the open carport—the lack of a garage was a reminder that the home had been built forty years earlier. Hot-pink roller skates had been left in front of the bike as if the little girl had kicked them off before running inside. He parked in the drive, noticed Leah drove a small minivan, and frowned. Everything here reeked of family—a loving family.
One he’d never had. One a kid deserved.
Bracing himself to see Leah again, he strode up to the front porch and rang the bell.
A minute later, a fragile voice came from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”
“Gage McDermont, Leah. I’m here about your sister.”
The sound of locks being turned echoed from inside, and she opened the door, her eyes wide.
“Gage McDermont?” she gaped at him, obviously surprised to find him on her doorstep. “Do you know something about Ruby?”
The sight of her red-rimmed, swollen eyes and her trembling, petite frame made his stomach knot. She’d been pretty as a young girl, but she’d matured and her beauty sucker punched him.
He forced himself to refrain from pulling her into his arms to comfort her.
He’d find out what happened to her sister. But he wouldn’t get involved with Leah personally. She’d broken his heart once.
He wouldn’t let her do it again.
LEAH CLUTCHED THE TISSUE in her hands and tried to control her trembling as she stared at the man on her porch.
A man she’d thought she was in love with at age sixteen. A man who’d ditched her the night she’d gone to a party to see him.
The last man she wanted to see—or accept help from—now.
“I thought you were on the Raleigh police force,” she said, her voice shaking.
“I was.” The wind tossed his dark, curly hair across his forehead, his brown eyes so intense that something flamed low in her belly, reminding her that he’d always caused a heated reaction within her. No other man ever had.
But she wouldn’t go there again.
“I’m starting my own private detective agency.” He pointed to the foyer. “Mind if I come in?”
She swayed, dizzy with fatigue and the sudden jolt of his masculine scent invading her house. He’d been tall in high school, but now he easily cleared six feet. His shoulders had broadened and his face had filled out, dark with a five-o’clock shadow.
“Leah, I really am here to help.”
She clutched her bathrobe around her and stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter. Although she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he’d offered to help her. They hadn’t spoken in years. “I’ll make some coffee.”
“Thanks. I could use some.”
Needing to escape and compose herself, she rushed to the kitchen but he followed her, his gaze tracking her as she measured coffee into the filter and filled the pot with water. “There’s food, too,” she said inanely. “Everyone in town has brought casseroles by, but I haven’t been hungry.”
“No, thanks. Coffee’s fine.”
She nodded. “I didn’t know you were back in town,” she said as she reached for two mugs. Did his brother know he was back?
“I just drove in.”
His husky voice sounded even deeper with age—sexier, if possible. And more dangerous.
He would ask questions just as the police had. Questions she didn’t want to answer. Questions she’d avoided for years.
But the past had nothing to do with Ruby’s kidnapping so why should she open up that wound?
Answering those questions would mean breaking the bond of silence she’d entered into almost a decade ago. A bond she’d agreed to against her will, but one she had accepted in order to protect her family, herself and Ruby.
She filled their mugs and offered him cream and sugar, but he took his black. Warming her hands with the cup, she led him into the den. The Christmas tree lights twinkled, the unopened gifts reminding her how empty the house was without Ruby, how desolate Christmas would be if her sister didn’t come home.
Wind ripped harshly through the eaves of the old house, rattling windowpanes and shutters, adding to her chill. She motioned for him to sit down.
“I read about Ruby’s disappearance,” Gage said. “And I wanted to offer my services.”
“I don’t have much money,” Leah said, lowering her gaze to stare into her mug. “You know Dad died when I was sixteen. He worked as a landscape artist but had no savings to speak of. And Mom was a receptionist at a local insurance company. What little insurance money there was had to go to Mom’s hospital bills.”
“I was sorry to hear about her death,” Gage said, although he hadn’t known Leah’s family very well. “Don’t worry about the money. Solving your case and finding your sister will be good publicity for my firm.”
Anger seeped through her. “This is not about publicity,” she said. “It’s about finding Ruby, Gage.”
His jaw tightened, those dark fathomless eyes raking over her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that money is not an issue here. Finding your sister will be my priority.”
She searched his face. “Why should you care? You haven’t lived in Sanctuary for years.”
He took a sip of coffee. “I had my reasons for staying away.”
She glanced up and saw the strain on his face. She knew he and his brother had had issues and that he hadn’t had a happy home life. The McDermont family had taken him in and Jerry had resented him.
But all the girls in high school had been in love with Gage. He was brooding, the kind of bad boy that every girl wanted. The kind who stood up for the kids who were bullied because he had no fear for himself.
“I still don’t understand why you came back,” Leah said.
He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, studying her. “Did you read about the thirteen-year-old boy who got killed last week in Raleigh?”
She nodded.
“That was my case.” His voice dropped an octave. “He died on my watch, and I lashed out at the guy who did it. He deserved it but the chief suggested I take some time off.”
She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry. That poor boy.”
He gave a clipped nod. “That’s why I decided to start my own agency, Guardian Angel Investigations. I get to play by my own rules. If you let me, I’ll do everything I can to find your sister. And I’ll see that whoever kidnapped her pays.”
She bit her lip, so tempted. She needed help.
But
