Chickasaw County Captive

Chapter Eight

Norah met them at the door of the Sycamore Café, fear and guilt battling in her expression. Inside the small ground floor restaurant, the scene was pure chaos, everyone from diners to staff abuzz with interest and concern. A couple of Gossamer Ridge police officers mingled among them, taking statements.

Sam took Norah’s arm and led her to a quiet spot to one side of the room, trying to keep from panicking. He slanted a quick look at Kristen, just to assure himself that she was there with him. She gazed back at him, her eyes fathomless. He grounded himself in their depths and turned back to Norah. “Still no sign of her?”

Norah shook her head, her lips trembling. “Nobody saw her leave, but-” She raked her red-tipped fingers through her hair, spiking it in a dozen different directions. “I had to take the call, Sam. I have a case going to trial in a couple of weeks. I couldn’t seem to get reception in the bathroom, and Maddy told me she was fine, so I went outside for just a minute. I told her to stay there till I got back.” Her face crumpled. “It was only a few minutes. It took longer than I thought, but I swear, Sam, it was only a few minutes.”

Sam looked at Kristen again, struggling hard against a gathering storm of despair. Her expressive eyes were dark with worry, but she seemed otherwise calm, far more focused than he felt at the moment. She laid her hand on his arm, her fingers warm and strong, and he felt some of his fear ease away. He covered her hand with his, giving it a grateful squeeze.

After a moment, Kristen slipped her hand from Sam’s grip and turned to face Norah. “What did you and Maddy talk about before she went to the restroom?”

The question caught Norah by surprise. “T-talk about?”

“Could you have said something to Maddy that would make her run away from you?” Kristen asked.

Sam experienced the first glimmer of hope he’d felt since he’d answered Norah’s call. “You think she ran away?”

“Kids run and hide when they’re afraid,” Kristen answered, looking at Sam. “Remember the closet?”

Norah cleared her throat, and he turned his attention back to her. “Why would she be afraid of me? We just talked about her preschool, how she likes living in Alabama and about-” Norah stopped short, giving Sam a horrified look.

Sam’s gut tightened. “What?”

“I told her maybe I’d take her back to Washington. I meant for a visit, of course, but-” Norah turned suddenly to Kristen, closing her long fingers over the other woman’s arm. “Could she have thought I was going to take her away from Sam?”

“She might have misunderstood.” Kristen turned to look at Sam. “Call her name, Sam.”

His heart pounding like a piston, he called out, “Maddy? Are you in here?”

The patrons, staff and policemen alike turned to look at him, the hum of low conversation stopping, then ramping up to a steady buzz. Ignoring their stares, he moved through the tiny restaurant in search of any place a four-year-old might hide.

Kristen joined the search, taking the opposite side of the restaurant. “Maddy, it’s Miss Kristen. Are you playing hide-and-seek?” The two Gossamer Ridge officers followed her lead, spreading out to cover the other areas of the café.

Sam grabbed the arm of a waiter. “Where are the bathrooms?”

The startled man pointed to an alcove off the kitchen. Sam headed that way and found himself in a narrow, dimly lit hallway. The men’s and women’s restrooms were to his left, clearly marked. To his right were two unmarked doors. He tried the first one. Locked.

The handle of the second door turned easily in his hand. Inside, he found a small storage closet. Boxes and bins took up almost every inch of the space.

“Maddy?”

The small, muffled voice that answered him sent such a powerful shot of relief through his veins that his knees nearly buckled. “I’m not going with Mommy!”

“You don’t have to, baby.”

A small box near the back of the closet shifted, and Maddy’s tear-streaked face stared back at him from the void. “Daddy’s honor?”

He grinned. “Daddy’s honor.”

She squeezed out of the tight hiding spot and threw herself in his arms. He hugged her tightly, flattening his hand against her back until he could feel her heartbeat against his palm.

“Is she okay?” Kristen asked just behind him.

He eased his grip on Maddy and turned to look at her. Her eyes were soft with relief, and he reached for her instinctively. She didn’t resist as he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

She smelled good, like the woods after a rain, and where her cheek brushed his, her skin was as soft as a whisper. Relief faded into something darker and hotter, and he wondered if she could feel the sudden acceleration of his heartbeat as it hammered in his chest.

“Sam?” Norah’s voice broke through the heated haze settling over his brain. He felt Kristen push gently against his grasp, and he let her go, turning toward the sound of his ex-wife’s voice. Norah stood at the end of the narrow corridor, her expression tentative.

Maddy tightened her grip on Sam, burying her face in his neck. “No, Daddy!” she whispered.

Norah didn’t miss their daughter’s reaction. Her face crumpled, and she hurried out of sight.

“Ah, hell,” he muttered.

Kristen laid her hand on his arm. “Take Maddy home. I’ll make sure Norah’s okay.”

