Snowbound Security. Beverly Long

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      “Yes,” she said. She topped off her cup of coffee and he saw that her hand was shaking slightly. It made him think that she wasn’t nearly as calm as she was pretending to be. She wore the same clothes that she’d had on last night and he wondered if she, too, had slept in her clothes. Prepared. And by the way she’d sprang after the child this morning, he figured it was for anything that was necessary to protect the little girl.

      There was only a double bed in the smaller bedroom, which meant that she’d either snuggled close to the child or slept on the floor. He had a crazy suspicion it had been the latter, with her body squarely in front of the door to prevent it from being opened and surprising her.

      Mother bears always fascinated him.

      “I...uh...didn’t mention...” she waved in the direction of the couch “...last night.”

      He shrugged. “The bed in the room you gave up is a king. The two of you should have slept there.”

      “We were fine,” she said, dismissing his comment.

      “Crazy situation we got here, but I know I’ve got the rental company information in my contacts so that we can get this straightened out.” He looked at his watch. “They probably open at nine.”

      She looked around. “It’s a really nice place.”

      She didn’t sound that happy about it. Ten years ago, Rico had looked for months for just the right property. And when he’d seen this place, he’d fallen for it. The exterior logs had been solid and didn’t require much. He’d gutted the insides, replacing everything, and adding a laundry room off the kitchen and a second bath off the master bedroom. Now, it fit his needs almost perfectly. It was a good size for him and enough room that when his parents or his sister’s family visited, it was big enough.

      He picked up his phone. “Cell service seems to suck. Guess it’s good that the place comes with a landline,” he added, looking at the phone on the wall.

      “I think we’re going to run to the grocery store this morning.”

      So that was how it was going to go. “Jennie’s is about fifteen minutes east. You can get the basics there. Otherwise, you’re looking at forty-five minutes down the mountain the other direction.”

      “Jennie’s will be fine,” she said. “Maybe we’ll do a little sightseeing at the same time.”

      Which was code for the trip might take a while. Plenty of time to get far away before he knew for sure that they weren’t coming back.

      “How old is your little girl?”

      She looked over her shoulder, as if to confirm that the child was engrossed in whatever was on the computer. “Boy,” she correctly softly.

      “Sorry,” he said. He evidently had some things to learn about kids. He had a nephew and a niece and he’d always been able to tell the difference. “He’s cute,” he said.

      “Thanks.”

      His sister had never stopped talking about her kids when they were young. He’d known what they were doing, new words they were learning and sometimes even their bowel habits. This woman evidently wasn’t chatty.

      She put her coffee cup in the sink. “Finish up,” she said to the child. “We need to go to the store.”

      “I want to stay here,” the kid said, not looking up from the screen. “Please, Laura.”

      Laura. Last night she’d asked him his name. He’d offered up his first. She hadn’t drilled for more, likely because she hadn’t been willing to reciprocate. He hadn’t pushed for the information, had sensed that she might guard her name the same way she was willing to guard the door of her bedroom—with a rifle.

      “Sorry,” Laura said. She walked over to the couch and picked up the computer.

      “Hey,” was the immediate protest.

      “Come with me. You can watch it in the bedroom while we get ready for the store.”

      They left Rico standing in his kitchen, mulling the situation over a cup of green tea, whole grain cereal and organic blueberries.

      And ten minutes later, they came out of the bedroom, both with backpacks that looked pretty full. He suspected they contained everything that they’d arrived with.

      The woman had not changed her clothes. The child was dressed in a plain gray T-shirt, blue jeans, and wore a baseball cap.

      “So I’ll make a call once the office opens and should have some info for you by the time you get back,” he said. “I’m headed for the shower now.” He picked up his crutches.

      “How’s the ankle?” she asked.

      “A little swollen,” he admitted.

      “Keep it elevated and put cold on it—twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. Ibuprofen might help, too.”

      “Are you a doctor, a nurse?”

      Panic flashed in her eyes. “No, nothing like that.” She picked up the child. “Well, see you later.”

      Right. “Good luck,” he said. “At the grocery store,” he added.

      She didn’t answer. The door slammed behind her and she and the child made their way to the Mustang. He watched them get to the end of the lane and turn left.

      And was still standing at the window ten minutes later when he saw the Mustang pass by the end of his lane again, this time going the opposite direction. Away from Jennie’s. Had she decided to go down the mountain, to the bigger store?

      Maybe. But he didn’t think so.

      Laura was running. And unless he was crazy, she was trying to pass a little girl off as a little boy.

      Had she stolen the child? He didn’t think she was a stranger to the child who had given no indication that she didn’t want to be with Laura or that she was frightened of her.

      Laura didn’t have to be a stranger to have wrongfully taken the child. She could be a noncustodial parent. But would the child call her by her first name and not Mama?

      The woman was out of his hair. He should let it go. But he knew there was no way.

      He called Lucky back in, grabbed his keys and his crutches and they were out the door in less than a minute.

      * * *

      She hated that they’d had to leave the cabin. But Rico was going to make his call and it was going to be painfully obvious that she didn’t have a right to be there. She thought about calling Melissa and warning her that her patient might be getting a call from the rental company wondering if she’d happened to give out the code to the door. But she discarded the idea. If the elderly woman got called, she likely wouldn’t even answer the phone since she wasn’t feeling well. If she did, she’d tell them that she didn’t know what they were talking about and that СКАЧАТЬ