understanding how far gone Mama really was-” She ran her hands over her face, nausea flicking at the base of her throat. Maybe she should have let DHR-the Department of Human Resources, the state’s social service agency- know what was going on in her household. She’d been terrified that they would separate her from the other children, but in hindsight, intervention would have been so much better than what had actually happened.
“You know what?” Interrupting her bleak thoughts, Sam reached across and took her hands in his. His palms were warm and slightly calloused, pleasantly rough against hers. “You don’t have to talk about this tonight if you don’t want to.”
“You don’t think I need to get it all out?” she asked wryly. “Won’t I feel all better if I spill my guts about my tragic past?”
“Probably not.” His grip on her hands tightened. “But if you want to tell me about your not-as-tragic life afterward, I’d love to hear about that.”
She smiled at him, almost limp with grateful relief. “That would bore you to death.”
He let go of her hands. She tamped down a sense of disappointment. “Have you heard anything new about your niece?” she asked after searching her mind for new topics. In her haste to hurry back here to tell Sam about Calderon, she’d forgotten to ask Foley for an update on Cissy Cooper’s condition.
“I ran by the hospital to check on her before I picked Norah up at the airport. She’s still in a coma, though the doctor says he’s more optimistic she may not have lasting brain damage once she comes out of it.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Impulsively, Kristen squeezed his arm, her fingers digging gently into the hard muscle of his bicep.
His gaze dropped to her hand, then slowly lifted to meet hers. The air between them supercharged immediately, making her fingers tingle where she touched him. She felt a hot tug deep in her belly, drawing her closer.
This was why staying for dinner was dangerous.
She should pull her hand away. Pull away and put distance between them, before she did something stupid and irrevocable.
But she couldn’t move.
His gaze slid down to her lips, and she parted them helplessly, a whisper of breath escaping her throat. She saw the vein in his neck throbbing wildly.
Her whole body vibrated as the trill of a cell phone ripped through the tense atmosphere.
Sam jerked away, reaching in his pocket for his phone. “Cooper.” He listened a second, his eyes widening with alarm. “When? How?”
Kristen’s stomach tightened as she saw terror fill his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was strangled. “Stay right where you are. I’m on the way.”
He was halfway to the door before Kristen could react. She jumped up to keep pace with him, her heart in her throat. “What is it?”
He paused for half a second at the door to look at her, his eyes dark with fear. “That was Norah. Maddy’s missing.”
Chapter Eight
Norah met them at the door of the Sycamore Cafe, fear and guilt battling in her expression. Inside the small ground floor restaurant, the scene was pure chaos, everyone from diners to staff abuzz with interest and concern. A couple of Gossamer Ridge police officers mingled among them, taking statements.
Sam took Norah’s arm and led her to a quiet spot to one side of the room, trying to keep from panicking. He slanted a quick look at Kristen, just to assure himself that she was there with him. She gazed back at him, her eyes fathomless. He grounded himself in their depths and turned back to Norah. “Still no sign of her?”
Norah shook her head, her lips trembling. “Nobody saw her leave, but-” She raked her red-tipped fingers through her hair, spiking it in a dozen different directions. “I had to take the call, Sam. I have a case going to trial in a couple of weeks. I couldn’t seem to get reception in the bathroom, and Maddy told me she was fine, so I went outside for just a minute. I told her to stay there till I got back.” Her face crumpled. “It was only a few minutes. It took longer than I thought, but I swear, Sam, it was only a few minutes.”
Sam looked at Kristen again, struggling hard against a gathering storm of despair. Her expressive eyes were dark with worry, but she seemed otherwise calm, far more focused than he felt at the moment. She laid her hand on his arm, her fingers warm and strong, and he felt some of his fear ease away. He covered her hand with his, giving it a grateful squeeze.
After a moment, Kristen slipped her hand from Sam’s grip and turned to face Norah. “What did you and Maddy talk about before she went to the restroom?”
The question caught Norah by surprise. “T-talk about?”
“Could you have said something to Maddy that would make her run away from you?” Kristen asked.
Sam experienced the first glimmer of hope he’d felt since he’d answered Norah’s call. “You think she ran away?”
“Kids run and hide when they’re afraid,” Kristen answered, looking at Sam. “Remember the closet?”
Norah cleared her throat, and he turned his attention back to her. “Why would she be afraid of me? We just talked about her preschool, how she likes living in Alabama and about-” Norah stopped short, giving Sam a horrified look.
Sam’s gut tightened. “What?”
“I told her maybe I’d take her back to Washington. I meant for a visit, of course, but-” Norah turned suddenly to Kristen, closing her long fingers over the other woman’s arm. “Could she have thought I was going to take her away from Sam?”
“She might have misunderstood.” Kristen turned to look at Sam. “Call her name, Sam.”
His heart pounding like a piston, he called out, “Maddy? Are you in here?”
The patrons, staff and policemen alike turned to look at him, the hum of low conversation stopping, then ramping up to a steady buzz. Ignoring their stares, he moved through the tiny restaurant in search of any place a four-year-old might hide.
Kristen joined the search, taking the opposite side of the restaurant. “Maddy, it’s Miss Kristen. Are you playing hide-and-seek?” The two Gossamer Ridge officers followed her lead, spreading out to cover the other areas of the cafe.
Sam grabbed the arm of a waiter. “Where are the bathrooms?”
The startled man pointed to an alcove off the kitchen. Sam headed that way and found himself in a narrow, dimly lit hallway. The men’s and women’s restrooms were to his left, clearly marked. To his right were two unmarked doors. He tried the first one. Locked.
The handle of the second door turned easily in his hand. Inside, he found a small storage closet. Boxes and bins took up almost every inch of the space.
“Maddy?”
The small, muffled voice that answered him sent such a powerful shot of relief through his veins that his knees nearly buckled. “I’m not going with Mommy!”
“You don’t have to, baby.”
A small box near the back of the closet shifted, and Maddy’s tear-streaked face stared back at him from the void. “Daddy’s honor?”
He grinned. “Daddy’s honor.”
She squeezed out of the tight hiding spot and threw herself in his arms. He hugged her tightly, flattening his hand against her back until he could feel her heartbeat against his palm.
“Is she okay?” Kristen asked just behind him.
He eased his grip on Maddy and turned to look at her. Her eyes were soft with relief, and he reached for her instinctively. She didn’t resist as he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.
She smelled good, like the woods after a rain, and where her cheek brushed his, her skin was as soft as a whisper. Relief faded into something darker and hotter, and he wondered if she could feel the sudden acceleration