The offer surprised him. “You sure you want to do that?”

Her lips curved in a wry half smile. “I think I’m probably the most uniquely qualified person to do that. You know, being an expert on really bad mothers.”

His gut twisted in a knot. Until he’d seen his own daughter’s terrified reaction to Norah’s unintentional gaffe, his understanding of what Kristen had gone through as a child was mostly academic. But if something as simple and harmless as a misunderstanding could reduce his normally happy-go-lucky child to a terrified, quivering mess, how much worse must it have been for Kristen Tandy, living day in and day out with a mother like hers? And to witness the murders of her sisters and brothers, barely escaping her own death at her mother’s hand-how had she survived it?

No wonder she was so guarded with her emotions, so reticent about her inner life.

He walked with her into the main dining area, staying close enough to feel her warmth against his arm. The patrons and staff stared for a second before breaking into applause. Kristen’s face went red with embarrassment as the restaurant manager came over to offer his congratulations-and dinner on the house.

Sam thanked him but declined. “I just want to get Maddy home to bed.” As the manager returned to his post at the front, Sam leaned his head toward Kristen. “How am I supposed to get back to the lake? You drove.”

“I’ll get one of the officers to drop you off.” She smiled at Maddy, who’d finally loosened her death grip on Sam’s neck. “Maybe you can sweet-talk the nice officer into running the siren!”

“Don’t give her any ideas,” Sam warned with a smile.

Kristen grabbed one of the uniformed officers, murmured a few words to him and brought him over to where Sam and Maddy stood near the door. “This is Officer Simmons. He’s going to drive you back to the lake.”

As Sam started to follow Simmons out the door, Maddy tugged sharply at his collar. “Wait!” she insisted, and twisted her body in his grasp, holding her arms out toward Kristen.

Kristen stared at her a moment, her expression hard to read. Sam held his breath, wondering if she’d rebuff his daughter’s offer of affection. He might better understand the difficulty she had relating to Maddy now, but he couldn’t explain those nuances to a four-year-old. Maddy would feel rejected no matter what he told her.

Kristen’s lips curved into a big smile and she opened her arms, wrapping Maddy in a quick but genuine hug. “Make your daddy read you two stories tonight,” she murmured, her tone conspiratorial. Maddy grinned with delight.

Kristen’s gaze slid up to meet Sam’s. He could see the pain lurking there in their blue depths, and his heart broke a little for her, but for the first time, he also saw the spark of genuine affection for his daughter. “Thank you,” he said, reaching out to touch her arm.

Her mouth tightened, and she turned away from him quickly. “Talk to you later,” she tossed gruffly over her shoulder, and then she was gone, weaving her way through the crowd in search of Norah.

Sam watched her go, regret settling low in his gut. Tonight’s events might have broken down a few of the walls Kristen Tandy built around herself, but there were still plenty left in place. It might take a whole lifetime to tear them all down.

Did he want to devote his life to such a task or drag Maddy along on that kind of roller-coaster ride? Wouldn’t it be better to just step back and regain some distance from Kristen and her problems?

At this point, however, he wasn’t sure stepping back was even possible. Maddy was crazy about Kristen, flaws and all. And despite his clear-eyed understanding of just how difficult a woman she might be to care about, he found himself becoming more and more entangled in her life.

It wasn’t likely, at this point, that any of them would leave this case unscathed.

“GO AWAY, DETECTIVE.” Norah Cabot’s voice was muffled and weary behind the door to her room at the inn. “We can talk in the morning.”

“I think we should talk now,” Kristen said firmly, even though a part of her wanted nothing more than to go home and bury herself under the covers of her old four-poster bed.

“Are you enjoying this?” Norah asked faintly.

“No, I’m not,” Kristen replied. “Believe it or not, I’m here to help you.”

There was a brief pause, then a rattle of the latch. The door opened and Norah stood on the other side, clad in a red silk robe that nearly matched the color of her tear-swollen eyes. “Here to help me. I’ve heard that before.”

“I brought tissues.” Kristen held out the small travel-size tissue box she’d picked up at the gift shop downstairs before heading up to the guest rooms.

Norah released a huff of laughter and took the box from Kristen’s outstretched hand. “You think of everything.”

“May I come in?”

Norah seemed to consider the question for a moment, then gave an indifferent shrug. “Why not? It’s not like my night could get any worse.”

“Believe me, it could,” Kristen murmured.

Norah ignored her and crossed to a small credenza along one wall of the small but pretty room. “The inn was kind enough to send up a complimentary bottle of sparkling water. I would have preferred champagne, but I suppose this is one of those dry counties you Southerners are so fond of.”

“If you want to get liquored up, I could drive you to the next county over.”

