His Hometown Yuletide Vow by Carol Ross

Author:Carol Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-09-16T15:04:01+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CLAUSTROPHOBIC, THAT’S HOW Derrick felt as a crushing weight seemed to settle on his chest. As soon as Anne ended the call with Jack, he asked her to forward the photo to his phone. The background was blurry, making it difficult to discern the detail, but the person in the chair was definitely Easton.

“I can’t believe this...” Derrick whispered, struggling to accept what was before his eyes. “And he just had to be wearing a Panther shirt, too didn’t he?”

“Do you recognize the young woman?” Anne asked him.

Young was the operative word. She appeared to be a teenager, too. “No, but Grandma might.”

“Jack said she’s on a canoe trip and not picking up.”

“That’s right. She was going paddling with the gamers today. They have a no-phone rule.”

“How do we even know it’s real?” he asked. “It looks kind of fuzzy. Maybe it’s been photoshopped.”

“I sent it to one of my employees. Oliver is an expert with this type of stuff. He’ll be able to tell us a lot more. Any idea where this was taken?”

“None,” Derrick answered, peering at the image. “Nowhere I recognize. Looks like someone’s home.”

In the photo, Easton was sitting on a stool in what looked like someone’s kitchen. Stainless-steel appliances dotted the background. Objects were hanging on the walls, but they were too blurry to distinguish much detail. The young woman was sidewise to the camera, obscuring her features, but she was wearing blue jeans and a pink knit shirt. Her hair was up in a bun.

Derrick was afraid of what Anne was thinking. Truthfully, he was afraid of what he was thinking. Was Easton using PEDs? Could it be possible he was a con artist, or worse? Wouldn’t he know if his own brother was some sort of sociopath? He thought about those hapless family members you watched on TV who were “shocked” when they learned their brother, sister, uncle, or cousin was a bank robber or a serial killer. Derrick always believed they couldn’t possibly be so clueless to have missed the signs. Surely, Grandma would have suspected.

A throbbing began in his temple. After the lengths he’d gone to in order to get Anne to help, if Easton had done this, Derrick would ship him to Pluto. No, shipping him anywhere would be too kind. Not to mention, Derrick’s credibility and reputation would also suffer by association. For the first time, he was almost grateful he was no longer playing ball.

Awareness slowly dawned that Anne was perfectly still, watching him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“No, Anne, I’m not.”

“You think he’s guilty, don’t you?”

“Don’t you?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Come on, Anne, you can tell me the truth.”

“I am. Things aren’t always how they appear, Derrick. Look what happened to us when I made assumptions.”

“This is different. This isn’t a case of mistaken identity. That is a picture of Easton with a needle in his arm.”

Anne’s phone chimed. “That’s Oliver,” she said, picking it up and reading the message. “He’s one-hundred-percent sure the photo is genuine.” Fingers flying, she tapped out a response.

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