slept deeply. Sam watched Jonah, just watched his son sleeping. The simple act of watching Jonah sleep was particularly comforting tonight when Sam was on his way to a crime scene.
He didn’t try to wake Jonah again. Sam wrapped his son in the blue comforter with the race car pattern that Jonah had kicked to the end of the bed, then scooped the boy into his arms. Jonah was still asleep, buckled in the backseat, when Sam pulled into Ginny’s driveway. A sedan was parked there. The sedan didn’t belong to Ginny, who had a compact she parked in the single-car garage. Sam figured the sedan was Herb’s.
An instant later, Sam’s suspicion was confirmed. With Jonah in his arms, Sam left the truck and headed for the house. As he did, a man came out of the back door, taking careful steps that minimized the sound of his shoes on the walkway. In the back porch light, Sam recognized Herb.
Herb drew back. “Sam.”
“Herb.”
“I’d planned to be gone before you got here.” Herb rubbed his hand across his mouth. “This is awkward.”
“Not for me.”
Herb moved his stooped shoulders in a show of discomfort. “Well, I’d better skedaddle.”
As Herb scooted by Sam, he reached out and gave Jonah a soft pat on the shoulder. Sam gritted his teeth at the gesture. Herb’s affection for Jonah grated.
As promised, Ginny was standing at the back door in a cinched blue robe. She held the door open while Sam entered the house. “I’ll take him up,” Sam said.
With Ginny trailing him, Sam set Jonah in his bed. Jonah mumbled something but didn’t move. Sam kissed the top of Jonah’s tousled, dark head, then, with a nod to Ginny, left the house.
Paige was waiting by the door when Sam pulled up in front of her apartment building. After being in his arms yesterday, she’d gone through all manner of emotions. The most upsetting of all was the sense of rightness that she felt being there.
But that was yesterday. In the cold light of a new day, Thames was still part of her life. After Sam’s phone call, the words she’d said to him about having nothing to give him were never as true.
Since he’d told her a woman had died a “suspicious” death in Kirk County Park, Paige’s nerves had spiked. Her mind was whirling like a hamster on a wheel, the thought racing through her brain that the person responsible for this woman’s death might be Thames.
Since Thames’s release, Paige had expanded her search of the databases to include new cases. She continued to come up empty. Was that because Thames had chosen to start a new trail of bread crumbs in Kirk County?
If Thames had chosen Kirk, Paige did not believe it was a coincidence. That of all places, he’d chosen this one. No, just as he’d revealed to her at his murder trial that he knew her New York address, murdering this woman would be his way of letting Paige know that he was here. A woman would have died because of Paige, just so Thames could leave Paige his calling card. A coldness seeped through Paige right down to her bones.
Paige climbed into Sam’s truck. The overhead light flashed on, then off, and she caught Sam’s grim expression. Fearing her own expression was too readable just now, for so many reasons, she looked away from him. “What do we know so far?”
Across the dark interior, she could feel his gaze burning into her, but all he said was, “The woman is Janet Glaxton Lambert, a prominent figure in Kirk. Her husband, Hugh Lambert, owns several companies across the United States. She was the sister of Georgia senator Richard Glaxton and was found on a trail.”
It was clear Sam did not yet have answers for the other questions that had Paige’s nerves vibrating like tuning forks, and she said nothing more.
Due to the lateness of the hour, traffic was largely nonexistent. They reached Kirk County Park quickly. The park hadn’t fully recovered from the sunny spring weekend, when families flocked there, or the fund raiser the previous weekend.
He didn’t try to wake Jonah again. Sam wrapped his son in the blue comforter with the race car pattern that Jonah had kicked to the end of the bed, then scooped the boy into his arms. Jonah was still asleep, buckled in the backseat, when Sam pulled into Ginny’s driveway. A sedan was parked there. The sedan didn’t belong to Ginny, who had a compact she parked in the single-car garage. Sam figured the sedan was Herb’s.
An instant later, Sam’s suspicion was confirmed. With Jonah in his arms, Sam left the truck and headed for the house. As he did, a man came out of the back door, taking careful steps that minimized the sound of his shoes on the walkway. In the back porch light, Sam recognized Herb.
Herb drew back. “Sam.”
“Herb.”
“I’d planned to be gone before you got here.” Herb rubbed his hand across his mouth. “This is awkward.”
“Not for me.”
Herb moved his stooped shoulders in a show of discomfort. “Well, I’d better skedaddle.”
As Herb scooted by Sam, he reached out and gave Jonah a soft pat on the shoulder. Sam gritted his teeth at the gesture. Herb’s affection for Jonah grated.
As promised, Ginny was standing at the back door in a cinched blue robe. She held the door open while Sam entered the house. “I’ll take him up,” Sam said.
With Ginny trailing him, Sam set Jonah in his bed. Jonah mumbled something but didn’t move. Sam kissed the top of Jonah’s tousled, dark head, then, with a nod to Ginny, left the house.
Paige was waiting by the door when Sam pulled up in front of her apartment building. After being in his arms yesterday, she’d gone through all manner of emotions. The most upsetting of all was the sense of rightness that she felt being there.
But that was yesterday. In the cold light of a new day, Thames was still part of her life. After Sam’s phone call, the words she’d said to him about having nothing to give him were never as true.
Since he’d told her a woman had died a “suspicious” death in Kirk County Park, Paige’s nerves had spiked. Her mind was whirling like a hamster on a wheel, the thought racing through her brain that the person responsible for this woman’s death might be Thames.
Since Thames’s release, Paige had expanded her search of the databases to include new cases. She continued to come up empty. Was that because Thames had chosen to start a new trail of bread crumbs in Kirk County?
If Thames had chosen Kirk, Paige did not believe it was a coincidence. That of all places, he’d chosen this one. No, just as he’d revealed to her at his murder trial that he knew her New York address, murdering this woman would be his way of letting Paige know that he was here. A woman would have died because of Paige, just so Thames could leave Paige his calling card. A coldness seeped through Paige right down to her bones.
Paige climbed into Sam’s truck. The overhead light flashed on, then off, and she caught Sam’s grim expression. Fearing her own expression was too readable just now, for so many reasons, she looked away from him. “What do we know so far?”
Across the dark interior, she could feel his gaze burning into her, but all he said was, “The woman is Janet Glaxton Lambert, a prominent figure in Kirk. Her husband, Hugh Lambert, owns several companies across the United States. She was the sister of Georgia senator Richard Glaxton and was found on a trail.”
It was clear Sam did not yet have answers for the other questions that had Paige’s nerves vibrating like tuning forks, and she said nothing more.
Due to the lateness of the hour, traffic was largely nonexistent. They reached Kirk County Park quickly. The park hadn’t fully recovered from the sunny spring weekend, when families flocked there, or the fund raiser the previous weekend.
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