“Couldn’t you just direct me to the nearest moonshine still instead?” Norah tossed a couple of ice cubes in a glass with excessive vigor. She set the glass down with a clatter and drove her long fingers through her hair, tousling the already unruly curls. “I’m sorry. I can be a total bitch.”

“But at least you’re self-aware,” Kristen said.

Norah slanted a look at her and gave a short laugh. “Yes, I suppose that’s a plus.” She held out the glass of sparkling water. “Can I interest you in a drink?”

Kristen shook her head. “I just came to make sure you’re okay. Can I get anything for you?”

Norah’s brow furrowed. “Why would you care?”

Kristen knew what she was asking. Norah hadn’t exactly done anything to garner Kristen’s sympathy since her arrival. But it didn’t change the fact that she’d been through an emotionally wrenching couple of hours. “I just thought maybe you could use someone…neutral. To hear your side of things.”

Norah arched one perfect eyebrow. “Neutral?”

“Well, more neutral than your ex-husband, anyway.”

Norah shook her head. “Sam must think I’m a complete idiot. Not even thinking how what I said might have sounded to Maddy-so stupid.”

“You didn’t mean to frighten her.”

“But I did.” Norah’s gaze met hers, fierce and angry. “I’m very good at my job, Detective. I have companies trying to hire me away from my firm every day. Senators and congressmen who want me on their staffs. When a question arises at the office, you know who they look to for answers? They look to me. And I’m always right.” She laid the glass of sparkling water on the credenza. “But I haven’t done a single thing right for my daughter since the day she was born.”

“That’s not true,” Kristen said. “You gave full custody to Sam. That was the right thing to do.”

Norah paused with her hand on the glass, turning to look at Kristen. “Come now, surely you think I’m heartless and cruel for abandoning my flesh and blood, don’t you? That I’m selfish and thoughtless for not even checking to see how she’s been doing all these years?” Norah sank against the edge of the credenza, her expression bleak. “Guilty as charged.”

“You’re just not cut out to be a mother,” Kristen said. “Sam has told me that you made it clear to him from the beginning that you didn’t want children. You didn’t lie or pretend to be anything you’re not.”

“But I should have wanted to be a mother as soon as I saw my daughter!”

Kristen thought of her own mother and tamped down a shudder. “Wanting to be a mother isn’t the same thing as being a good one. You knew the life you wanted wouldn’t accommodate motherhood, and you’d never be good at it. Why drag your child into a life that would be miserable for both of you?”

Norah looked up at her, eyes narrowed. “I guess you of all people would know about bad mothers.”

Kristen hid a flinch.

“I know what your mother did to you and your brothers and sisters,” Norah added when Kristen didn’t respond.

Kristen squelched the familiar rush of shame and anger, feeling even more certain of the decision she’d made earlier that day. She couldn’t go visit her mother, as the woman had requested. No way was she ready yet. “Who told you? Sam?”

“Of course not. Sam’s the soul of discretion.” Norah’s smile was almost apologetic. “See, I’m not the sort of woman who abides having my life pried into without returning the favor. As soon as Sam hinted that you were more complicated than you look, my curiosity wouldn’t rest until I did some checking. So I asked around about you when I went to rent the car. Seems you’re quite notorious around these parts.”

Kristen looked down at the scar on her hand, resisting the urge to beat a fast retreat. After all this time, she should be used to people knowing all the ugly details of her tragic history.

“My mother should never have been a parent,” Kristen admitted aloud. “So I do have some respect for your decision not to inflict yourself on Maddy.”

“Thanks-I think,” Norah answered wryly.

“You could do more harm than good by hanging around and mothering her if you’re not cut out for it. Sam’s a great father. He’s done a wonderful job with Maddy by himself. If you know you’d end up disappointing them both if you tried to start playing Mommy now-”

The sparkle of tears in Norah’s eyes caught Kristen by surprise. “I would. I hate that that’s how things are, but I don’t have it in me to change who I am at this point in my life.”

“Then don’t let your fiancé’s aspirations push you into doing something that will hurt both Maddy and you.”

Norah scraped her hair out of her eyes. “Graham doesn’t want kids, either. But he knows it’s hard for people to understand, and God knows Halston Stevens will hammer him about it. ‘What kind of man would marry a woman who abandoned her beautiful little child? Do you want that kind of man for your Senator?’”

“The right thing to do isn’t always the easy thing to do. Matter of fact, it’s usually not.”

“Thank you, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Kristen smiled. “You gonna be okay?”

Norah nodded. “I guess I should call Graham and tell him what’s happened.” She walked with Kristen to the door. “I know I’ve been a pain since I arrived-”

“It’s part of your charm,” Kristen said, still smiling.

Norah returned the smile. “Like prickly and defensive is part of yours?”

Kristen nodded, realizing she’d finally made Norah recognize her as an equal. “Exactly.”

