Betrayed Birthright. Liz Shoaf

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СКАЧАТЬ she was very detailed in her account of events. Almost as if she she’d done this before. Suspicious now, he asked the normal questions, but his gut screamed that there was much more to Abby Mayfield than met the eye.

      “Do you keep valuables in the house? Anything that might tempt a burglar?” Statistics showed that most thieves broke into empty homes when people were out of town. Not when they were asleep in bed. The perpetrator had a bigger chance of getting caught if people were in the house.

      Fiddling with a string on the bottom of her pajama top, she bit her lip, as if debating how much to tell. Noah leaned forward, placing his elbows on his thighs. “Ms. Mayfield—Abby—I can’t help you if you don’t come clean with me.”

      Her chin notched up and he was momentarily pulled into the deep pools of her dark brown eyes. He pulled back, refusing to go there. He had responsibilities now. A motherless, six-year-old son. Ms. Mayfield might appear as harmless as a newly unfurled flower, but he reminded himself again that looks could be deceiving.

      The dog settled at her feet, placing himself solidly between the two of them. She leaned down and rubbed his head.

      “I guess I have to trust someone and you look dependable enough.”

      He kept his expression all business when she lifted her eyes, as if she was assessing his trustworthiness.

      Releasing a sigh, she sat up straight. “I moved to Blessing, Texas, eight months ago because there were several incidents where I lived in North Carolina.” He didn’t miss the slight tremor in her voice. “There were two break-ins at my home, but praise the Lord, I had a high-quality alarm system. There was also—” she placed her hand on the dog’s head again, as if for reassurance “—a car that I’m pretty sure tried to run me down, but nothing that could be proven.”

      Noah made notes on the pad he had pulled out of his shirt pocket. “Did you report the incidents to the local police?”

      She nodded. “I sure did. They were very nice and did a thorough investigation. They questioned my coworkers at church, along with all my music students’ parents. They found nothing.” Her expression turned quizzical. “It’s the craziest thing ever. I don’t have one enemy that I know of, and it’s not as if I own anything valuable. I’m a choir director and piano teacher. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt me.”

      The exasperation in her voice almost made him smile. She was a cute wisp of air.

      “During the investigation, did they delve into your family background?”

      If anything, she became even more vexed. “There’s only me and my grandmother. My parents died in a car accident when I was six. They were both only children. Grammy is the only family I have left. She’s still in North Carolina. I’m trying to encourage her to move here, but I’m not sure what to do now. Whoever did those terrible things in North Carolina has apparently followed me to Texas.”

      She shuddered and Noah had the sudden urge to take this petite woman home with him where he could protect her and keep her safe. Ignoring his thoughts, he scribbled in his notebook.

      “Have you received any threatening letters or phone calls?”

      “No, nothing.”

      “Is that why you moved to Blessing? Because of the danger?”

      “Yes, and because I didn’t want my grandmother to get hurt. She lived three houses down from me. The police didn’t even have a lead, and now this mess has followed me here.”

      “How did you come to pick Blessing?”

      For the first time, a full smile bloomed on her face and his heart lurched. He still missed his wife, but it had been two years since ovarian cancer had claimed her life.

      “Grammy got really worried after the second break-in. The police were cruising the neighborhood every once in a while, but it didn’t stop the intruders. She hoped whoever was after me was local and would leave me alone if I moved across the country. We studied a map of Texas and she decided that Blessing, with a population of 967, would be a good place to move. It would be hard for the person after me to hide in such a small town.”

      She leaned forward and grinned. “Did you know Blessing was founded in 1903? The leaders of the town changed the original name from Thank God to Blessing after the United States Postal Service rejected the first name and refused to deliver the mail. Isn’t that a hoot?”

      Noah noted that Abby had a sweet, bubbly personality.

      “Interesting piece of information. I grew up here and never heard that story. I’ll have to share it with my son. Is this the first incident that’s happened since you arrived in Blessing?”

      Her smile slipped away, and he missed the warmth of it, but they had an intruder to catch and catch them he would. He was a tenacious investigator, if the media was to be believed. He may have left the FBI to run for sheriff in his hometown, but his instincts ran true. And if he admitted the truth, he was ready to sink his teeth into something more than lost dogs and domestic disputes.

      He would do everything in his power to keep Abby Mayfield safe.

       TWO

      Abby studied Sheriff Galloway. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. The break-in had done a number on her. She’d really believed she’d left whoever was trying to harm her behind in North Carolina. She could still hardly believe anyone hated her enough to try to run her down with a car or break into her house.

      But what could a small-town Texas sheriff do that the authorities in North Carolina hadn’t been able to accomplish? Remnants of a newspaper article floated through her mind, and then it hit her. “You’re that famous FBI guy from New York.” Her heart beat faster. “You rooted out those mafia guys trying to kill the mayor and saved his life. It was all over the news.”

      Sheriff Galloway surely stood over six feet and sported short, dark hair. He was a handsome man, in a rugged sort of way, but when those electric-blue eyes focused intently on her, memories of the newscasts filtered through her mind.

      “I’m sorry about your wife.” It had been reported that his wife passed away, but at least he still had his son. She had lost her precious unborn baby boy after receiving news of her husband’s death several years earlier.

      He glanced down at his notebook. “Thank you.”

      For the first time since the whole mess started, Abby felt a stirring of hope. “Do you think you can find out who’s doing this to me?”

      He raised his head. A steely glint filled his eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

      Abby sensed a fierce determination. Once he’d picked up the trail of an enemy, he would never stop. He seemed trustworthy, but she wouldn’t care to be on the bad side of this particular lawman. His hunting instincts shone bright from his eyes. She privately pegged him as a good predator hunting very dangerous parasites.

      “One more question.”

      “Yes?”

      “Are there any irate husbands or boyfriends СКАЧАТЬ