look you gave him. Besides, Zoe certainly liked our Léon.”
Léon. So her boss knew him. Faith relaxed a bit. Burke had no connection with Carder, so he wouldn’t know Léon, either. She was being paranoid. Again. “I couldn’t place his accent.”
“If you find out, let me know. Every woman in town from seven to seventy would like the answer.” Her boss chuckled. “That boy is easy on the eyes...and the ears.”
Faith couldn’t deny he was attractive. Tall, with a rugged square jaw, that sexy, unshaven look and piercing blue eyes. He could be the hero in a fairy tale, his dark hair highlighted with sun-kissed blond streaks. Except this stranger had a sad, lonely darkness in him, and that kind of need pegged him as a troublesome cloud, not a rainbow.
What struck her as odd, though, was how he’d taken Zoe’s playacting as a librarian seriously. The girl had fallen in love with him after two minutes. Faith didn’t blame her daughter. Faith wasn’t dead either, but since she preferred staying alive, she had to stay as invisible as possible.
Besides, he seemed too good to be true, and she knew better than to believe all those trimmings. She hadn’t seen the danger in Burke, and look what had happened. “If you say so.”
“Of course I do, and so do you.” Mrs. Hargraves took Faith’s hand. “Look, I’ll let you in on a secret. If you need help sometime, Léon is a man who knows what to do.”
Faith bit her lip.
“Don’t ask me for details. I don’t have all the answers. I just know if I were in trouble, Carder is where I’d want to be. We take care of our own.”
Chewing on that interesting tidbit, Faith grabbed the large tote that doubled as her purse and waited. Zoe took her time but eventually dragged her feet through the front door.
Faith took her daughter’s hand.
“Be safe, honey,” her boss called out.
Faith waved to the librarian and the woman locked the door behind them. Zoe skipped along, jumping in a large puddle. Water splashed up her jeans.
“Stop it. You’re getting your clothes dirty.”
Zoe stilled and turned to her mother. “That’s what Dad always says.”
Faith’s heart ripped in two. She knelt down in front of Zoe. “I’m sorry, Slugger. It’s just... I’m trying to find us a new home, a place where we can be happy. I need money to do that and it’s expensive to wash our clothes. When we get our own place, you can dirty up those jeans all you want. In fact, I’ll roll in the mud with you.”
Zoe didn’t meet her gaze for a few moments and then peeked up. “You promise to roll in the mud with me?”
“Pinky swear.” Faith held out her hand. Zoe grinned and linked little fingers.
“I won’t jump anymore, then.”
“Thanks, Slugger.”
Luckily, the family grocery store, which also served as the feed store and gas station, was only a half mile down the road. She and Zoe ducked in and grabbed one of the five carts sitting just inside the door.
Faith pulled out her small calculator. She picked up a loaf of bread, on sale, thankfully, and looked over at the peanut butter. Full price. They could probably make do another week with what they had if she kept the coating thin. Maybe it would be on sale next week.
“Can we get some chips?” Zoe asked.
Faith bit her lip. She shouldn’t. “Maybe a small one. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Zoe gave her a huge grin, and the sight caused Faith’s heart to sink. Her little girl shouldn’t be so excited to buy a small package of chips. She loved Zoe’s enthusiasm, but her reaction made Faith feel like a failure as a mother.
Every day she asked herself if she’d made the right decision, and every night she recognized she’d had no choice but to leave. Not once she’d realized what Burke was. She couldn’t risk losing custody to a serial killer.
She tapped the cost of the small bag of chips into the calculator and scanned her list. Was there anything she could take off?
A scuff sounded behind her. Faith straightened and turned around. No one there. She clutched her purse tighter, hoping to push down the foreboding that laced her every thought. She picked up a bag of beans on sale and placed them in the cart, then paused.
Another rustle fluttered at her back.
A prickle skittered down her spine. Zoe examined a box of cereal, making an enthusiastic attempt to whistle the jingle. Faith glanced behind to her left, then her right. The store was small, a quarter size of the grocery store she’d frequented at home. She should have a visual on everybody.
Gripping the cart’s handle with white-knuckled fists, she prodded Zoe along and hurriedly maneuvered through the last two aisles, placing the final four items into the cart. Maybe the weather had impacted her more than she thought. Maybe the fact that she hadn’t heard any updates from her fake ID supplier in weeks had rattled her. Or maybe it was the man Mrs. Hargraves had told her she could trust. Léon. He’d come out of nowhere. He’d shown too much interest in her and Zoe. What if he did work for Burke?
She had to trust her gut. “Come on, Zoe. We need to leave.” Faith couldn’t hide the urgency from her voice.
Zoe frowned at her mother. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Nothing. It’s getting late.” She headed toward the checkout.
“It’s still light outside,” her daughter protested, hurrying beside her.
“It won’t be for long and we have to walk home.”
Zoe shifted her knapsack, heavy with all her treasures stored inside.
The checker smiled at them. “How’s it going, Faith?”
“Fine. And you, Maureen?”
The woman grinned, her face open and joyful, something Faith envied. “Can’t complain. My boy just graduated. He’s headed for boot camp.”
“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll miss him.”
“Yep. They grow up fast. Enjoy this one while you can.” Maureen nodded at Zoe.
“I will.” Faith scooped up the two bags and glanced over her shoulder yet again. She couldn’t shake the being-watched feeling.
She had truly become paranoid. She wasn’t made for being on the run. She wanted a normal life back. She just prayed that would happen once she could afford to leave Carder.
The sun hung low in the sky when she and Zoe walked out of the store. They had a two-mile trek to the shack she’d rented.
She started out slow. Not many walked in this town. She didn’t even see a bicycle. Carder, Texas, was ranch country. Pickups ruled the streets.
The sheriff’s office loomed in front of