Norah’s expression grew serious as she opened the door. “Protect my daughter. Find out who’s trying to use her to hurt Sam and make them pay. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes,” Kristen answered. “I’ll do everything I can to protect them both.”

“Good.” Norah managed a weak smile and lifted her hand in a goodbye salute. She closed the door, leaving Kristen alone in the narrow hallway.

When she reached her car, Kristen called the office to see if anyone was still in the detective’s office. The Gossamer Ridge Police Department wasn’t large enough or busy enough to field a twenty-four-hour detective’s division, but there was usually a night detective on duty until 11:00 p.m.

In this case, she got Jason Foley on the phone. “What are you still doing there?” she asked. “Gina finally come to her senses and kick you out of the house?”

“Ha. She and the kids are visiting her folks in Huntsville for the night, so I thought I’d review some of the neighbor interviews from Mission Road, see if I missed any clues.”

“Did you?”

“Of course not. I’m a seasoned law enforcement professional,” he answered glibly. “Heard you had a scare tonight with the Cooper kid.”

“Yeah, but it had a happy ending.”

“Gee, Tandy, two days on babysitting duty and you’ve already lost the kid once,” Foley said, clicking his tongue. “That’s not gonna look good in your personnel file.”

She made a face at the phone. “Need me to come in and help you go through the interviews?”

“Is your life really that pathetic? You’re twenty-eight and single, Kristen. If you don’t want to go back to kidsville at the moment, go pick up a guy at a bar or something.”

“You’re just full of good advice. I’m so lucky to have you as my partner.” She made another face at the phone. “I’m heading back to Cooper’s place. Call me if you need me.”

“Wait a second.” Foley’s voice went serious, setting Kristen’s nerves instantly on edge.

“Found something?”

“Maybe.” He sounded a little hesitant. “New interview-Carl put a couple of uniforms on the beat to cover more of the area faster, and this one came in this afternoon. Interview with a neighbor about two doors down from the Cooper house-Regina Fonseca. Her daughter goes to preschool where Maddy does. I know we’re keeping the photos quiet for now, but the uniform thought to ask her if she’d noticed anyone paying special attention to Maddy.”

“Did she?”

“Not Maddy per se. But apparently she got to talking about how hard it is these days to know who can be trusted and who can’t. Said she’d freaked out when she saw a guy taking pictures of the preschool playground a couple of weeks ago-thought it might be a pedophile-until she recognized him as the photographer who does the class photos for the school.”

“That doesn’t automatically rule him out as a suspect,” Kristen said, a little buzz of excitement building in her veins.

“No, it doesn’t…”

“Good catch. I’ll check it out in the morning.” She rang off and started the car. The clock on the dashboard of the Impala read 10:15 p.m. She hoped Sam wouldn’t be in bed yet. She wanted to get his take on what Foley had uncovered.

And, if she were honest, she just wanted to see him again before she settled down for the night in the guesthouse’s spare bedroom. Her body still hummed from their earlier embrace, as if her skin had memorized the sensation and kept playing it over and over like a favorite record.

As crazy and dangerous an idea as it was, she wanted more, and her usual self-control seemed to have left town.

Parked outside the guesthouse, she cut the engine and sat in the dark, wrestling with her reckless desires. Beyond the ethical and procedural problems inherent in getting involved with a crime victim, she was as wrong for Sam Cooper-and his daughter-as Norah Cabot ever thought of being. She had bad mothering in her genes, for God’s sake. Her mother hadn’t always been a nutcase-what if having kids drove Kristen to the same deadly extremes? She couldn’t really know, could she?

And yet-she’d been a good mother to her brothers and sisters when her own mother couldn’t. The little ones had secretly called her Mommy, going to her when they skinned knees, wanted a cup of milk or needed a bedtime story read. Didn’t that count for something?

Across the darkness in front of her flashed an image of her two youngest siblings, sprawled across the hardwood floor of their bedroom, covered in their own blood. Kristen squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the image away, but the truth remained. She’d failed them in the end, no matter how good her intentions.

Was she going to fail Maddy Cooper, as well?

A knock on her car window made her jerk. She looked up wildly to find Sam Cooper standing outside the car, his face illuminated by the pale blue glow of a quarter moon overhead.

She rolled down the window, feeling foolish.

“Something wrong?” Sam asked, concern in his voice.

She pasted on a calm smile. “Just trying to talk myself out of this nice, comfortable car. It’s been a long day.”

“I set up the spare bedroom for you. There are fresh towels in the bathroom if you want a shower.” Sam’s hand settled on the car door, his knuckles brushing lightly against her upper arm. Awareness rippled through her, even though a layer of cotton separated her skin from his.

It had been such a bad idea to agree to stay here with Sam and his daughter, she thought. But it was too late to back out now.

It was too late for a lot of things.