LITMIR.BIZ

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but this time he heard the snap of a dried twig and the faint whisper of feet against the forest floor.

      He held his gun, alarmed by the unusual noise and then relaxed only slightly as the sandy-haired, brown-eyed FBI agent appeared. He wasn’t alone. Beside him was a somber-looking dark-haired man with pain-filled brown eyes.

      “It’s okay,” Hawk said, indicating that Micah could put down his gun. Micah pointed the barrel to the ground, but didn’t holster it. “This is Dr. Rafe Black and he wanted to speak to you personally.”

      Micah knew that Rafe and Darcy were a couple and he also knew that Rafe was one of the good guys, helping to not only bring down Samuel, but also desperately seeking the child he’d never met but was certain existed. Rafe had his own practice in town and treated anyone who needed medical attention while walking a fine line between pretending to be part of the cult and actively working against them.

      “I’m looking for my son,” Rafe said without preamble. “I had a photo of him, but it has mysteriously vanished. In the picture he was about three months old and he has brown hair and brown eyes like me. He’d be about nine months old now.”

      “I heard from Darcy that you thought he’d been found,” Micah said.

      Rafe nodded. “They tried to fool me by giving me somebody else’s child and pretending it was my Devin, but the real father came back and reclaimed his son.”

      “And you’re sure Devin really exists?” Micah asked. Darcy had told him that Rafe had learned about his son when Abby had called him and that he’d sent money via Western Union for her and the child. Sounded like a potential scam to Micah.

      Rafe’s eyes darkened. “Definitely. Abby wasn’t the kind of woman to lie. Besides, if Devin didn’t exist, then why did somebody in Cold Plains go to so much trouble to force a man to give up his own son to replace mine?”

      “Good point,” Micah conceded.

      Rafe shook his head. “Devin exists and he’s being hidden someplace in town. I’ll pay you whatever you want to find him. I know what you do. I know that you work for a fee. You just name your price and I’ll see to it that you get it the minute that Devin is in my arms.”

      Micah held up his hand to stop Rafe’s pleas. “I’m already on the hunt for one kid and it’s possible they’re both being held in the same place. All I can promise is that I’ll look for Devin and there’s no charge. Believe me, I’m doing all this for my own satisfaction.” And of course to get Olivia to cooperate with the FBI, he reminded himself.

      “You know there are rumors of secret rooms in basements where the elderly and the infirm are held until they either die or can be transported far away,” Rafe said. “I’ve done what I can to find them, but I have to be careful because I’m still trying to win people’s trust. There are also rumors about an adoption scheme and my biggest fear is that, if I don’t find Devin soon, he’ll be lost to me forever.”

      His concerns echoed those of Olivia and although Micah couldn’t begin to identify with the gut-wrenching grief of a parent for a missing child, he did feel a deep worry for any child that was in his brother’s clutches.

      “We’ve been searching for these hidden rooms,” Hawk said, “but so far no luck.”

      “If they’re there, I’ll find them,” Micah said with grim determination. After another promise to Rafe to look for his son, the three men parted ways.

      Micah headed back to the safe house, knowing that two hours later the sun would be down and darkness would begin to shroud the “perfect” little town of Cold Plains.

      Once he got back, he met Olivia just inside the door, a smiling Sam in her arms. Olivia wasn’t smiling. In fact, he had yet to see her smile. Her eyes were filled with worry as she handed him a list of items she’d like retrieved from her home. Then she held out a small photo. “This is Ethan. It was taken a month ago.”

      He examined the photo of the handsome little boy. His blond hair was neatly cut and his features were those of his mother. He had a bright smile and green eyes that looked eager to explore whatever lay ahead.

      He needed to be with his mother and his brother. It was obvious that Olivia was the kind of mother Micah hadn’t had, a woman with the need to protect her children, and Ethan belonged here with her.

      “I don’t feel good about this,” she said as she also handed him a note with her address written down and a key to the door.

      Micah fought the impulse to reach out and smooth the tiny furrow that had appeared between her brows. “I’m not doing anything different than I have every night since I’ve been here. I’m getting to be an expert at skulking around houses, trying to catch snatches of conversations, identifying the people who are with Samuel and those who are secretly working against him.”

      “Just be safe,” she said, the words both surprising and oddly touching to him.

      At that moment Sam leaned forward in his mother’s arm and with his chubby hand grabbed Micah’s ear. “Ear,” he pronounced proudly.

      An unaccustomed smile stretched Micah’s lips. “Yeah, buddy, that’s my ear.” He gently disengaged Sam’s little fingers and stepped back. “And I’m hoping the next time I see you I’ll still have both my ears.”

      “Don’t even joke like that,” Olivia protested.

      Suddenly he wanted to see her smile. “If I can’t manage to get him diapers then we’ll figure out a way to fashion waterproof leaf covers that will make him look like a baby Tarzan.”

      He was rewarded by a smile that whispered an evocative warmth through him. “I’m not at all sure that I’m ready to raise a jungle boy.”

      Just as quickly as he’d wanted her smile, he now wanted to escape it, escape her and the little boy who cast him a wide, slightly drooling grin. He’d chosen to live his life alone, trusting nobody, caring for nobody and nothing was going to change that, especially now in the midst of his battle with his brother.

      “I need to prep to get out of here.” He moved past her, wanting to forget the beauty of her smile, the fact that just by looking into her soft green eyes, she got to him some way that made him both uncomfortable and just a little bit excited.

      An hour later he stepped out into the deepening shadows of twilight. He had an empty rucksack on his back that could carry anything Olivia might need from her home.

      As he made his way soundlessly through the woods, his mind focused only on the tasks at hand. His first was to get into Olivia’s house, retrieve the items she needed and then leave as quickly as possible.

      He’d hide the filled rucksack and then return to town to try to find the secret rooms that had been rumored to hide the people, including the children, not fit for Samuel’s vision of perfection.

      Micah knew tunnels had been found and some secret rooms discovered beneath the Community Center and under the hospital clinic, but there had been no sign in those places of the children or some of the other townspeople who had vanished.

      He knew that none of the FBI agents working the area had been able to get close to Samuel’s house. The stately home was guarded by armed men at all times. The general consensus was that Samuel would be a fool to have any evidence inside his private abode that tied him to anything, but Micah knew how perverse his brother could be and it would be just like him to be arrogant enough to hide evidence in plain sight.

      Sooner or later he intended to get into Samuel’s home. It wouldn’t be tonight, it might not be tomorrow, but Micah would breach the security if for no other reason than to prove that he could.

      As much as Micah would like to find Olivia and Rafe’s children, he’d also like to get some concrete evidence that Samuel was behind the murders of the five women, one who had once owned Micah’s heart.

      He couldn’t get sidetracked by Olivia’s soft green eyes and need for her son. He couldn’t

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