LITMIR.BIZ

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trouble.

      “He’s not an official investigator. He just happened to find her in the trailer. He’s been investigating this for months, and he got an anonymous tip that the kidnappers hired an assassin to find them.”

      Carrie tried to picture Dylan, to envision what he would look like today. He was nine years old the last time she’d seen him, a scrappy kid who did reckless tricks on his horse and had just got into Golden Gloves boxing, which was supposed to provide a positive outlet for his pent-up energy. “Have the police arrested the kidnappers?”

      “The FBI is involved, but there isn’t enough evidence to arrest the kidnappers, let alone convict them, and the identity of the assassin is unknown. We’re trying to find Julia and her mother before the killer does, before he silences them.” Thunder blew out a rough breath. “The authorities need their testimony.”

      Carrie sat back in her chair. Her life was simple, so ordinary, and Julia Alcott’s world was turned upside down. “Do you think Julia and her mother know that there is an assassin after them?”

      “No, but they’re certainly aware of how vicious the loan sharks are. They’re running scared just the same.” He made a troubled face. “The assassin wasn’t hired until after Dylan figured out who the kidnappers were. That’s why he’s trying so hard to locate Julia and Miriam, to bring them to safety.”

      “Your brother feels responsible for their lives?”

      “Yes.” Thunder drank his coffee, squinting into the sunlight that zigzagged across the table. “Tell me everything you remember about Julia. Even if it seems insignificant.”

      “She worked in housekeeping.” Carrie paused, trying to recall details, to step back in time, to envision eighteen-year-old Julia. “She was meticulous, especially for someone so young. She’d just graduated from high school.”

      “How long was she at the motel?”

      “For about a year.”

      “Did you ever see her after she quit?”

      “No, but I heard that she started working as a waitress.”

      He continued the interview, zeroing in on personal questions. “What did you talk about on the occasions that you had lunch with her?”

      “Girl stuff, I guess.”

      “Men?”

      “Sometimes we talked about her boyfriend. I don’t remember his name, but she was upset when he broke up with her.”

      “His name is Dan Myers. I’ve already spoken with him. He’s married now, with two little kids. He seems content.”

      “Good for him.” Carrie tried not to sound cynical, but Thunder was the last person with whom she wanted to discuss marriage and babies. “I told her that she was better off waiting until she was older to find the right guy. That eighteen was too young to be in a serious relationship.”

      He clenched his jaw, making a tight expression. “What were you? The voice of experience?”

      “Yes, I was.” She gazed at him over the rim of her cup. “I’ve learned to choose my men wisely.”

      His voice turned flip. “And I’ve learned to bang my way through as many blondes as I can find.” A smart-aleck smile tilted one corner of his lips. “Brunettes and redheads, too.”

      She wanted to push him right out the window, but she wasn’t about to let him get the best of her. “You’ve been sleeping around? The man who doesn’t know how to be friends with a woman? Gee, what a surprise.”

      He didn’t respond, and her pulse stumbled. The smile was gone, and his eyes remained as dark and dangerous as his soul. She hated remembering how much she’d loved him, how much he’d influenced every aspect of her life. “Can we get back to Julia?” she asked.

      “Totally.” Those menacing eyes bore straight into hers. “That’s why I’m here.” He shifted his weight, creaking the chair. “Did she have friends, know anyone out of state?”

      “You mean someone she might try to get reacquainted with now?” Carrie shook her head. “She never mentioned anyone.”

      “What about her goals? Did she ever talk about what she wanted out of life? Was she interested in college?”

      “I don’t remember. But I know that she liked this area. That she felt comfortable here. She didn’t seem interested in moving.”

      “Why?”

      “Because she and her mom moved a lot when she was little. And because she leased a horse at Brentwood Stables. She skimped and saved to afford that luxury. She enjoyed riding, being out in nature.”

      “That’s what all of her old co-workers have said so far. But she hasn’t had a horse for the past few years.” He frowned a little. “As far as I can tell, she gave up the horse to help Miriam. Her mom was behind on her bills.”

      “Because of her gambling?”

      He creaked his chair again. “Yes.”

      Curious, Carrie thought about Thunder’s brother, about his being a horse trainer. “Did Dylan know Julia before the kidnapping? Before he’d rescued her?”

      “No. He’s done a few clinics at Brentwood Stables, but not while Julia was boarding there.”

      “Why isn’t Dylan interviewing me?” she asked.

      “Because he’s traveling, checking out the places where Julia and Miriam used to live.” Thunder paused. “I’d like to interview your parents, too.”

      “They’re out of town.”

      “For how long?”

      “Until Sunday.”

      “That’s fine. I’ll be around until then.” He finished his coffee. “Where’d your parents go?”

      “Las Vegas.” To play the slot machines, she thought. To try their luck at blackjack. Only her folks didn’t have a gambling problem. They weren’t like Julia’s mother. “I’m taking a vacation when they get back.”

      He stood up, towering over the table, over her. “Where are you going?”

      “Nowhere.” She got to her feet, troubled by his questions, by the way he was prying into her life. “I’m just going to get some things done around the house.”

      “Sounds boring.”

      Carrie shrugged. At times her life was dull. But it was safe, too. She didn’t take chances. Her first and only risk had been marrying Thunder.

      And she’d learned her lesson.

      She looked at her ex-husband, at his take-charge posture, at his break-a-woman’s-heart demeanor.

      She’d learned it well.

      Two

      Afew days later, Carrie manned the front desk at the Lipton Lodge Motel while Thunder interviewed her parents in the backroom office. They’d been holed up for what seemed like hours.

      Edgy, she glanced at her watch. The interview had been only forty-five minutes, but that was long enough. She doubted that they were talking about Julia Alcott the entire time. Carrie’s parents hadn’t known her that well. Of course after Julia had been kidnapped, Daisy and Paul Lipton had been glued to the TV, worrying and wondering about the young woman who used to work for them. Carrie had been fretful, too. Things like that weren’t supposed to happen in Cactus Wren County.

      She glanced out the floor-to-ceiling windows, her mind wandering. Cactus Wren had been named after the state bird, a little creature that built a variety of nests, living in one and using the others as decoys.

      Ironically, Carrie knew all about phony shelters, about keeping herself safe, at least in an emotional

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