Ethan had been right when he said it wasn’t true that no one else was looking for them in the woods. Before they’d left the morning before, he’d told Grace he would send photos of the sites as soon as he got back into cell vicinity. He’d also told Detective Zaragoza where he was going and had even left a copy of his map. So as soon as Grace didn’t get her pictures on time, she called Mari, and Mari knew where to start looking.
By the time Risa and Ethan had reached the farmhouse with the friendly rescuers, the SWAT team was already swarming the family compound. Several of the suspects were caught later, running through the woods, shotguns in hand. And now, all Risa wanted to do was go home. With Ethan.
Chapter Forty-Six
Risa waved goodbye as she headed out of the library. After several weeks, she had been upgraded from a boot to an ankle brace again. While she now had a second boot, because the hospital had issued her a new one, she should also have had an ankle brace already on hand. Since she had ground her first one down into a shank, she’d needed a new one of those, too.
She’d seen Nicole at the station, and so had Ethan. The detective was noticeably happier, smiling and even saying she was sleeping better now that the people who had kidnapped her all those years ago had finally been caught. She thanked Risa for catching them, though it was hard for Risa to take that credit.
While she was more than glad the family had been taken into custody, unfortunately, their children had been put into foster care in various places around the state. DHS had thought it best to separate them, given the horrid family history.
For at least fifteen generations that Ethan could find, the family had kidnapped and sacrificed a child when the oldest male in a new cycle came of age. It was chilling in its simplicity and disturbing in its longevity. At least it was over now, Risa thought.
Ethan pulled up in front of the library just as she was coming out. It seemed he would be doing paperwork for this case for the next five years, but the upside was that the case had secured his job.
He was on the phone as she climbed in, and he continued talking. It took her only a few seconds to ascertain it was his SAC on the line, so she wasn’t surprised when he pulled in to a parking space and continued the conversation. Risa nodded at him and stayed quiet; she would want the same if she’d been on the phone to the chief.
She had slept in her own apartment only once since they’d come back from the hospital. Though she told herself she wasn’t afraid, she made herself stay alone one night—just the once, to prove she could do it. However, she discovered, while fear was not an issue, missing Ethan was a huge problem.
She’d showed up at his place the next night. He’d looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. When she asked if he was all right, he’d simply commented, “Didn’t sleep without you next to me in the bed.”
She was opening her mouth to agree, but he shut her up by saying, “So, fix this. Move in with me.”
His apartment, though sparsely furnished, was a one bedroom, since he’d not planned on staying in Dark Falls. She agreed to move in with him but was coming to terms with the fact that she might have to make a decision one day soon about whether to follow him to his next appointment.
At least he had closed this case, she thought. Then, as he put his phone down and turned to her, the grin across his face reassured her.
“That went far better than I thought it would.” He reached for her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. “I love you, Risa Caldwell. I don’t know how much you love me, but I’m going to stay here and find out.” He paused. “They’re opening a bureau branch in Dark Falls.”
“What?”
“I thought they parked me out here, but apparently they were really trying to determine if there was need for an FBI presence in town. My SAC said they decided that while Dark Falls itself doesn’t necessarily need the office, she advocated that the FBI does need access to the surrounding areas.”
“That’s fantastic, Ethan! I told you they weren’t going to fire you.”
“Well, I’m glad you believed,” he whispered. “For a long time, I didn’t.”
She understood. The incident in Florida had not gone down well for him, but she was grateful his bosses had seen him for what he was and understood it wasn’t time to let him go.
His expression turned a little somber then. “They said, since I closed a case that was so bizarre and hard to solve—thank you for that, by the way. I know I didn’t close it myself—”
She opened her mouth to say something, but he held his hand up.
“They said that because of my investigative skills and my knowledge of the area, I am getting a promotion.”
Risa dove forward and threw her arms around him. But then her heart froze: she was on the way to her own promotion. She’d been training to be an arson investigator for quite some time. She’d trained specifically for the position that was opening in Dark Falls. If she moved somewhere else, though she would still have the training, she would have to wait. She would no longer be first in line, if she was in line at all.
Her heart thumped heavily in her chest, trying to think how to say that, if she could ask him to stay. But Ethan smiled at her. “I’m staying. I can take a smaller promotion and run the Dark Falls Branch Office.”
