Lawman's Perfect Surrender. Jennifer Morey

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СКАЧАТЬ the engine. Hallie told him where she lived but fell into deep thought after he began driving.

      “My dad hangs out with Samuel all the time,” Dillon put out there. It’d be great if she started talking. Maybe they could team up.

      Her gaze moved for a tentative glance but she said nothing.

      “That’s why I started watching him,” he continued as though he hadn’t noticed. “I followed him to the inn tonight. I think Samuel did something to change him. Not that my dad was all that great before. He’s always treated my mom like dirt. She hates going anywhere with him anymore, but he keeps making her. He likes going to the community center all the time. There’s something weird going on there.”

      Hallie’s head turned a small degree, enough for her eyes to once again glance his way.

      “My mom’s been drinking a lot. I’m starting to get really worried about her.”

      “Is that why you’re following your dad?”

      Finally. He’d gotten her to talk. “Yeah. She needs someone to watch over her. My dad’s not going to. He’s going to drag her into a garbage can.”

      “That’s really sweet. That you’re watching over her.”

      Sweet? He’d kick his dad’s behind if he ever hurt his mom again. “I saw a tattoo of D on his hip.”

      “Really?”

      “I don’t know if my mom has one, but I bet she does. He probably forced her to do it with him.” That made him so mad.

      “Even if she didn’t want to?”

      “She drinks way too much. It’s like she tries to blot out the fact that he’s turning into a whack job and taking her with him. Compliments of Grayson.” He didn’t even try to hide his disgust. He used to be close to his dad. Now his dad barely noticed when he came and went.

      “What are you going to do?” Hallie asked.

      Without even telling him, she’d revealed their common interest. They both despised Samuel Grayson.

      “Keep following my dad. Maybe I’ll catch him or Grayson doing something wrong.”

      “Are you blind? Bo Fargo was there.” Her emotion gave away the reason she’d gone to the inn. Bo Fargo.

      He didn’t ask her why. She probably wouldn’t tell him anyway. “He’s one man in a whole police department.”

      “The Chief of Police.”

      “Not everyone supports Samuel Grayson.”

      “Yeah, but who would that be?”

      “Ford McCall wasn’t at the inn tonight. He doesn’t meet Grayson anywhere.”

      After a moment, she asked, “You think he isn’t one of them?”

      “He never goes to any of those seminars, and I never see him anywhere Grayson is unless the whole town is there.”

      They reached the street where she lived. As he drove around the corner, flashing lights elicited a startled gasp from Hallie.

      “My grandmother!”

      After frantically running to every window and door to make sure they were all locked, Gemma didn’t think she’d ever been happier to see firemen and police officers. The five minutes it had taken for them to get here seemed like hours, each second spent frightened out of her mind that Jed would find a way inside Martha’s house. The firemen had already checked her out and the police had arrived to ask questions. She and Martha had just finished answering them. Gemma looked for Ford again—she’d done that several times. Where was he?

      Gemma joined Martha on the sofa. The woman’s gravity-ravaged face and stunning light blue eyes were drawn with strain. She’d given the poor old woman quite a scare.

      “I think you saved my life tonight, Martha.”

      Martha’s smile eased the lines of tension. “I haven’t had this much excitement since my son went missing. My old ticker can’t take much more of that.” She patted her chest above her large and sagging breasts.

      What she’d said about her son caught Gemma’s attention in a hurry. “Your son is missing?”

      “Mmm-hmm. Since a few months ago.”

      “Do you know what happened to him?”

      With that, the old woman grew uncertain. “The police say they’re looking for him.”

      It didn’t sound as though she believed that.

      “They think he left of his own free will,” she added.

      “But you don’t think so?”

      What Gemma had thought was uncertainty became something else entirely. Distrust. Martha eyed Gemma with anxious hesitation.

      Her discussion with Ford gave her a moment of uncertainty herself. Was there something going on in this town? Something that made Martha suspicious of her neighbors?

      Someone burst through the door. Gemma looked up, expecting Ford. When she saw Martha’s granddaughter charging into the room, followed by a slightly older boy, she restrained her disappointment. There were plenty of policemen here. She didn’t need Ford.

      “Grandma!” the girl yelled.

      The boy entered the house and stopped just inside.

      Using the armrest for support, Martha stood up from the sofa and the girl threw herself against her for a hug. “Oh, my God. Are you okay?”

      “Great goats, Hallie, I’m fine. It was our neighbor who needed help.” She leaned back. “Gemma was attacked by her ex-husband again.”

      The girl glanced down at Gemma and then began touching her grandmother all over as though having to feel for herself that she was all right. It was so moving. Gemma had never had anything like that growing up. She’d never felt that close to her mother.

      “We drove up and there were all those lights.” Hallie’s eyes misted. “I was so scared.”

      Martha gave her granddaughter a kiss on her cheek. “Oh, now, you see everything is all right.”

      “I didn’t know, with all the trouble we’ve been—” She shot a look at Gemma. “I just didn’t know.”

      What had the girl stopped herself from saying? Trouble with what? Martha’s son? Hallie had to be his daughter.

      “Gemma!”

      At the sound of the rich, deep voice so full of concern, Gemma looked up to see Ford striding toward her, maneuvering through firemen and police officers to reach her. The sight of him sent sparks of gladness chasing through her. She couldn’t explain why. Why was he different than the other officers? She didn’t care.

      She stood СКАЧАТЬ