LITMIR.BIZ

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       Chapter One

      Deputy Owen Slater knew something was wrong the moment he stopped his truck in front of his house.

      There were no lights on, not even the ones on the porch or in the upstairs window of the nursery. It was just a little past eight and that meant it was his daughter Addie’s bedtime, but she always slept with the lamp on.

      If the electricity had gone off, the nanny, Francine Landry, would have almost certainly texted Owen to let him know. Besides, Owen had already spotted a light in the barn. That wasn’t unusual since the light was often left on there, but it meant the power definitely wasn’t out.

      Because he was both a father and a cop, the bad thoughts came and his pulse kicked up hard and fast. Something had maybe gone wrong. Over the years, he’d made plenty of arrests, and it could be that someone wanted to get back at him. A surefire way to do that was to come here to his home, to a place where he thought he and his child were safe.

      The panic came, shooting through him when he thought of his daughter being in danger. Addie was only eighteen months old, just a baby. He’d already lost her mother in childbirth and he couldn’t lose Addie, too.

      That got Owen drawing his gun as he started running. He fired glances all around him in case this was an ambush, but no one came at him as he barreled up the porch steps.

      Hell.

      The front door was slightly ajar. That was another indication that something wasn’t right. Francine always kept things locked up tight now that Addie was walking and had developed some escape skills.

      Owen didn’t call out to Francine, something he desperately wanted to do with the hope he’d hear her say that everything was okay. But if he called out, it could alert someone other than the nanny. Still, he prayed that she would come rushing in to give him some account for what was happening. But no good explanation came to mind.

      Owen tried to rein in his heartbeat and breathing. Hard to do, though, when the stakes were this high, but he forced himself to remember his training and experience. That meant requesting backup before he started a search of the area. He quickly texted his brother Kellan to get there ASAP so he’d have some help if needed.

      The tight knot in Owen’s gut told him it would be needed.

      And Kellan was the best backup Owen could ask for. Not only was he the sheriff of their hometown of Longview Ridge, he lived just two miles away. Kellan could be there in no time.

      Using his elbow, Owen nudged the door open all the way and glanced around. His house had an open floor plan, so with a single sweeping glance, he could take in the living room, kitchen and dining area. Or at least he could have done that had it not been so blasted dark. There were way too many shadows. Too many places for someone to hide.

      Owen flipped the light switch. Nothing. That snowballed the wildfire concerns because it meant someone could have cut off the power to the house. He doubted this was some kind of electric malfunction because if it had been, Francine would have gotten out the candles and flashlights since she was well aware of Addie’s fear of the dark.

      Even though his brother would be here in minutes, Owen didn’t want to wait for him. The thought of his baby hurt and scared got him moving. With a two-handed grip on his gun, he checked behind the sofa, making sure he continued to keep watch. No one was there, so he moved to the dining room. Still no one.

      But he heard something.

      There were footsteps upstairs. Not Addie’s toddling feet, either. These were heavy and slow, probably the way his own steps would sound if he were up there looking around. Owen turned to head in that direction in case it was Francine, but that was when he noticed the back door was open, too. And there were sounds coming from the yard.

      “Shh,” someone whispered. “We need to play the quiet game.”

      Because the voice was so ragged, it took Owen a moment to realize it was Laney Martin, his ranch manager. That sent him hurrying straight to the door, and he saw Laney running toward the barn. She had Addie clutched to her chest, her hand cupping the back of the baby’s head.

      Owen didn’t call out to them, but he did catch a glimpse of Laney’s face as they ducked into the barn. She was terrified. He hadn’t needed anything to up his own level of fear, but that did it. He ran across the yard and went straight into the barn. He heard another sound. Laney’s sharp gasp.

      “It’s me,” Owen whispered just in case she thought it was someone else who’d followed them in there.

      Laney had already moved to the far corner of the barn next to a stack of hay bales. When she shifted her position, Owen could see his baby’s face. Addie was smiling as if this were indeed a fun game. It was good that she was too young to realize the danger they were in.

      “Where’s Francine?” he asked. “Is she in the house?”

      Laney shook her head. “The nursing home called about her mom a half hour ago.” While her voice was level enough for him to understand her, each word had come through her panting breaths. “Francine asked me to watch Addie while she went over there to check on her.”

      Francine’s mom had dementia so it wasn’t unusual for the nanny to get calls about her. However, this was the first time she’d left Addie with Laney. Maybe, though, Francine had done that because she’d known Owen would soon be home.

      An intruder who’d been watching the place would have known that, too.

      “Who’s in the house?” he asked.

      Another head shake from Laney. “A man.”

      Not that he needed it, but Owen had more confirmation of the danger. He saw that Laney had a gun, a small snub-nosed .38. It didn’t belong to him, nor was it one that he’d ever seen in the guesthouse where Laney was staying. Later, he’d ask her about it, about why she hadn’t mentioned that she had a weapon, but for now they obviously had a much bigger problem.

      Owen texted this brother again, to warn him about the intruder so that Kellan didn’t walk into a situation that could turn deadly. He also asked Kellan to call in more backup. If the person upstairs started shooting, Owen wanted all the help he could get.

      “What happened?” Owen whispered to Laney.

      She opened her mouth, paused and then closed it as if she’d changed her mind about what to say. “About ten minutes ago, I was in the kitchen with Addie when the power went off. A few seconds later, a man came in through the front door and I hid in the pantry with her until he went upstairs.”

      Smart thinking on Laney’s part to hide instead of panicking or confronting the guy. But it gave Owen an uneasy feeling that Laney could think that fast under such pressure. And then there was the gun again. Where had she gotten it? The guesthouse was on the other side of the backyard, much farther away than the barn. If she’d gone to the guesthouse to get the gun, why hadn’t she just stayed there with Addie? It would have been safer than running across the yard with the baby.

      “Did you get a good look at the man?” Owen prompted.

      Laney again shook her head. “But I heard him. When he stepped into the house, I knew it wasn’t you, so I guessed it must be trouble.”

      Again, quick thinking on her part. He wasn’t sure why, though, that gave him a very uneasy feeling.

      “I didn’t hear or see a vehicle,” Laney added.

      Owen hadn’t seen one, either, which meant the guy must have come on foot. Not impossible, but Owen’s ranch was a good half mile from the main road. If this was a thief, he wasn’t going to get away with much. Plus, it would be damn brazen of some idiot to break into a cop’s home just to commit a robbery.

      So what was really going on?

      Owen glanced around the barn, also keeping watch on the yard in case the intruder followed

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