“Do you want that?” she asked, cautiously optimistic.
“I want to be where you are. If I can run a branch here, where you are, I can’t think of anything better. We’re a team. You’re here, so I’m here.”
Risa felt her chest twist and almost burst, though this time it was out of happiness.
“You know what,” Ethan said, “I think I still owe you a dinner. How about I always owe you one?”
Dark Memories
An excerpt from the next Dark Falls book
Harry sighed as she debated joining the other Major Crimes detectives for Friday night drinks. Deciding she wasn’t in the mood—and for that she blamed Zach Jamison for escaping from the locked box in her mind that she’d exiled him to—she went home. The highlight of her weekend was the self-defense class she taught to females of any age who wanted to learn how to protect themselves. It pleased her that seven teen-aged girls had signed up. If Harry had anything to do with it, not another girl would suffer Abbie’s fate.
That was another box tightly locked up, though, one she couldn’t bear to revisit. And if she’d built strong as shit walls around herself, ones that isolated her from more hurt, so be it. Loneliness beat heartbreak any day.
Harry started off her Monday morning writing up a report on the arrest of a young man and his girlfriend for a string of home robberies. One reason she loved working in Major Crimes was you never knew what case was going to land in your lap. They covered everything from murder investigations to sex crimes. The sex crimes were the ones she wanted most of all. Nothing made her happier than to slap handcuffs on a person—man or woman—exploiting women and children and know they were going to spend years behind bars.
Not Gabe or any of her fellow detectives at the Dark Falls, Colorado Police Department had an inkling of why she’d made up her mind at the age of seventeen that come hell or high water she was going to be a detective someday.
No one connected Harry to Abbie Monroe since their last names were different, and she liked it that way. Abbie’s disappearance and the subsequent events had made the national news, and it hadn’t taken Harry long to grasp that when anyone learned they were half-sisters things turned awkward. People didn’t know what to say. Since there was nothing anyone could say to ease the pain or the horror of what had happened to Abbie, Harry never told anyone who she was. She dealt with her rage and grief by hunting bad people who did bad things to children.
“Harry, in my office.”
Her captain’s command had a sense of urgency to it, and Harry followed Eve Scanlon into her office. She stood at attention in front of the captain’s desk, and since Harry had a tendency to see the glass as half-empty, she waited to hear whatever bad ne
ws was coming her way.
“Sit, Harry,” the boss said.
Harry sat. Eve Scanlon was a great captain. They all liked and respected her. Usually she’d make a few minutes of small talk, but the terse command, thin line of her lips, and the serious glint in her eyes confirmed Harry’s suspicion that she wasn’t going to like whatever she was about to hear.
“We have a delicate situation. A child has been kidnapped. I’ve told the father that he needs to contact the FBI, but he’s adamant that he wants you on the case and only you.”
“Me?” A child had been kidnapped? Of course she wanted the case. It was her thing. But weird that someone was asking specifically for her.
“Yes, and as much as I don’t like it, Zach Jamison gets what he wants. You have heard of the CEO of Jamison International, right?”
Harry forgot how to breathe.
Zach Jamison stared at the phone in his hand, willing it to ring. Was Kaylee crying, asking for her daddy? Was she being hurt this very second while he stood in the middle of his state of the art, over-sized office filled with all the best money could buy? He eyed the gleaming bar with its cut from crystal glass cabinet doors and imported Italian marble counter top, tempted to drown his fear in the finest whiskey flown in especially for him from Scotland.
But that wouldn’t bring Kaylee back. He needed to be alert and at the top of his game if he was to find his daughter. He’d already made a list of who either hated him enough or was desperate enough to kidnap a helpless seven-year-old girl.
“There’s a Harry Harrison here to see you, Mr. Jamison.”
Zach frowned at his personal assistant. The only Harrison he wanted was Delaney. He’d spoken to her captain first thing this morning, making his wishes clear and giving her instructions that Delaney wasn’t to tell anyone she was a detective when she arrived. Apparently there was more than one Harrison at the Dark Falls police department. Had Delaney’s boss been confused by which one he wanted?
“Tell him I’m busy, Jackie.” He picked up his phone, intending to call Captain Scanlon and demand she send Delaney.
