She was an adult, and she was struggling to deal with what happened to Kat.
“For the first couple of sessions, I’d like to come to his house. I’m hoping a familiar place will help him. I will tell you he didn’t curl up into a ball until Taylor left the room to talk to you.”
“Have you worked with Texas Ranger Blackburn before?”
“Yes, whenever a child is involved in a case. Now, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to have our first session today. From what Taylor told me, Ben’s the only one who might have seen or heard something that could help the case. In fact, perhaps it would be best if Taylor was at the session, too.”
“Anything you think will help Ben and find the killer. Holding it inside only makes the situation worse.” She’d found that out the hard way when as teenager she’d kept a secret that ate at her soul until she finally turned to the Lord with her sister’s help. Kat was the only other person who knew about it.
“Good.” John swung around and opened the door to the exam room.
When she went inside, Ben sat on the edge of the exam bed, his legs hanging down. His chin rested on his chest, but he wasn’t in a ball like before. Taylor Blackburn leaned against the piece of furniture next to Ben as if he was in deep thought.
“Ben, I want to take you home. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry. We can stop and get some hamburgers at your favorite place. Okay?”
Her nephew lifted his head and nodded once, then returned his stare to the floor.
For a moment, panic set in. She wasn’t prepared to take her sister’s place and become Ben’s full-time caregiver. What if I make a mistake? Lord, I need help. Where do I start?
She kept her focus on God, and slowly calmness overtook the anxiousness. Sierra held out her hand. “Let’s go home.”
Ben took it and slid off the exam table, the whole time still staring at the floor. At the door, her nephew spun around and threw himself at Taylor, clinging to him. The Texas Ranger’s eyes widened, connecting with hers. Ben’s reaction confirmed what Dr. Yates had pointed out, that Taylor had a calming effect on her nephew. That made sense to her. In Ben’s eyes, Taylor had saved him when he found him hiding in Kat’s office.
She clasped one of Ben’s shoulders. “Let’s go home.”
Her nephew released his hold and stepped away from Taylor with hesitation. Ben took Sierra’s hand but kept his gaze on Taylor. What was she supposed to do? She tried to remember what she’d felt when her mother died.
She headed toward the front exit, trying her best to block Ben’s view of the bloodstains on the reception floor. As she reached to pull the door open, Taylor and John appeared right behind them.
“We’ll follow you to your house,” Taylor said as he opened the door for them and they left the clinic.
Relief blanketed her. “Thanks.”
In the short time she had been inside, the crowd outside had doubled, and more media had arrived. She hadn’t thought about that. She didn’t want to talk to a reporter, nor did she want Ben to be questioned by them.
As they neared the barricades, Taylor came around her. “I’ll take the lead. You don’t have to talk to the press. In fact, I’d recommend you don’t.”
“I’m not going to.” The eagerness she glimpsed on the reporters’ faces made her feel as though she was the prey and they were waiting to devour her to get their story.
“Where’s your car?”
“It’s the red Mustang to the right down the street.”
“Good. It’s not that far from my SUV.”
Two police officers moved the barricade, so they could leave. As they plunged into the crowd, Sierra and Ben were immediately surrounded by reporters shouting questions at them, a lot of them holding microphones while cameramen angled for a good shot of her and her nephew. Panic shot through her at the thought the whole world would see their picture on the news—and realize Ben survived the attack.
As she dodged the media, she wondered how in the world she was going to protect Ben from his memories of today—and from the killer.
Taylor pulled in behind Sierra’s car that she’d driven into the garage, while Dr. Yates parked along the curb. On his trip here, Taylor had checked Sierra’s alibi and the accounting firm had confirmed her presence and the time she left that morning. He hadn’t thought she was the killer, but he’d learned to check every lead out.
In fact, the interviews with both of them had been difficult for him, especially Ben’s. The little boy with brown hair and eyes reminded him of his deceased son. TJ had died from cancer at the age of six over three years ago. He’d left a hole in Taylor’s heart that he’d never been able to fill. Months after his son’s death, Taylor had been accepted as a Texas Ranger after serving as a Texas State Trooper. He’d thrown himself into the job as though that would cover the pain of his loss. It hadn’t. That was why he preferred working from behind a computer rather than in the field. At least until a few months ago. Working a case with Texas Ranger Dallas Sanders involving kidnapped babies had made him realize he couldn’t hide forever.
When he realized he was gripping the steering wheel so hard pain shot up his arms, he pried his fingers loose and slid from his vehicle. He bridged the distance to Sierra, holding her car door open while Ben slowly crawled from the back seat. As he straightened, Ben glanced up at Taylor. The look of terror in the child’s eyes reminded him of when TJ had gone for his first chemo treatment. Taylor hadn’t been able to protect his son then. He intended to protect Ben now. He wasn’t helpless in this situation. He’d find the murderer.
When John Yates joined them, Sierra put the garage door down and walked with her hand on Ben’s shoulder to the porch of the two-story, adobe-styled home. Taylor hung back and surveyed the surroundings. No one had followed them to the house, but it wouldn’t have been hard for the killer to figure out where Dr. Markham lived with her sister and son. There was still a possibility the shooting was random, but more likely it wasn’t. So, what motivated the person to kill six people? If he could answer that, it would be a lot easier to find the shooter.
Taylor was the last one to enter the Markham home. He locked the door behind him and faced Sierra across the foyer. Her long, curly strawberry blond hair reminded him of a setting sun striking the mountains in Big Bend National Park. But what really drew his attention were her big brown eyes with long, dark eyelashes, filled with pain from losing a loved one. That look drew him. In the past nine years, he’d gone through the same kind of sorrow twice. He felt a connection with her, which surprised him because he worked hard to keep himself walled off. He couldn’t deal with that kind of pain for a third time.
Sierra tore her gaze away from his. “We should go into the kitchen.” She led the way down a hall, and when she entered the room, she gestured toward the table in a nook with a bay window overlooking the fenced backyard. While they were all settled except her, she asked, “What would you like to drink? We have sweet tea, water and milk, but if you would like coffee, I can make some.”
“Sweet
