previous history of domestic disturbances. They’d been together for seven years. Wouldn’t it strike you as odd if this was the first time things got physical between them?”
“They both were under intense pressure,” Casey pointed out. “On a countdown to prison sentences.”
“That wasn’t how Sean saw it. You know what his ego was like. The guy straight-up said he was looking forward to making me look stupid in court. And even if he did think prison was a possibility, why would he turn nasty with Delilah? He worshipped her.”
“The suicide note said he couldn’t face spending time in prison.”
“Ah, yes. The suicide note.” Everett nodded. “It seems odd that it didn’t mention his reason for wanting to kill Delilah, as well.”
Casey shrugged. “You just said yourself that he worshipped her. Maybe he couldn’t stand that she’d get time, too?”
Everett fell silent as he tried to make sense of the Dodds’ last night. Even if what Casey was saying was true, if Sean couldn’t bear the thought of Delilah going to jail, where did Kennedy fit into the picture? Everything he had learned told him that she had been the center of her parents’ world. Even if he removed every other doubt about Sean’s suicide, he couldn’t get past the biggest one of all.
He would not have left his little girl without both parents.
“Where was the suicide note found?”
“In the car, taped to the dashboard.” Casey poured more coffee. “It was all in the report. By the way, why are you mashing green slime?”
“It’s avocado and kiwi fruit. Kennedy loves it.” Everett returned to the conversation. “Doesn’t the location of the note strike you as strange? Sean writes a letter, explaining that he is going to kill himself rather than go to jail. At what point does he place it on the car dash? Is it before he goes down to the kitchen and gets into a fight with Delilah over his intentions? Or does he drag his wife to the car and then write it?”
“Does it matter?” Casey regarded him with something like fascination.
“I’m trying to piece together what happened that night. And don’t get me started on why they would leave Kennedy with Georgia on that night. If there was ever a contest for irresponsible aunt of the year, Sean Dodd’s younger sister only had to show up to be handed the crown.”
“Speaking of Kennedy... Where is she now? And where is Alyssa?” Casey looked around the apartment with raised eyebrows. “It’s not like there are many places to hide around here.”
“Both asleep.” Everett scrubbed a hand over his unshaven chin. “Kennedy is teething and was awake most of the night. When she does sleep, we take turns to join her.”
His twin regarded him with interest. “And do you want to tell me the story of how you got that bruise on your head?”
Everett laughed as he rubbed his forehead. “I forgot to open my bedroom door on the way to deal with a crying baby in the middle of the night. The smack it made when I struck the wooden panel with my skull was impressive.”
Casey gave him a sympathetic look. “You’re finding this whole thing tough, huh?”
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t sign up for this, yet my life is suddenly all about sterilizing bottles, changing diapers, washing clothes, wiping up sick...” He sucked in a breath.
“I’m guessing you’d advise against parenthood?” Casey said.
Everett felt the smile warm his face. How could he explain his feelings to his brother? Being a new dad was scary. In a good way. It was like being on a roller coaster that he never wanted to get off.
All those times recently when his mind had been preoccupied with adult worries, like how they would they fit everything into the apartment or what was going on with the investigation. Then he’d look down and see her tiny hand in his and wonder how it was possible to have come to care for another person so much in such a short time.
“No. Just the opposite. Hearing Kennedy laugh when I tickle her makes it all worthwhile. Her big, cheeky grin warms my heart and, even though I’m so tired I don’t know what day it is most of the time, I’m loving all these new experiences.”
“And Alyssa?”
“Oh, she adored Kennedy from the moment she saw her. And she’s better at being a parent than I am.”
Casey shook his head. “Yeah. If it makes you feel better, you can pretend that’s what I meant.”