Friendly Fire by Lorhainne Eckhart Page A

to me,” Logan said. “I will turn over every rock to find her. Do you understand?”
    She nodded and then slowly pushed away. He took in her pale complexion, her terrified expression. If he didn’t find her child—it would likely destroy her.
    She touched her head as if she had forgotten something. “Logan, Brent is still at my cafe,” she said.
    “I know. I’ll deal with him. Give me the keys to the cafe. You just go inside. Stay with Ruth, and call me if you hear anything.” Logan unlocked the front door to let them into the house, Julia’s fingers still linked with his. She didn’t want to let go, and he didn’t, either. “Lock the door behind you. You have another set of keys to the house?” he asked.
    She frowned, thinking. “I have a spare key in my bedroom.”
    Logan clutched her keys. “Then I’ll keep yours with me.”
    She nodded before two pools of tears sprang into her eyes, and she shoved her fist to her mouth to stifle a sob. Logan pulled her against him and just let her cry.

Chapter 17
    T he MacKay sheriff’s office was buzzing. Rose’s husband and sister-in-law were also at the station, with a few others; someone making coffee, someone else setting out platters of sandwiches.
    “Sheriff!” Rose called, practically jogging over to him.
    “Rose, who are these people?” he asked, standing in front of her desk. An older, balding gentleman with thick glasses, standing with a gray-haired lady with a cane, waved from across the room.
    “Community members, all here to help out,” Rose added as if this was the most normal thing. “This is where the teams will come. We have food to feed everyone, because they always come back hungry.”
    “Hmm” was all he said. “Do you have any news for me?”
    She just shook her head. “No, nothing. This is horrible, Sheriff. Nothing like this has ever happened here. Do you think someone snuck into town and took her?”
    Logan didn’t know what to think. When he called Julia’s ex-husband in California, the man had been frantic and had behaved exactly as Julia had predicted. He blamed her for not watching his child. Logan had quickly put an end to that, but Kevin Cooper had told him he’d be on the next flight to Idaho. Great, he had thought as he hung up the phone. At least he had pretty good confirmation that Kevin hadn’t snatched the child, though.
    “Don’t know, Rose,” he said. “It was most likely done by someone already here. Any strangers in town, Jordy would have tracked them down.”
    “Hey there, Jordy,” Rose called as the door clicked shut. He stepped up beside Logan.
    “Finished combing all the businesses downtown,” he said. “We’ve talked to everyone.”
    Logan didn’t say anything, thinking. He was beginning to suspect that they were coming at this from the wrong direction. He wished Sheriff Wilcox would hurry up and get here, because he needed to know about the residents in this town. Right now, he felt blind.
    “Jordy, how many people live in this town, and how many are here part time?” he asked.
    Jordy looked to Rose, who appeared to consider and count in her head.
    “There’re about six hundred and fifty residents,” Jordy answered, shifting his stance. “Maybe two hundred part-timers, give or take.”
    “I think we need to start looking at everyone in this town; anyone that moved here recently, anyone with a record,” Logan said. “You know everyone, so tell me: Who comes to mind? Are there any registered sex offenders living here?”
    “Most people were raised here or have come back,” Rose said. “We know them. Some have been in trouble a time a two, but nothing like this.”
    “There’re four new people in MacKay this year,” Jordy said, “including that teacher you wanted us to check out.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m still not too happy with that whole mystery. Rose, you thought he was from Chicago, but Julia said Boise, and when I saw his teaching certificate, it was from Washington. I don’t