LITMIR.BIZ

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Paul James?”

      “Only that Kelsey wanted to get away from him badly enough that she gave up a promising career in Miami to move here. It came up suddenly, despite Lizzy’s pretense that they’d always talked about working together. One minute Lizzy was running the clinic by herself, the next Kelsey was here and living out at my grandfather’s. Grandpa Harlan seemed real reluctant to let her and Bobby leave to move here in town, and I sensed it wasn’t just because he’d grown attached to them. He had me check the security locks on this place top to bottom.”

      “Domestic violence?” Dylan speculated.

      Justin shrugged. “Always a possibility, but my gut tells me no. A few years back when Patsy turned up here in town, she was running from an abusive husband. I don’t see the same signs with Kelsey. She’s at ease around men, for one thing.”

      “Patsy’s your wife, right?” Dylan asked, trying to recall what he had heard about her situation. Just that she’d run from a husband who’d been a high-profile political candidate in another state, a man who had had a nasty temper. Bottom line, Justin would know better than most about how a victim of abuse would behave.

      “Right. She had a little boy when we met and we have another one of our own now. She’s at home with them, in a panic that something will happen to them if she turns her back for a second. Until we know for sure that Paul James is behind this, there will be a lot of other mothers who feel the same way. I’d like people to know as soon as we’re sure that there’s no need to lock the kids inside and bar their doors.”

      “Can’t say I blame them, in the meantime,” Dylan said. “How about I start running checks on Paul James? Maybe we can pick up a trail from credit-card receipts, see if he’s in the area.”

      “Go for it,” Justin agreed. “If you need access to a computer, use the one down at the station. I’ll deputize you here and now to make it all nice and legal.”

      That was more than Dylan had hoped for. Normally, he preferred to operate on his own, but in this instance he was far from his own computer and other resources. A little hand-in-hand cooperation with the local authorities could cut through a lot of red tape. Having access to that computer would be a godsend. Besides, Justin struck him as a good man to work with. The past few minutes had established that he wasn’t a hardliner with an attitude. He was the kind of sheriff Dylan admired, a man who just wanted to get the job done, utilizing whatever resources he could command.

      “I’ll let you know what I find out,” he promised.

      “I’m not worried about that,” Justin told him. “Nothing gets past my dispatcher. Becky will be all over you while you’re around. If you find so much as an itty-bitty clue, I’ll know about it.”

      Dylan chuckled, liking the man more and more. “I should have known you weren’t just trying to make my life easy.”

      Justin’s expression sobered. “Nope. Just trying to find that little boy before any harm comes to him.”

      “Amen to that,” Dylan said.

      Unable to sit still a moment longer, Kelsey wandered into the living room and stared out the window at the two men talking on the sidewalk.

      Over the last few months she had gotten to know Justin Adams. She trusted him, but she also knew that Bobby’s disappearance was not the sort of thing he typically had to handle. She’d seen how upset he’d been by her refusal to call in the FBI. Maybe she was crazy, but she thought the fewer police involved, the better the chances of keeping Paul’s secret and keeping Bobby safe. Watching Justin talk to Dylan, she could almost sense his relief at having someone with more expertise involved. She wished she was as confident.

      She studied the private investigator, trying to overcome this fear that kept nagging at her. Once again, she was struck by his size. He was taller than Justin by a good three inches, putting him at six-three or so. He was broader through the shoulders as well. An ex-football hero, she was willing to bet. He moved with the ease of an athlete. None of that mattered, though. All she cared about was whether he could find her son.

      She sensed Lizzy coming to stand beside her. Her friend hadn’t strayed far from her side since this nightmare had begun. “Looks like they’re comparing notes,” Kelsey said. “They’re probably wondering how I let something like this happen.”

      “Don’t be ridiculous. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

      “I should have watched him more closely. He shouldn’t have been outside alone.”

      “He’s a little boy, not a prisoner. He was in your own backyard. Maybe he wandered out front,” Lizzy consoled her. “It only takes a second and if someone is watching, waiting for that to happen, there’s not a thing you could do to prevent it.”

      “I should have—”

      “Should-haves will make you crazy,” Lizzy advised. “You’re a wonderful mother. I won’t listen to anyone—including you—who says otherwise.”

      Kelsey mustered a faint smile at Lizzy’s fiercely protective tone.

      “Why aren’t they doing something?” she asked plaintively. “They’re just standing around talking.”

      “Planning, coordinating,” Lizzy corrected. “In the long run, it will save time.”

      Kelsey sighed, her gaze once again settling on the private investigator. “I don’t think Dylan liked me much. He was so, I don’t know, cold, I guess. At first I thought he was being professional, just trying to calm me down by seeming competent and practical, but now I’m not sure.”

      “Dylan liked you just fine,” Lizzy reassured her. “I was there. He was just trying to get a fix on things.”

      Before Kelsey could debate her assessment, the phone rang, startling them both. Kelsey all but dived for it. “Hello,” she shouted, then forced herself to quiet down. “Who is this?”

      “Mommy?” a tentative little voice whispered.

      Oh, sweet heaven, it was Bobby. She clutched the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Sweetie, is that you?”

      “Hi, Mommy.”

      “Oh, baby,” she whispered. Her knees went weak and she sank into a chair. She was dimly aware of Lizzy racing to the front door and shouting for Justin and Dylan. “Where are you, Bobby?”

      “He’s with me, of course,” Paul said, interrupting.

      Hearing his voice confirmed every one of her fears. He sounded as if he were on the edge. Too many pills? she wondered. Or not enough?

      “Paul, please, bring him home. We’ll forget this happened.”

      “Not just yet.”

      “Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything. Just bring Bobby back. I know you didn’t do this just because you missed him and wanted to spend time with him. If that had been the case, you’d have called.”

      “And begged? Is that what you want, Kelsey?”

      “No,” she said honestly. She wanted him to stay away, but he was back in her life for the moment, for better or for worse. “Paul, what is this about? What do you want?”

      The only response was the quiet click of a receiver being put back into place. Kelsey stared at the silent phone in shock. He had hung up on her. She didn’t know any more than she had before.

      No, she told herself staunchly, that wasn’t true. She knew for sure now that Paul had their son. She knew that Bobby was okay, at least for the moment.

      For the moment. The phrase twisted and turned in her thoughts, terrifying her. What about a moment from now? Or an hour? Then, to her chagrin, she burst into tears, gulping sobs erupting from deep inside. All the pent-up emotion of the past couple of hours came pouring out.

      As if from a great distance, she could hear Lizzy

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