At the last second, Deacon planted his feet and turned toward the voices coming from the hall. He figured he’d need some leverage with the kid so Deacon scanned the room again and located a stuffed dinosaur. He picked it up. Seeing Leah’s kid was a gut punch.
The toddler couldn’t have been more than three feet tall and looked sweet with his little arms tightly wrapped around his mother’s neck. Deacon’s heart fisted. This shouldn’t be any different than spending time with his nieces and nephews and yet it felt on a different planet. Family was family forever. It was strange because death could take anyone away in a snap and on a rational level he knew that. His emotions were unchecked, running out of control toward a place of darkness.
“Connor, this is my friend Mr. Kent.” Leah kissed her son’s forehead.
The little boy looked at Deacon with red-rimmed eyes.
“Call me Deacon.” He held up the stuffed dinosaur he’d found. He remembered not being able to walk through the living room without stepping on something for how many toys were scattered around on the floor at Jackie’s house. He’d drop down and roll around. Emery, her two-year-old daughter, would come barreling toward him from the kitchen and then launch herself into his arms with the kind of trust possessed only by toddlers and puppies.
Connor’s eyes lit up at seeing the toy. Deacon had scored a point with that one.
“Baby, some of mommy’s friends are coming over to help find Riley,” Leah began.
“Where’d she go, Mama?” Connor rubbed his eyes.
“She’s hiding and it’s our job to find her,” she soothed. Leah was good with her son, Deacon would give her that.
“Do you mind if Deacon hangs around while I help look for her?” she asked Connor. He looked cautiously at Deacon.
It was now or never.
Deacon crouched down and made it look like the dinosaur was walking across the tiled floor. “Mr. Dinosaur is hungry. He’s ravaging the city, looking for food and Christmas presents.”
The dinosaur trampled up the leg of the table and then across it, knocking over the saltshaker that was in its path. Connor laughed. His attention was on the table, so Deacon kept going.
“Mr. Dinosaur wants coffee.” He pretended to make the stuffed animal drink from the cup. Connor’s laugh rumbled up and out. “What else can Mr. D eat?”
“Here. He can have a cookie.” Connor rocked his body, the universal sign from a kid who wanted to be put down in order to walk. He practically threw himself toward the toy. He put his little hands on the table and Deacon’s heart squeezed.
“I’ll get Mr. D a cookie. One for you and your new friend, too. Okay, buddy?” She smiled down at her boy and there was so much love in her eyes.
“Yes.” Connor jump-clapped, a feat mastered by pretty much every kid under the age of five that Deacon had ever met.
Leah produced three cookies, a glass of milk and a fresh cup of coffee a few minutes later as Deacon and Connor located a couple more toys to bring to the party.
She mouthed a thank-you as a knock sounded at the door. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes and she was doing well keeping it together under the circumstances. Not only was she beautiful but she was intelligent and strong. She was someone he could see himself with in the bigger picture were it not for all the complications.
Besides, Deacon was in no place to start anything with anyone. He told himself all the heightened emotions they were both experiencing had intensified what he felt for her. Was he attracted to her? Yes. Would he ask her out under normal circumstances? Roger that. With the caveat of normal circumstances meaning before Jackie. Since then, single mothers were hands-off.
Deacon refocused on the kid and reminded himself not to get too attached. This babysitting gig was for one night. “Which dinosaur is your favorite?”
“Brontosaurus,” Connor said with more of that enthusiasm only kids his age seemed to be able to access. He also pronounced his Rs as Ws, which was adorable as all get-out.
Deacon played with Connor for a solid hour before the tot started back-to-back yawns. “Hey, buddy. Do you think Mr. D is getting sleepy?”
“Uh-huh.” Connor released another yawn. “But not me.”
Deacon suppressed a chuckle. “Of course not. You’re wide-awake.”
Connor nodded. It was so obvious he was fighting sleep. For the moment he was winning but it wouldn’t take long.
“How about you run and brush your teeth while I pick out a cartoon for us to watch?” Deacon barely finished his sentence before Connor issued another jump-clap. “I’ll clean up in here.”
Connor shrieked before darting out of the room.
It didn’t take long to pick up stuffed animals and take them into the adjacent living room. It took even less time to locate a cartoon DVD. If Deacon guessed right, the kid’s favorite was the one with the still-open case and the DVD inside the player. He wasn’t shocked to find it was a purple dinosaur show. That dinosaur from Allen, Texas, was still going strong with the munchkin set. Memories of Emery crept in. He and her mother had dated for a year. He had been planning to introduce her to his siblings, who had no idea he’d been close to settling down.
Deacon checked his phone to see if word had come in about Riley. Even with the distraction of playing with Connor, Deacon’s thoughts were heavy. It was one thing to have a murderer on the trail but now this. Could these two things be connected?
