Stolen by Margaret Daley

Author:Margaret Daley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: abduction, adoption, single mom, police detective, western ranch, therapy dog, abandon animals
Publisher: Margaret Daley

* * *

Nick entered the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Finally, everyone was asleep after a hectic day. He’d completed his rounds on the ranch and made sure the two kittens, about five or six weeks old that were abandoned at his gate earlier, were settled in the barn with the other animals. He brought the strays back to the house and showed the girls how he fed them with a bottle. When he took the young cats to the barn, he put them in a large cage with bedding and a bowl of water. In the barn, they’d be protected from a bird of prey scooping them up or a coyote catching them outside. Both of the girls had taken to the two kittens right away.

“Is all well at the barn?” Sarah asked as she entered the kitchen.

“You’re supposed to be in bed.”

“You’re kidding. After all that’s gone on today.” Sarah withdrew a glass from the cabinet, filled it with ice cold water, and took a chair at the table. “I’m glad it was kittens at the gate, not someone after Candy.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was ready for a confrontation with the person who killed Mary. Did you find out who Candy said was here?”

“Yes, but she indicated to me that she saw her mother being stabbed by this guy. She didn’t tell me, but she showed me this.” Sarah went through the motions of striking a person over and over as though holding a knife.

“If she saw the man stabbing her mother, I can’t believe Candy had the sense to get to the safe room and hide.”

“When Mary told me about the hidden room, she told me she was doing drills so Candy would go there automatically. At that time, I realized how much Mary feared her ex-husband. I think the man Candy saw was her father although she didn’t tell me it was him. My sighting of Jack Coleman tells us he’s in town, which means he’s probably after his daughter. Mary is dead. Why else would he hang around Cimarron City?”

“Then she needs to stay home from school. Actually, even if it wasn’t her father, the man scared her. I agree he’s probably her mother’s killer.”

“I hesitate to keep her from going to school. It’s a constant for her. Everything else is new, and a lot of it’s terrifying for a six-year-old.”

“I’ve got an idea. I’ll pull Officer Landon in to go with Candy to school. She can even take the two girls there and bring them home. That’ll give your aunt some relief as well as my grandpa. I know they’re both capable of guarding Candy and you, but everyone needs rest to do their best on the job.”

Sarah stared at her drink for a long moment. When she looked up at him, his heartbeat raced. “I’d like Maggie to be in regular clothes, and if the principal and teacher agree, Maggie will be there to help the children like a teacher’s aide or a volunteer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.