Forever Hers by Walters, Ednah (new ebook reader .TXT) 📗

the lenses and viewing the four doors from various angles. The cameras were working, but their range was limited. The bastard hadn’t come close to the house. As soon as Noble sent him what he’d asked for, they’d have a better quality surveillance system with an audio feed too.

“Are they working?” Amy asked.

“Yes, but he didn’t come near the doors.” Eddie moved away from the computer. “I’m going to talk to the neighbors to see if they saw anything.”

“No,” Amy said. “Don’t involve them, Eddie.”

“I’m not going to tell them anything. Someone must have seen him lurking around, that’s all.”

“What good would it do if they did? He was here while I was gone.”

Eddie hated the way she was beating herself up. “Listen, when I talk to them, I’ll use the burglars as an excuse. Your name won’t even come up.”

Amy sighed. “That might work. The night you arrived, two men tried to break into the house. I chased them away.”

Eddie swallowed a curse. “Chased them? How? Why didn’t you say anything? The police have no report of the burglars coming here.”

“I didn’t report it.”

Yeah, her misplaced distrust for the police. The woman gave a new meaning to the word stubborn. “I will need details of everything that happened.”

“Yes, detective,” she snapped. “Anything else?”

He had a lot more he wanted to say and none of it was pleasant, but his gaze connected with Raelynn, who was sucking her thumb and watching them with wide eyes. He’d completely forgotten the child’s presence. Her eyes spoke volumes, like she was watching a rerun of a horror movie. Eddie silently cursed Nolan Reither to hell and back.

“I’ll check the perimeter of the house and lock up,” he said.

“Be careful.”

The concern in her voice was like a balm to his bruised ego, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted. The bastard got to Raelynn on his watch. Eddie was determined to make it a one-time thing.

He nodded and started out of the room then paused and walked back to where Amy sat with Raelynn. He squatted until he was eye-level with the child.

“Is Nolan your fake daddy?”

She nodded.

“Then I promise you that I will find him and lock him away, where he won’t bother you or your Mommy ever again.”

Raelynn nodded, then lifted her hands toward Eddie. He moved closer and she wound chubby arms around his neck. Eddie closed his eyes and repeated the vow he just made. No matter what it took, he would get rid of Nolan, so when he left, Amy and her daughter would be free of the bastard forever.

He opened his eyes and found Amy. There was vulnerability in her eyes and something else he couldn’t afford to analyze. He wanted to tell her he was only doing his duty. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“Take her,” he whispered.

For a moment, Raelynn clung to him. He wasn’t an emotional man. In fact, he despised men who showed their emotions in public. But seeing the vulnerability in Amy’s eyes and feeling Raelynn’s tiny body pressed against his shoulder did something to him inside. He fought it. He had no room in his life for sentiments. In his line of work, getting emotionally involved got you killed.

***

Outside, he exhaled and shook his head to get in the game. Though the temperature had dropped, die-hard water sports fans still zipped across the lake. If he weren’t aware of all the craziness happening around this lake front community, he’d say this was the perfect place on earth. The sun had set, leaving streaks of gold and pink in the western sky. The rippling water caught and reflected the colors, adding to the picturesque view.

Eddie walked around the house searching for anything that bastard might have left behind. He moved away from the house and searched the grounds closer to the neighbors. The neighbor’s grass was shorter. When had they cut their grass? He hadn’t seen anyone mow their lawn since he got here. He picked up the blades, smelled them. Fresh. Something else caught his eyes—cigarette filters.

He squatted and picked up one. He smelled it. The scent was strong, the filter end still pinched. It was recently smoked and might have the smoker’s saliva. Because of the suspension and the fact that this wasn’t his jurisdiction, he was in no position to collect evidence that could be admissible in court. Sally, on the other hand, could.

He pulled out his cell phone to call her.

“Fitzgerald.”

Eddie turned. A red-headed man in khaki shorts and a dressy shirt hurried toward him. Sam’s father. They’d met the day after Eddie arrived. “Leland.”

“What do you have there?” the man asked, coming to stand by the tree.

During their brief conversation, Eddie had mentioned he was a cop. “Cigarette butts. You don’t smoke, Leland, do you?”

The man laughed uneasily. “Gave up a year ago.”

He had the look of a man who slipped now and then. Eddie held up the stub he’d picked up. “Is this your brand?”

Leland shook his head. “I’d never do that near the house. My wife would hit the roof. How did you know?”

“My father tried to quit several times. Someone stood under this tree and smoked these cigarettes earlier today.”

“One of the guys who did our lawn smoked,” Leland said. “He wasn’t our regular guy. In fact, his buddy said our regular guy was down with the flu.”

Sounded fishy. “Do you have the phone number of your regular mower?”

“Yes. Why? What’s going on?”

“To verify that the men who worked on your lawn were speaking the truth. With the burglars robbing this community still at large, anything out of norm is suspect.”

Leland scowled. “You think they could have been scoping my place?”

“That’s possible. Two men attempted to break into this house the day I arrived and Raelynn’s mother chased them away.”

Leland’s jaw dropped. “Really? She didn’t say anything to me or Gerry.”

“I don’t know the details, but these burglars should be behind bars. The cigarette stubs might give the police something to work with.”

Leland nodded. “I’ll