to ease her suffering. He knew enough about loss to know that a few well-placed words could last a lifetime. “Anna admired you so much. She said you’d gotten all the strength in the family. That you didn’t need a husband or anyone. She thought that was great.”
Molly sighed. “That’s funny because she told me I was too ornery to catch a man.”
It was the first time he’d seen her really smile, and it literally made him catch his breath. There was something in Molly Harper’s smile that touched his heart and made a shiver rush through him.
“You okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “I guess someone just walked over my grave.”
IN THE BLACKNESS of the wilderness, Molly didn’t see the outline of the cabin until the SUV’s lights struck the cypress exterior. She suppressed a shudder. The cabin was dark and lonely looking, but she needed to get out of the vehicle. She felt as if she’d been riding in darkness for half her life.
“Let me go in first and check it out.” Thomas got out of the SUV, pocketing the keys and her only chance of escape.
In truth, even if she had had the keys, she would have had no idea how to get out of the forest. The road had switched back and forth. Thomas had taken turnoffs that seemed to repeat themselves every ten miles. With less than a quarter tank of gas, she might end up hopelessly lost.
Familiar, her legendary private investigator, had napped most of the way. She nudged the cat. “Wake up.”
Familiar stood, arched his back and yawned. He certainly wasn’t concerned about their plight. He hopped from the vehicle and trotted behind Thomas up the steps of the cabin. The two of them disappeared from the light cast by the vehicle’s headlamps.
Molly got out and stretched. The woods were alive with sound. Insects, the rustle of leaves and branches that could be deer—or something more sinister. She hurried after Thomas. It was his bright idea to bring her there, and if someone was going to be eaten by a wild animal, it was going to be him.
Inside the cabin a lantern flared to life. The warm glow revealed a comfortable front room. Rocking chairs were drawn before a cold fireplace. There was a stout wooden table and cast-iron cooking utensils hanging on the wall behind it. A thin coating of dust covered everything, but otherwise the cabin was carefully maintained.
“I’ll get some wood.” Thomas acted on his words. Molly took the lamp and examined the rest of the house. There was a kitchen and a single bedroom. Her anger flared.
Thomas entered with an armload of wood. As he bent to light the fire, she rounded on him. “If you think you can hold me here, you’ve got another think coming. I have to get on with my search for Katie.”
Ignoring her, Thomas struck a match and the dry wood gave a cheerful crackle. He rose slowly and looked at her.
“You can’t leave tonight.” He looked at the fire. “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor here by the fire. I’m going to check for supplies in the kitchen. There probably won’t be much, but we might be able to find some beans or something.”
With that he was gone. Molly stood, hands on her hips, frustration gnawing at her gut. She wasn’t a single step closer to finding her niece.
She pulled the note from her pocket and read it again. The words seemed more ominous.
“The baby is alive. Don’t stop hunting, but don’t go to the police.”
“What’s that you’re reading?”
She lowered the note and turned to find Thomas standing not five feet away, his gaze on the scrap of paper.
“It’s why I’m here.” She handed it to him and watched his face as he read it.
“Is this for real?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her bottom lip. “I have to believe it’s real. I have to hang on to the idea that Katie’s alive. That’s why I have to get out of here now.”
He nodded. “You received this in Arizona? At your home?”
“Yes. Day before yesterday.”
“Via the mail? Where’s the envelope?”
“It was mailed from here in Jefferson.”
Thomas’s face actually showed hope. “So the person who mailed it knows your physical address and knows your relationship to Katie. That’s good, I think.”
“Are they going to demand a ransom?” Molly asked.
Thomas threw more wood on the fire and held his hands out to it. “I don’t know. That note doesn’t have the sound of someone seeking a ransom. In fact, it sounds more like someone trying to tip you off. Is there someone at your home checking the mail, in case they contact you again?”
“I have a friend I can call to do that.”
“Good. But you should warn your friend that the police may be watching him.”
If Molly hadn’t realized how serious her situation was, Thomas’s words brought it home. “Why would they be watching my friends?” Reality touched her. “Because they think I’m on the lam with an escaped murderer.” It was a statement.
Thomas nodded. “Either as a hostage or a co-conspirator in a jail escape, you’re going to be of interest to law enforcement. And so will your friends or anyone seen going in and out of your home.”
“But that could work to our advantage, couldn’t it?” She felt a surge of hope. “The police haven’t shown a lot of interest in searching for Kate, but if they’re looking for me, they might find the baby.”
Thomas smiled. He couldn’t help it. Molly Harper had spunk. “That’s one way to turn it to a positive light.”
“What’s the point of being negative?” She paced the cabin. “But we do have to resolve this—” she waved her hand around the room “—hostage thing.”
“What do you suggest?” Thomas asked.
She could see he was willing to listen. Initially she’d been mad at him, but now she felt the anger slipping away. He was only trying to get his life back. She’d lost her sister and her niece, but he’d lost big, too. He’d lost his identity and, if he was telling the truth, only because he’d been kind to Anna.
“We can play it two ways. I can turn myself in and say you released me, or we can team up and try to outrun the law.”
He was very still, but his gaze never left hers. “You’d risk it all by teaming up with me? You believe me when I say I’m innocent?”
She swallowed. “Right this moment, I believe you. Please don’t give me any reason not to.”
She felt the sharp claws of the cat digging into her shin. Leaning down, she pulled him into her arms. “You haven’t been a lot of help, Familiar.”
“Meow!” He struggled in her arms and she released him. In a moment he was patting her pocket where she’d
