Whispers Under A Southern Sky

“It’s not. I could have never become a cop if the mistakes of my birth family were held against me.” He flipped the cover back over the baby’s makeshift bed. “My foster family has taken in a lot of kids over the years, and the first thing they tried to knock into our heads was not to make judgments of each other based on anything other than our actions. Everyone deserves to earn their own reputation.”

“I like that.” Bailey smiled.

“Very cool,” Megan agreed.

He wished he’d won over the other kids at Crestwood High as easily when he’d spoken to the student body last week. Maybe having more interactions with teens would help him figure out how to talk to them. Any one of them might be a potential witness, and he wasn’t going to overlook the chance for evidence again.

Besides, having Megan Bryer and Bailey McCord nearby held appeal for his case. He’d interviewed Megan about the attempted kidnapping last month, but she hadn’t been able to give him many details since her captors hadn’t shown their faces.

Bailey, meanwhile, was someone he’d hoped would come forward with information because she’d dated J.D. But so far she hadn’t offered any insider knowledge about her ex-boyfriend or his jailbird father.

Since Megan had already given her deposition and Bailey seemed not to have any relevant info, he was comfortable employing them. His first priority was Aiden. Heartache wasn’t exactly a thriving metropolis with lots of options for caregivers.

“I’m going to check these references.” He slid the folded sheet of paper Bailey had given him into the breast pocket of his jacket. “Megan, you’re welcome to submit some if you are still interested.”

He watched them do more of the ESP thing, their gazes connecting.

“I am.” Her ponytail bobbed as she nodded. “I can email them to you when I get home.”

“Fair enough.” He reached to shake hands with each of them. “Thank you for stopping by. I’ll get back to you this week.”

As they turned to leave, Sam retrieved his phone to check his messages. He added Megan and Bailey to the list of people for Zach’s background checks, typing their names into an email.

Before he finished, a message flashed across the screen from an app he’d never used before, a program he didn’t recall downloading.

Stop asking for victims to come forward. Your son’s safety is at stake.

He read the message twice, his hand reaching for the top rail of the playpen instinctively. His blood chilled.

What. The. Hell.

Emotions surged, fear and fury leading the charge.

But before he could forward it to Zach for analysis, the message vanished.

Searching every conceivable screen and folder on the phone, Sam used his landline to call Zach.

He picked up right away. “Chance.”

“I just received a threat to Aiden on my cell. The message disappeared after I read it.”

Zach swore. “Don’t touch anything on the phone. I’ll see if I can find it. Want me to pick it up, or are you coming into town?”

“I’ll bring it to you.” He made up his mind as he pocketed the device. “I was going to drop off Aiden at my mother’s, but first I’m going to assign someone to watch her place. I’m not taking any chances with him.”

“Of course. I’ll meet you at the town hall?”

“Yes.” Sam clenched his fist to try to hold back the fury boiling just under his skin.

That was his son they were talking about. A defenseless kid.

He needed to speak to Amy Finley, and sooner rather than later. She might have reasons for keeping the past secret, but nothing was more important than this. Sam was going to learn the truth.

* * *

THE PAN OF brownies called to her. Again. Okay, for the fourth time.

Amy set down her sledgehammer and swiped a hand under her hard hat to mop the dampness from her forehead. She’d removed her first wall in the hunting cabin today, merging two small sleeping spaces into one normal-size bedroom.

Soon she’d work on tearing down the metaphorical walls in her life—the ones that kept her from reuniting with her family. But for now, she felt good to have tackled the literal variety. Plus she hadn’t turned the police scanner on again after a quick listen in the morning. Surely that meant she was getting her feet back under her in this town again.

Besides, eating the brownies her sisters had made didn’t mean she’d forgiven them for leaving her alone with her mother more times than she could count as a teenager. It just meant she liked chocolate and homemade sweets.

Period.

Standing the sledgehammer in one corner of the living room, she brought the pan out onto the small front porch to escape the demolition dust. Outdoors, it smelled like pine and dried leaves, a heady autumn fragrance that she breathed in deeply.

She missed the country only for moments like this—the proximity to nature that had been her best reprieve from the stress of living under the microscope in a small town. She’d always loved the sound of cicadas in late summer or the sight of peach orchards in bloom each spring, turning half the town pink. But fall was her favorite season with the wealth of pumpkins and Indian corn decorating entryways, and the rich, earthy scent of drying leaves.

She took a seat on the swing to devour her treat and enjoy the quiet. She hadn’t eaten two bites when her only neighbor appeared on the hill below the house. Sam Reyes charged toward her with purposeful steps. For a moment, she was able to observe him unaware. Dressed in dark pants and a gray button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked more like a Fed than a local sheriff today. He walked fast, his posture rigid and his gaze downcast.

He was a handsome man. Prominent cheekbones and the straight blade of his nose gave his face character. A full lower lip and moody gray eyes were romantic touches that would make women notice him. He’d definitely turned her head as a teen. And now?

He caught her staring.

“Amy.” He gave a brief nod. No smile. No other greeting.

Had she thought those gray eyes were romantic? Today they had the crystalline sharpness of ice chips. How crazy that she could tell he was upset when she hadn’t seen him in a decade.

“You caught me.” She swallowed her first bite of brownie. “I was just thinking these are so good it’s a crime, and out of the blue, the sheriff appears.” She held out the tray. “Would you consider a bribe?”

“No. Thank you.” Stepping up on the porch, he settled against the wooden railing. “I need to ask you a few questions.”

She lost her appetite. Setting the pan aside, she stood.

“Would you mind if we took a walk?” She hoped the movement would hide her nervousness. “I’ve been cooped up inside since I got here, except for my one outing to the stores a few days ago.”

And, frankly, she didn’t feel comfortable walking through the woods alone. But with Sam, she could at least enjoy the sights and scents while he questioned her. Nerves fluttered as she steeled herself for the conversation she did not want to have.

“Sure.” Nodding, he waited for her to precede him, then followed her onto an overgrown path behind the cabin. Their footsteps crunched pleasantly through dried leaves as they trekked uphill. “I’ve thought a lot about what you said the last time I was here. About you having questions regarding my friendship with Gabriella and the way we left.”

The statement caught her off guard. She’d been bracing for him to start quizzing her about that summer. She hadn’t been expecting answers.

“You left without a word to me.” Her voice sounded brittle, the memory a dull ache.

“I regretted that. But let me explain. A few days before I left, I was at Zach’s house, waiting for him to get home from that nursing home where he worked. He’d had to stay late because one of the patients had fallen ill.”

She remembered. Before Zach Chance became mayor of Heartache, he’d grown up in the town, the son of a wealthy, white-collar criminal who’d scammed millions of people in a pyramid scheme. Zach had done everything he could to separate himself from his crooked parents, taking a job at a senior center where he’d volunteered countless hours.