Seth seemed to understand, and traded instructions instead of goodbyes. Flash your badge to the man in the squad car. Captain Taylor gave him orders to shoot first and ask questions later if anyone approaches the house.
Got it.
Is there a problem, son? The swinging kitchen door closed behind Susan Kincaid as Sawyer hung up the phone. She looked tired, like she wasnt eating enough, like maybe there were a few more threads of gray in her dark brown hair than had been there a week ago.
But Sawyer still stood up a little straighter when she crossed her arms and tilted her chin with that I-dare-you- to-lie-to-me look that had gotten him to fess up from the time he was a small boy. Im sorry. Somethings come up at work. I need to go take care of it.
That stern-mama look had never lasted for long. It didnt now. Instead, Susan reached up and tugged Sawyers wrinkled tie free from his collar. She smoothed the front of his unbuttoned uniform jacket and straightened his shirt. Of all my boys, you never were one to sit still and worry things through for very long. Probably why you were the one we always had to drive to the emergency room. Her hands settled at the center of his chest, warming Sawyer all the way through to his heart. Staying dressed up and putting on a game face all day long must be driving you crazy.
Sawyer grinned. You think you know me that well, huh?
Please. After thirty-two years, I know you better than you know yourself. If you need to crash out and take care of something, do it. Your fathers assistant, Brooke, is here to help me, and shes keeping things running so efficiently that theres nothing much for any of us to do. Your brothers will understand if you need to leave. I understand. She turned him toward door and gave him a push. Now go. Just give me a call later so I know youre all right.
Though Susan Kincaids will was a force to be reckoned with, Sawyer was twice her size and refused to be ushered out just yet. He turned at the door, scooped her up in a bear hug and planted a kiss on her cheek before setting her down. I love you, Mom.
She smiled. It was the first real smile hed seen on her throughout this long, long day. I know.
Chapter Two
Twenty-five minutes later, Sawyer pulled his truck up behind the black and white, killed the lights and wipers and turned off the engine. A smile from his mom had improved his mood if not his trepidation about tonights visit to Melissa Teagues tiny white house in the Kansas City suburb of Independence. The place was neat, but plain and unassuming, showing the signs of its age in the sag of the front porch and the cracks running through the brickwork along the houses foundation.
He pulled his badge from his jacket and slipped it back into his wallet before checking the gun on his belt and climbing out. Squinting into the rain, he braced his shoulders for the unpleasant task at hand and moved toward the officer in the squad car.
Im a friend of the family, he explained, fudging a little on the friend part as the blue suit read his badge and ID and okayed him to approach the house.
Sawyer caught a glimpse of his drowned-rat reflection when the officer rolled up his window against the moisture splashing into his car. Big scary man coming in from the dark and the storm. Yeah, hed be a real re-assuring sight.
One more reason to hate the rain.
Muttering a curse that was half damnation, half resignation to the inevitable, Sawyer jumped the torrent running along the curb and hurried across the street. Pausing for a quick scan up and down the sidewalk and into the side yards, he made sure there were no unwelcome eyes watching the place. In fact, other than the officer in the car, the block was deserted. The isolation of locked doors and dark windows nagged at him almost as much as the sight of someone spying on the house would have. But he supposed he was the only one without the sense to stay in on a night like this. Tomorrow, hed order a rundown on all the neighbors to make sure there were no empty houses and that the residents were who they said they were.
Resolved that he could at least do that much to keep Melissa safe, Sawyer climbed the steps onto her front porch. The wood shifted and creaked beneath his weight, groaning like an ominous portent of unseen danger. But the light beside the door was on, so shed be able to get a good look at him before opening it.
He pressed the doorbell, then shook the excess water from his unbuttoned jacket, making sure his Glock was tucked out of sight behind his back. He was squeegeeing the rain from his hair when the inside door nudged open a crack.
Sawyer braced for the impact of seeing Melissa again.
But the breath hed been holding eased from his chest in an odd mixture of disappointment and relief as he caught his first glimpse of the woman peeking over the chain latching the door to its frame.
Not Melissa. Just as petite, though, maybe five foot two or three at the most. Pretty in a soft sort of feminine way that must be an inherited trait. The wary suspicion in this womans eyes was similar. But the hair was shorter, curlier, laced with silver amongst the gold. Yes?
Mrs. Teague?
Whos asking?
Sawyer held his badge up beside his face. KCPD, maam. Im Detective Kincaid from the Fourth Precinct.
The older woman squinted. The Fourth Precincts in downtown Kansas City. What are you doing out? Oh, shoot. She turned away from the door and shouted inside. Benjamin? Bring Grandma her glasses. Please. She looked back through the screen that separated her from Sawyer. I wondered when someone was going to come up to the house. That police car has been sitting out there for a half hour. I was still cleaning the dinner dishes when he pulled up. Makes me nervous.
Its just a precaution, maam. Hes keeping an eye on the neighborhood. Sawyer tucked his badge onto his belt and retreated a step to hopefully ease her concern. Is Miss Teague here?
Gandma? Short, chubby fingers pushed a pair of glasses into the womans hands, and then a little boy with shaggy black hair, barefoot and dressed in overalls, peeked around her leg.
Sawyers pulse hitched in recognition as he looked down into a carbon copy of Melissas clear blue eyes.
Hey, pal. Hows it goin? Sawyer grinned at the little guy. He must be three years old. He barely cleared Sawyers knee, but there was no mistaking the bold curiosity in his expression as he inched his way around his grandmothers leg and craned his neck to look up into Sawyers face.
I cant talk to stwangers, he announced very wisely.
Sawyer nudged the boys age up to four, or maybe twelve or thirty-six, judging by his verbal abilities. Thats smart. He held out his ID again, now that the woman at the door had her glasses on. Did your mom teach you that?
How come youre so big?
Laughter was the only option with a question like that. My moms a good cook. And Im a good eater.
Im a good eater, too.
Of course. The woman snapped her fingers in recognition, drawing Sawyers focus back up. Youre that man who came to visit Melissa in the hospital. The co-worker from when she was waitressing at the Riverboat Casino. I dont know that she was ever awake while you were there. For a long time, I didnt think she was going to come out of that coma. Im Fritzi Teague, Melissas mother. This is her son, Benjamin. Her welcoming chatter slowed into suspicion once more. I thought she said you were a bartender, though.