Riley had been taking out the trash. Based on her description, she looked like Leah’s twin and the darkness would make it harder to tell the two apart. Leah was a capable officer but he couldn’t help but worry that she might have been the target. A target, period. Her similarity to the victims of the attacks on the jogging trail where she ran might’ve been coincidence. Both women were similar height and build to Leah. Similar hair color. When he really thought about it, this would make Riley a target, too. He didn’t like where any of this was going. More ideas churned. The women might’ve been killed once the attacker realized neither were Leah. And then the murderer hacked off a foot to tie the crime to the ranch. The dots were loosely connecting and he didn’t like the picture emerging.
Deacon wanted to know where Charles Dougherty went after they’d left him on the trail.
His cell buzzed and he answered as Connor charged into the room.
“How’s everything at home?” There was something a little too right about hearing those words from Leah.
“We’re fine. Aren’t we, buddy?” Deacon held the receiver toward Connor, who whooped. Deacon pushed a button on the remote, which started the cartoon and the little guy settled in next to him.
“Any luck?” He was hoping for good news.
“Nothing yet. Riley’s mother checked her social media pages and called her daughter’s cell at least a dozen times. She’s sent texts to Riley and her friends, just in case. Drew hasn’t heard from her, either. Everyone’s accounted for and neighbors have joined in the search. We must’ve circled the block a dozen times by now.” Leah sounded alert. Her adrenaline was still pumping.
“She hasn’t shown here.” He was stating the obvious because he would’ve notified Leah immediately if Riley had turned up. As much as he wanted to be out there in the search party, his job for now was to take care of the brown-haired angel that Leah had trusted him with. “Where’s Dougherty?”
“He’s been on the radio a couple of times. He’s in on the search,” she informed him.
Deacon had a bad feeling about Dougherty and it was more than just jealousy. “Keep me posted, will you?”
“I’ll let you know if we see or hear anything,” Leah promised before saying goodbye and ending the call.
The show’s introduction song had ended and Connor hugged the brontosaurus in his little hands. The kid’s smile could melt a glacier and even a hardened heart like Deacon’s defrosted just a little.
The lights were dim and the environment perfect for sleeping with the TV sound on low.
Deacon hadn’t slept for more than two to three hour stretches in days. He bit back a yawn as Connor curled up next to him and settled in. Deacon didn’t want to move and disrupt the kid. So he didn’t.
Instead, he leaned his head back and rested his eyes.
LEAH HAD BEEN riding with beat cop Eddie Ariston for an hour and a half. Ariston was five feet nine inches and young. The deep night shift always drew the newbies. He had brown eyes, almost black hair and a solid reputation. He drove at a crawl down alley after alley in quiet Fort Worth neighborhoods adjacent to Leah’s. She checked the time. Another fifteen minutes had passed. And then thirty. If they didn’t find Riley soon, the odds dropped of ever locating her with each passing minute. She squirmed in her seat as she worked the spotlight, illuminating dark spots in shrubbery of the suburban neighborhood. She might do better on foot.
“Stop at the corner and let me out.” She couldn’t sit in the squad car and do nothing but work the spotlight for another minute. Riley could be hurt in a bush or hiding in a trash can for all Leah knew.
“You sure about that, Detective?” Officer Ariston asked, concern in his voice.
“I have a gun and my phone.” She held up the latter. “Keep me posted on anything that comes over the radio.”
“What if I get a call?” He was concerned that he’d have to abandon her and that wasn’t something an officer would take lightly.
“Then leave me.” Leah was dead serious.
“You sure, Detective?” Ariston was young but a solid cop. She’d heard good things about him and news traveled fast throughout the department. His arrests were solid.
“I’m certain,” she reassured him. “You have to go, you go. I can always grab a ride from someone else. There’ll be officers combing the area all night.”
“If you say so, Detective.” He pulled to the curb near the stop sign on Maple.
She was a couple of neighborhoods from home. Worst-case scenario she could walk the whole way or have Deacon pick her up. Deacon. She hoped he was still getting on fine with Connor. It should have felt odd to leave Deacon alone with her son and especially considering the fact that she never brought men home.
“Let me know if you have to take off or if there are any developments in the case,” she said to Officer Ariston as she climbed out of his SUV.
“Yes, Detective.”
THE CALL CAME twenty minutes later from Leah’s closest work friend, Susan. Riley had been found. Leah texted Ariston, who gave her a lift to the hospital.
“Great news, huh,” Ariston said as she climbed into his vehicle.
“Can’t think of a better ending.” Riley was alive.
“Any word on the condition of the victim?” he asked.
“She suffered facial lacerations and possibly a cracked rib.” Riley was safe. Leah had to hold back the barrage of tears—tears of gratitude. After the way she left things with Dougherty, she half feared he might’ve confused the two of them and abducted Riley. Leah couldn’t let herself go there. She couldn’t let herself believe that a man who’d been in law enforcement for the better part of twenty years would be capable of such an act. Her imagination was running wild after their encounter. Riley could clear up Leah’s worst fear.
“Poor kid.” He paused. “Could’ve been much worse, though.”
“She was lucky.” And so was Leah. Pain from her past had roared to the surface and it was taking everything inside her to tamp down her runaway emotions.
Ariston dropped Leah off at the entrance to the hospital. She located Riley’s room number and found her mother and father at her bedside.
