Murder Under The Mistletoe. Terri Reed

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СКАЧАТЬ punched him in the stomach. “When was this?”

      “A few hours ago.”

      His head pounded a rapid staccato. “All the more reason for me to find the book quickly. We need to put a stop to this fast before anyone else gets hurt.”

      She stepped back and put the first aid kit away, then tossed the soiled towels into the washing machine. “I’ll help you look for the notebook, but first you need some fluids. Follow me.”

      Bemused by her take-charge attitude, he allowed her to lead him out of the mudroom. She stopped in the kitchen and turned on the light over the sink. A large butcher block served as a center island. Long wooden counters and blond oak cabinets with glass doors gave the place a homey feel. The appliances were older but clean. Blue-and-yellow gingham curtains hung over the window behind the sink. The place had a cozy feel that was foreign to Tyler.

      She took a tall glass from a cupboard, filled it with tap water and handed it to him. “Drink.”

      “Aye, aye, Captain.” He took the glass and drank the cool liquid.

      She dug into a drawer and came up with two over-the-counter painkillers. “Here, these should help.”

      “Thanks.” He popped the tablets and swallowed them with another large gulp of water. When he was finished, he set the glass on the large center island. “Let’s check your brother’s room.”

      In Seth’s room they worked in silence, rummaging through drawers, checking under the mattress, under the bed. In the closet, inside the crawl space in the closet floor. Their search resulted in nothing but frustration.

      Fisting his hands, Tyler glanced around the tidy room, taking in the tall dresser standing in the corner, the desk and chair placed beneath the window and the long twin bed covered in a geometric-patterned quilt.

      Seth had told Tyler he’d kept the journal on the farm; it stood to reason it was in this room. There were many places to hide a notebook in the large farmhouse, but which nook or cranny had Seth used?

      Tyler’s head throbbed and so did his heart. He couldn’t change the past, only hope he could affect the future. Wasn’t that what his gran always told him?

      Next they tackled the living area. It was a large great room that flowed into the dining area with the kitchen around the corner to form an L shape. Tyler searched the well-worn leather couches, while Heather checked the bookshelf, taking the books down, inspecting them and then piling them on the floor.

      Tyler even checked under the large throw rug covering the hardwood in the living room. No secret compartments. No secret hiding places. He moved on to the dining room while Heather continued her slow but steady pace through the bookshelf.

      The large rectangular table had no drawers or hidden slots in which to stash a notebook.

      “Mommy?” A small boy stood at the bottom of the stairs staring at Tyler with wide eyes beneath a fringe of dark brown bangs. He wore footie pajamas with rockets all over them. A plush dinosaur dangled from one tiny hand.

      Tyler untucked his shirt and quickly pulled it over his hip holster, hoping the boy hadn’t noticed his firearm. No need to frighten the child.

      “Colin, honey.” Heather rushed to her son’s side. “What are you doing up?”

      Keeping his eyes on Tyler, the child said, “I heard a noise.”

      She picked him up, hugging him close. “It was just me and...” She looked at Tyler as if she weren’t sure how to introduce him.

      Tyler stepped closer. “I’m Tyler. A friend of your uncle Seth.”

      “Uncle Seth is with Daddy now,” Colin replied gravely.

      “Yes, he is,” Tyler said. He gave the boy a sad smile. “I’m sure they are both watching over you and your mommy.”

      Colin scrunched up his nose. “What happened to your head?”

      Heather grimaced.

      “I had an accident,” Tyler said, touching the bandage on his head. “With a frying pan.”

      Heather’s eyes widened, and a pink blush stained her cheeks. He grinned at her. She flushed a deeper shade of red.

      The boy snuggled into the crook of his mother’s neck. She kissed the top of his head. The sight of Heather and her son made a touching picture. Tyler’s chest grew tight.

      “I’ll be right back,” Heather said and carried Colin upstairs.

      Something shifted and constricted inside Tyler as he watched them go. Heather’s love for her son was obvious in the tender way she treated him. Tyler had never known that kind of love.

      Certainly not from his mother. She’d been too busy scoring her next high or lost in a haze of drugs to bother with affection. Her only son had been a means to gain the weekly welfare check, nothing more.

      After Heather and her son disappeared from Tyler’s sight, an unfamiliar ache of longing lingered. He wasn’t even sure what he longed for, but he was determined to keep Heather and her son safe.

      He could only pray he didn’t fail them like he had Seth.

      * * *

      Heather tucked Colin back into bed. “You need your sleep, big guy. Tomorrow we’re helping Rob change out the village lights.”

      Rob Zane lived in one of the houses on the property. Her parents had offered him the job of caretaker for the farm’s Christmas Village after he’d recovered from a house fire that had taken his own family nearly fifteen years earlier. A fire that some whispered he’d started. Her parents had stood by him through the arson investigation. And even though the fire had been deemed an accident, many in the area weren’t convinced. He’d been kind and generous to her family in return for her parents’ loyalty.

      “And the decorations,” Colin said, the thrum of excitement in his tone. “Rob said I could help him with Santa’s house.”

      “That will be fun.” This coming weekend they would open the farm up to the public to come enjoy the village and sleigh rides and to cut their own trees to take home. But first Heather had to get through Thanksgiving. The day wouldn’t be anything like she’d hoped, but she’d do her best to make it special for Colin, despite her sorrow over her brother’s death. Murder. She shuddered.

      Careful to keep her expression from betraying the quiver of fear, she kissed Colin’s forehead. “You need to get some sleep so you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow.”

      “I don’t have a tail, Mommy,” Colin admonished her with a grin.

      She laughed, thankful for his sweet innocence, and smoothed back a lock of hair, her chest crowding with a mother’s love. “No, you don’t, sweetie.”

      Heather left Colin’s room and ducked into her own bedroom to change into comfortable sweatpants and a pullover hoodie. When she went back downstairs, she found Tyler had turned off all the lights except one lamp by the couch.

      He stood СКАЧАТЬ