Anathema by Colleen Coble

and followed them to Matt’s house. Was Gina moving in or something? That could complicate things.
    But not so much he couldn’t handle it. He had to prove his love to his wife, show her how different things could be. He’d made a mistake five years ago, but it wasn’t too late to fix it. His grandmother had told him it was never too late to do the right thing. He could give Hannah the family she craved.
    MATT’S KNEE ACHED from his old football injury as he walked slowly to his vehicle. Ajax trotted beside him and hopped into the backseat when he opened the door. The new case was going to ruin his day off. They had nothing. The guy had been poisoned with strychnine just like the victims a decade ago, but there were no prints, no clues. Just a body in the woods.
    He had no idea what to do with himself tomorrow. Maybe take Caitlin out to see his grandmother. It had been nearly a month since he ’d gone by the old house. His mind would be too busy thinking about the new case to get anything productive done at home.
    He called his sister at his house. “Hey, I’m just getting off work. You get Caitlin all right?”
    “Of course. We ’re baking chocolate chip cookies. I stopped by home and got my stuff.”
    “Does Blake know you’re moving in with me for a while?”
    “I told him this morning. He didn’t even try to talk me out of it.” She ended on a muffled sob.
    “Did you ask him about the ring?”
    “He said he ’d bought it for me, then took it back after a fight.”
    What a lame excuse. “Do you believe him?”
    “No. I’ll move in with you for a while. Hey, Matt, there ’s something I noticed today. It might be nothing, but it left me uneasy.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “There was a guy outside the school watching the kids. He was there on Monday, too, when I got Caitlin. You might ask Mrs. Downs if he was there when she got Caitlin on Tuesday.”
    “Maybe it’s a parent.” But his gut tightened.
    “I’ve never gotten a close look at him. He wore Amish clothes with his hat pulled down low, so I couldn’t see his face. Something about him seemed familiar. I think he followed us today.”
    “In a car? An Amish man drove a car?” Matt quit searching for his keys in his pocket. “You’re sure? Maybe it was a Mennonite.”
    “Well, he had a beard and hat like an Amish guy. I thought I saw him get into a tan truck. One followed us to my house and then on to here too.”
    Matt didn’t want to believe someone could be stalking his sister, but it was a possibility. Could it be someone masquerading as Amish? “Could Blake have asked someone to watch you?”
    “Why?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not the one cheating.”
    “Sorry, Gina. I wish I could fix it.”
    She said nothing for a long moment. “You helped, Matt. It helped to have someone to talk to. Listen, I need to get the cookies out of the oven. Don’t forget to ask Mrs. Downs about that guy.”
    “I won’t.” He clicked off the phone and rang the neighbor who watched his daughter two days a week. She hadn’t noticed any man, she told him. Maybe the man’s behavior was innocent, but Matt planned to talk to Caitlin’s teacher about it. He remembered when he was growing up, how he played outside all day without Trudy knowing where he was. She didn’t care, for that matter. Thirty years ago there was no need to fear the possibility of some sicko snatching a kid.
    TIME PEDALED BACK as Hannah clipped meadow tea leaves from the patch at the side of the yard. The cats prowled at her feet in the dark. She breathed in the cool spearmint fragrance. Nurturing came naturally to her, but there was so little she could do for her grieving aunt.
    “Don’t go far,” she told her cats before opening the back door. They never wandered away from home. When she went inside, the kettle of water was boiling on the woodstove. She tossed the leaves into the water and turned off the flame, then covered the brewing tea. She could hear Aunt