“I’m so sorry.” Leah burst into tears, surprising herself with the barrage of emotion.
Carla hopped to her feet and embraced Leah. “It’s okay. She’s safe.”
Those words washed over Leah as tears of relief flooded through her. Carla offered reassurances that she didn’t blame Leah. It could’ve happened to anyone.
“I’m so grateful that she...” Leah couldn’t finish but the rest of her sentence seemed to be understood as Carla told Leah not to blame herself.
Leah pulled herself together long enough to move to Riley’s side. “How do you feel?”
“I’m good. A little banged up. He opened the door of the trunk and pulled me out. As soon as I could stand up straight, I jammed my knee into his groin like you taught me last year. He dropped so fast and I just ran until I couldn’t hear him chasing me.” She smiled and then winced.
“That was super brave and I’m so proud of you,” Leah said.
“I ran so far that I didn’t recognize anything anymore. I was afraid to wake anyone up because I thought he could be right behind me, so when I saw headlights coming down the street, I hid in the bushes until I realized it was a cop. Then I ran toward the car, waving my arms high in the air so he could see my hands.” Leah was grateful all the lessons she’d passed on to Riley had seemed to take seed.
“Your quick thinking saved your life, Riley.”
The teenager tried to reposition herself but winced.
“Be careful. That cracked rib will take some time to heal,” Leah said.
“Turns out it’s just a bruise,” Riley confided.
“Even better news.” Another blessing for Leah to count in this crazy situation. “Did you get a good look at the man who did this to you?”
Riley shook her head. “He was wearing a ski mask and it all happened so fast. I kinda freaked out.”
“You were amazing. I couldn’t be prouder of you for defending yourself,” Leah corrected. Under no circumstance did she want Riley blaming herself for the creep getting away.
“Do you think it was him?” Riley’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“I’m not sure. The most important thing is that you’re safe.” Leah meant every word.
“Could he come looking for me?” she asked.
Leah feared the perp hadn’t been looking for Riley in the first place. Leah was concerned that after the heated exchange with Dougherty, he flipped out. Her sense of comradery argued against the idea that a fellow officer would try to harm her. Though Dougherty had been acting irrationally lately. “I don’t think so. But we’ll all be more cautious after this.”
“She’s not leaving the house for the next few days once she’s released from here,” Carla stated in that voice only mothers possessed. It warned against anyone arguing. Riley seemed to catch on because she just smiled.
“I’m sure your teachers will make a plan for any missed work.” Leah could almost read Riley’s thoughts.
The teen’s eyes sparked. “I hope so. I don’t want to fall behind.”
“You can always text one of your classmates to come over and help you study.” Leah wiggled her eyebrows so only Riley could see. Leah could feel her guard loosening its tight grip. She was starting to breathe again. Really breathe.
Riley’s eyes really lit up, as she seemed to catch on to the implication that she could spend more time with Drew.
“Where’s Connor?” Riley asked, glancing behind Leah as though he might walk in the room of his own accord.
“He’s with a friend.” That last word tasted sour. Leah didn’t—couldn’t?—think of Deacon Kent as an acquaintance. And yet he’d been clear. He couldn’t become serious about a woman with a child. She appreciated his honesty. Her heart had other ideas.
LEAH TIPTOED ONTO her porch. The sun would be up in half an hour and her adrenaline rush was wearing thin. She’d already seen that the lights were low inside her house. She hoped that Connor had given Deacon a break. If her son was still up, she’d let him sleep in tomorrow and go into preschool late. It wasn’t like she could return to work yet and it was nice to have the flexibility for a change. Being a detective was losing some of its luster as Connor got older. At times, she felt like she was missing so much with her son. Necessity said she had to have an income, though. The long hours were becoming a grind but she told herself that would be true of any job. Part of her had been feeling unfulfilled recently. But this wasn’t the time to get inside her head about it. She was tired and her mind was running with it.
She slid the key into the lock carefully. The door hinges could use some grease, so she slowly opened the door and hoped it wouldn’t creak too badly.
Based on the thumbs-up text she’d gotten when she’d checked in with Deacon earlier, all was going well at home. In a perfect world, Connor would’ve gone back to sleep and Deacon would be stretched out snoring on her couch. She did feel guilty that his day on the ranch would’ve started almost two hours ago had he been home.
The light from the TV glowed through the windows. Maybe Deacon was able to grab a few hours of shut-eye. Leah suppressed a yawn. It was probably too much to hope that she would be able to get in a nap. All that mattered was that Riley was alive and could begin healing. Riley had made a startling revelation that her abductor seemed shocked when he pulled her out of the trunk, like he’d been expecting her to be someone else. The thought sat hard on Leah. But all she could care about right now was that Riley was all right.
Leah stepped inside the living room. Her heart squeezed at the scene. Deacon on her couch with Connor nestled against him. Both were out. The TV was on. The Christmas tree lights twinkled at her from behind them.
A mix of emotions nailed her and she temporarily froze. The image of her child with Deacon Kent would be burned into her thoughts from here out.