No Secrets by Reita Pendry

Author:Reita Pendry [Pendry, Reita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-nine

Weak rays of dawn falling across Cass’s pillow roused her from sleep. “John?” He was not in the bed, and she didn’t hear him in the shower. He must be feeding the pigs. Cass reached for her cover-up, pulled the caftan over her head, ducked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She found her Crocs under the bed, slipped into them and made for the kitchen. She was about to go out the back door to the barn when John came in. He looked puzzled. “Did you leave the French doors open?”

It took Cass a minute to realize the import of the question. She said “No” at the same time she turned down the hallway to the wing of the house where they had moved Cynthia last night. That wing was accessible by a separate entrance opening onto the patio. The doors from the guest suite to the patio were standing wide open. She rushed into the bedroom. The pajamas she’d laid out for Cynthia were still lying on the bed, folded. From the looks of the bed, it had not been slept in. The television remote was on the floor next to the bedside table, as if it had fallen there. No cellphone was attached to the charger plugged into the wall.

Cass turned to John. “What happened to her?” Her mouth was so dry, she had trouble getting the words out. And of course, the answer was obvious. She was gone! The lump in the pit of Cass’s stomach threatened to erupt. How in the world could this happen? They were sleeping just yards away. How could they hear nothing? And what would she tell the judge? She’d given her word!

John motioned her to follow him and headed for the kitchen. Fear seized Cass’s heart. Where was Hank? He was not one to bark for nothing, but a disturbance in the home would have incited a fury of barking and growling.

Then she remembered. John had taken him to the training center for an overnight stay.

“Thank God Hank is safe,” she said, grabbing a kitchen chair for support. John turned her toward him and held her.

“One less thing for us to worry about.”

She lowered herself into the chair and looked around the room. “Where are the cats?” Panic edged her voice. She jumped up. “What if they got out?”

John joined her in a search of the house. They found Snickers hiding under their bed. A lump under the bedspread alerted them that Tootsie had retreated to her safe place. Popsy was the most timid of the three.

“Maybe she’s in the basement,” Cass said, heading back down the hall to the kitchen. The basement door was slightly ajar. Cass rattled the dry food container. Two green eyes in a brown and orange face appeared at the top of the stairs.

Cass scooped her up and hugged her. “Thank God! All present and accounted for.”

“They were probably too scared by whatever happened here to go far.” Cass closed the door between the hallway and the kitchen to make sure the cats didn’t get out the open guest room door.

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