Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“Help,” she said. “I need help.” And she fell into their house.
Chapter 36
After a couple of hours of peaceful sleep, Laurel rolled over in the bed to find Huck staring at the ceiling. “You okay?” she asked, snuggling into his side.
“I’m good. It was a relief to find those girls last night. It hit me how easy it is to lose a kid.”
She chuckled, happy he’d been able to find them. “Those kids were fine. They went the wrong way, they found a shelter, and they waited for you to save them. You are now that girl’s mom’s hero for life, though, you know?”
“She did mention in a text that she’d bake me some cookies.” Huck slipped an arm around Laurel and drew her near. He kissed the top of her head. “Aeneas did a good job. That is one smart dog.”
He was a sweetheart of a dog, too. But he’d been slightly injured in the rescue, so Huck had brought him immediately home. “Is his paw okay?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be sore, but I put some medicine on it after I took out the brambles he stepped in. The guy kept going anyway until we found the girls. He’s going to have to take it easy for a couple of days.”
“That’s all right. Monty enjoyed being the hero when he brought the girls home to their families, but we all know it was you.”
Huck chuckled. “I don’t mind sharing the glory with Monty. He deserves it. The guy should be home in bed for the next three weeks, but he keeps going out on calls.”
Laurel cleared her throat. “How much trouble do you think you’re going to be in for disobeying orders and attending a search and rescue call?”
“We’ll find out,” Huck said. “I did disobey a direct order. However, the media recorded me carrying one of the girls out of the woods, so maybe it’ll balance out. What are your plans on this fine Sunday?”
Laurel didn’t have time to take a day off. “I need to figure out if Jason Abbott was the killer of those blondes. And if so, how he found your mother. Was it just happenstance?” She hated the thought, but it was possible. “Or am I missing something?” She felt as if the truth remained just out of her conscious. “The fact that the killer dyed your mom’s hair blond or talked her into doing it is bothering me. Why?”
“Hell if I know. Instead of asking questions, let’s come up with a plan.”
“I’m bringing in both Pastors John and Zeke to question them. Because Teri Bearing’s body was found at the church, I have the right—and because Opal said that your mom headed north to meet a pastor. Of course, all we have is Opal’s word that Delta mentioned a pastor. And how many pastors are there between here and Santa Fe? It’s inadmissible. It doesn’t mean anything. And yet . . .”
Huck finished the sentence for her. “It means everything.”
A pounding on the door had Huck sitting upright. Laurel frowned and slid from the bed to don his heavy sweatshirt over her thin camisole and shorts.
The pounding increased in volume. Huck yanked on jeans. “Stay here.” He walked around the bed.
“No.” She placed her gun in her pocket and followed him into the living room.
Aeneas barked wildly from his bed by the fire, and even Fred looked up, his body tensing.
Huck opened the door. Laurel leaned around him to see Deputy Chief Mert Wright and Captain Monty Buckley standing on the other side with two uniformed police officers behind them.
“What the hell’s going on?” Huck asked.
Monty stared at his boots. “I’m sorry about this, Huck.”
Huck looked from one to the other. “What is happening?”
Mert Wright frowned and reached for cuffs. “Captain Huck Rivers, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and assault of Rachel Raprenzi and for the murders of Delta Rivers, Teri Bearing, and Haylee Johnson.”
* * *
Huck wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever been this angry before, so he’d remained entirely silent until he sat on the other side of the interrogation table from Captain Monty Buckley, who looked as if he needed to cry, and Deputy Chief Mert Wright, who looked as if he wanted to break into song.
“Did you say attack on Rachel Raprenzi?” Huck asked finally, his hands still in cuffs.
“Uncuff him,” Monty said.
“Not a chance,” Wright retorted. “He’s dangerous.”
Huck couldn’t argue. He was feeling pretty damn dangerous. “What happened to Rachel?”
“Like you don’t know,” Wright sneered.
Huck focused on Monty. “What happened to Rachel?”
Monty leaned over and released Huck’s cuffs, dragging them across the table and tossing them on the floor. “She got kidnapped last night, thrown into a dog crate, and nearly drowned by the river after somebody cut holes in the ice.”
Huck stiffened. “When?”
“After the search and rescue operation, which made it quite handy for you, didn’t it?” Wright asked.