“Fair enough.” He pulled himself to his feet and followed Jake out of the barn.
They sat down to dinner around the table in the warm kitchen. As usual when he came for a meal, his mother prepared far too much food. He loved her cooking and luckily for him, he generally went home with freezer packs to see him through the week when he was too busy or couldn’t be bothered cooking for himself.
“Hear tell a new recruit named Ryder Quinn is in town and working for you.” His father stabbed a piece of meat and wiped it through the rich brown gravy he’d pooled in a dip of mashed potato.
“Don’t know much about her really. Know she was born here but have no idea who the family were. Her resume intrigued me though. Been working in the States as a police offer with training in the FBI. Would have been stupid to turn her down when she applied for the job.”
“Who is she?” His mother frowned. “Don’t remember the name.”
“You wouldn’t, she’s married now or at least she was. Goes by that name too, so I’m not too sure what the story is. Maiden name was Stubbens.”
His father clicked his tongue. “Of course. Went to school with her father, Cyrus Stubbens. From out Hargraves way. Married an American lady and when their girl was tiny, maybe three or four, they upped and left the country. Can’t remember why either, just remember it was kind of sudden.” He scooped up a fork of peas, opened his mouth, and let them roll down onto his tongue, savouring the home grown flavour.
Jake watched his mother. He could see the cogs turning in her mind as she tried to figure out where Ryder fitted.
“What’s she like?”
The twenty questions started. Not that he minded because it wasn’t with nasty intention. His mother liked to know what was going on and with who. And if Ryder turned out to be marriage material, she would ramp up her interest. “Seems very capable at her job.”
“Pretty?”
“Very. But before you get excited, she has a four year old and I have no idea what happened to her husband.” Jake cut through his roast potato. “And I’m not interested at the moment. Nothing wrong with being a bachelor in my opinion.”
“Bit hard for me to get grandchildren that way if you ask me.”
“Mum, you have grandchildren. Seven of them if I recall correctly. You don’t need any from me.”
“Yes I do. Its been three years since you broke up with Rowan. Time to move on and have a decent life before you turn all old and grumpy.” She looked at him before reaching over and patting his hand. “You know I only want you to be happy.”
“I know, but Ryder isn’t going to be it. Not sure it’s ever a good idea to mix work pleasure. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll like working here and make it her permanent base.” He squeezed back. “She has a house and her little girl is in day care so with any luck, I’ll get my wish.”
“That’s right. Place has been rented out for years. Forgot the family still owned it. Heard it was left in a right old state too.” His father’s lips tightened. “Mongrel tenants even left half the animals behind to fend for themselves or starve.”
“No.” His mother dropped her fork down on the edge of her plate. “I wish we’d known. What happened to them?”
“Phil at the real estate helped find homes for most of them but hear tell she still has an old horse and a bunch of chickens. According to Phil she’s doing alright with them though, planning on keeping what she has left.”
“Ask her if she wants one of Jessie’s pups. Woman on her own with a child out there, don’t seem right somehow.”
His father shook his head as he listened to his wife. “Every home should have a dog.”
Jake knew the words were directed at him and gave a sigh. “Fine. I’ll ask her then, but don’t be offended if she says no. I get the impression she’s the independent type.”
* * *
The following morning, a pile of folders sat in the middle of her desk when Ryder arrived for work. She sat down and opened the cover of the one on top, her inquisitive mind already to analyse the data inside. A small photograph of a little boy with big brown eyes and a cheeky grin looked up at her. Her heart clenched as it did every time she worked a case with a child involved.
Missing. Daniel Raymond Bird. 3 years old. Last seen in the mall with his mother and big sister.
Ryder checked the date of his disappearance before opening the next file. An unsolved robbery with suspected insider involvement, but no witnesses or evidence of such. The next file, another missing child. Four year old Paris Bonneville. Missing from the playground where she’d gone with her big sister. She’d been talking to friends while Paris climbed on the jungle gym and when she turned around, she was gone.
A familiar ache settled in Ryder’s chest. Child abductions always hit her harder than most and it was the same with most cops. All too often these kids disappeared never to be seen again and she felt the weight settle on her shoulders.
“That’s just a few of the ones I really wanted to get solved.” Jake walked toward her desk and dropped his tall frame into the chair closest, his sigh mirroring the pain in her chest. “There’s something about a little kid going missing that hits harder than most things. Paris is the daughter of someone I went to school with. Do you know how hard it was to tell her parents we had no leads and see the anguish in their eyes, knowing you’ve failed to do your duty?”
Ryder bit the inside of her cheek
