He might be lying, but the plea she heard in Sam’s words was genuine. He was right, too-looking into Stan Burkett’s recent activities would be helpful. It might help them figure out where he’d be keeping Maddy, for one thing.
But deep down, she knew that Sam really just wanted her to leave him alone for a while so he could do whatever it was Burkett had told him to do.
She knew confronting him would be useless. If he thought meeting Burkett’s demands would save Maddy, he’d do it and lie to God himself about it.
And she’d lie to save them both.
“I’ll do that,” she answered finally, rising to her feet. She reached out her hand. “Go take a shower or something while I’m gone. It’ll help you relax.”
“I don’t think anything can do that,” Sam said bleakly, but he took her hand and let her pull him to his feet.
She tugged at his suit jacket. “Give it a try anyway.”
He let her pull his jacket off. She draped it over her arm and turned him toward the hallway. “Go. I’ll let myself out.”
“Call if you learn anything,” Sam said.
“And you call if you hear anything from Burkett.”
“I will,” Sam lied over his shoulder as he headed toward the bathroom down the hall. Kristen heard a hint of regret in his voice. She supposed she could find a little comfort in knowing he didn’t enjoy lying to her.
Suddenly, he turned around and strode back to her, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck. Pulling her to him, he bent his head and kissed her, hard and hungry, his fingers threading through her hair to hold her still while he drank his fill. He drew away, finally, resting his forehead against hers, his breath fast and warm against her cheeks. “I know you wanted off this case, but thanks for staying with it. It means a lot.”
For a moment, she thought about nothing but the feel of his body against hers, warm and powerful, yet vulnerable to her touch. It made her feel guilty for what she was about to do-but not guilty enough to change her mind.
He dropped a last, soft kiss on her forehead as he let her go. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Go take your shower,” she whispered.
After he’d disappeared down the hallway, she unfolded his coat, reached into the breast pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The most recent activity had been a text message:
BELLEWOOD MFG 730 2NITE ALONE.
She stared at the message, her heart racing. Bellewood Manufacturing had once been a textile mill on Catawba Road, out past the old dam bridge. No longer in business, the abandoned mill was secluded, well away from prying eyes. By seven-thirty tonight, darkness would have fallen, giving anyone lying in wait at the mill an extra advantage. And Sam believed he’d be going there to meet Burkett alone.
Like hell.
Kristen put the cell phone back in Sam’s pocket and draped the coat over the arm of the sofa, wondering what to do next. Wait for him to come out of the shower and confront him with what she knew? Threaten to take him into protective custody to keep him from trying to go out there alone?
One thing she wasn’t going to do was let Stan Burkett lay a trap for Sam to walk into.
She let herself out of Sam’s house, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. Carl Madison answered on the first ring. “Madison.”
“Carl, it’s me.” Kristen slid behind the wheel of the Impala. “I need your help.”
SAM DIDN’T THINK BURKETT would leave another message before the meeting that evening-the one succinct message he’d sent had been sufficient to set Sam’s nerves on permanent alert, which he suspected had been Burkett’s intention. But he couldn’t take chances, so he checked his cell phone as soon as he got out of his shower.
As he’d expected, nothing from Burkett. But his sister Hannah had left a message. “I’m on my way over.” He glanced at his watch. He barely had time to dress before she would arrive.
He let her in after the first couple of bangs on the door and staggered beneath the force of her tackle-hug.
“Tell me what you want me to do,” Hannah said without preamble, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the sofa. She was five months pregnant and, thanks to hormones, had two speeds these days, high and supersonic.
“There’s nothing to do. The police are all over this, including your cowboy cop. I’m just waiting like everyone else for news.”
Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a load of bull manure.”
“Riley is rubbing off on you.”
“No way you’re just waiting around for news, Sam Cooper. You’re up to something.” She scooted closer. “What is it?”
“If I had a supersecret plan, do you think I’d tell you, the biggest blabbermouth in the family?”
“That was twenty years ago,” she protested. Her eyes widened suddenly. “You’ve heard from the kidnapper! What did he do, break in and leave a note under your pillow? I know he didn’t call the house or Riley would already know about it. Oh! Your cell phone. He called your cell phone!”
Sam stared at his sister, wondering why she wasn’t the cop in the family. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You can’t go by yourself,” she said firmly. “I’ll call Riley. He can back you up-”
He caught her hand before she could pull her cell phone from her jacket pocket. “No, Hannah.”
She shot him a fierce look. “You’re not meeting that bastard alone, Sam. And don’t even try to tell me that’s not what you have in mind, because you never were any good at lying.” Her expression softened. “You’re the white knight, Sam. This family needs a white knight. You can’t go get yourself killed.”
He felt his control beginning to crumble. “He has my baby, Hannah. What else am I supposed to do?”
“Let Riley back you up.”
“I can’t risk it. Stan Burkett is a former cop-”
Hannah’s eyes widened again. “Stan Burkett? The guy whose son-”
“Yes,” he interrupted.
“My God.” Hannah’s expression grew instantly grim. “That explains the note-‘your child for mine.’”
Sam nodded. “He’ll be looking for signs of police presence. He knows how that works. I can’t chance it, not even with Riley. You get that now, don’t you?”
He could see that his sister wanted to argue, but she finally nodded. “What time are you meeting him?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you that.”
She sighed with frustration. “Can you at least tell me if it’s today?”
“If you don’t hear from me by midnight tonight, you can tell Riley what’s going on.”
“But we won’t know where to look for you.”
“I’ll leave a message for you. What to do in case you don’t hear from me.” It wasn’t a bad idea, really. If something went wrong, he’d want people to know where to look to get back on Burkett’s trail. He could use a free text message scheduling service to leave messages for Kristen and his family. Just to be safe.
Hannah looked as if she still wanted to argue, but she kept her protest to herself, instead pulling him in for a hug. He felt her pregnancy bump against his stomach and smiled in spite of his tension.
“Please be careful,” she said.
“I promise, I will. I’m all Maddy has, you know.”
But that wasn’t true, was it? Maddy had her grandparents, her aunts and uncles. She even had Norah, in a pinch.
And she had Kristen, whether the stubborn detective was ready to admit it or not.
Hannah stayed with Sam a little longer, distracting him with chatter about all the local gossip and goings-on he’d missed during his years away from Gossamer Ridge. Of all his brothers and sisters, Hannah seemed the one most wedded to their hometown, to the beauty of the mountains and the bounty of Gossamer Lake.
When she’d fallen in love with the cowboy cop who’d saved her life when her Wyoming vacation had gone horribly wrong, there had been little discussion about where they’d end up once they said “I do.” Riley had sold his