She glanced behind her. “Ah, he’s a—”
“She,” Delaney said, walking past Jackie.
“Delaney,” he said, thankful his voice hadn’t betrayed him. God help him, she was even more beautiful than the girl he’d loved. He noted that she still wore her hair in a tight pony tail low on her neck. One of his favorite things to do when she’d get home from a shift was to pull the band off, letting that glorious hair fall around her shoulders as he welcomed her back with a kiss.
“Mr. Jamison.”
So it was to be like that. He hadn’t seen her in seven years, but he’d thought of her every damn day. The three months they’d been together had been the best of his life. Zach Jamison was a man who prepared for all contingencies, and although he’d never expected to have her in his life again, he’d hadn’t moved his company to a bigger city like Denver… just in case the day came when his most fervent wish came true. But not like this, not because his daughter was missing.
“Jackie, I’m not to be interrupted unless the building is burning down.”
She glanced from him to Delaney, her eyes bright with curiosity, obviously not missing he had called her Delaney, not Harry. He waited until Jackie realized she wasn’t going to learn anything more and left, closing the door behind her. There were so many things he wanted to say to Delaney, but as of this morning, the only thing that mattered was his daughter.
“Delaney—”
“It’s Detective Harrison, or if you insist, then Harry.”
“In a million years and with a gun held to my head, I will never call you Harry.” He strode to his desk, taking refuge behind it. Seeing her again was harder than he’d thought it would be. He was rattled, a feeling he didn’t like. He was a man who’d come from nothing, built a billion dollar company on nothing but blood, sweat, and determination. Partly because of her, but she’d never know how much he’d wanted her to be proud of him.
“Have a seat, Delaney.”
Her eyes narrowed, showing her irritation, but she sat without comment.
“My daughter was abducted this morning on her way to school. No ransom note has been sent, but I received a text on my personal phone, a number very few people know, telling me further instructions would follow and warning me not to contact the police or the FBI if I wanted to see my daughter again.”
He brought the text up and handed her his phone. “I have to believe the motive is ransom money, meaning they won’t hurt her.” It was the thought he was holding onto, the one keeping him sane.
She handed his phone back after reading the text. “You need to contact the FBI.”
He took it as a positive sign that her eyes had softened. “No. You read the message. They said they’ll ki…” He stumbled over the word, unable to say kill in connection with his daughter. He swallowed hard, then cleared his throat. “Jackie doesn’t even know she’s missing, and I trust her more than anyone.”
“She won’t wonder why a detective is here to see you?”
“I assume you followed instructions and didn’t announce yourself as a detective?” After she nodded, he said, “I’ll tell her that you’re a friend from my past.” By her expression, it was obvious that she didn’t like that at all. She was going to like even less the reason he’d decided on for her being seen with him.
“You should still bring in the FBI. Kidnappings are their—”
“No. My daughter’s life is at stake. I want you and only you. I don’t know if it there’s someone on the inside involved, and if so, one hint that I’ve contacted the police or FBI could have unacceptable consequences. I’ve given this some thought, and we can let it be known that we’re renewing an old…” He paused, then said, “friendship.”
She gave a hard shake of her head. “No.”
* * *
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Savannah Kade also writes suspense as
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The NightShade Forensic Files
Book 1 - Under Dark Skies
Book 2 - Fracture Five
Book 3 - The Atlas Defect
Book 4 - Echo and Ember
Book 5 - Salvage (A Shadow Files Novel)
Book 6 - Garden of Bone
Book 7 - The Camelot Gambit
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The Vendetta Trifecta
Vengeance
Retribution
Justice
Resonance
God's Eye
Phoenix
The Shadow Constant
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Other books by Savannah Kade:
The WILDER Books:
Our Song
Heartstrings
Love Notes
Music & Lyrics
The Wilder Complete Book Set
The TOUCH OF MAGICK Series:
WishCraft
DreamWalker
LoveSpelled
SoulFire
ShadowKiss
The Touch of Magick Series: Complete Set
The LOVE FOUND US Series:
Wildest Dreams
Sunset Promises
Shooting Star
Hollywood Ending
Hollywood Nights Complete Set
The BREATHLESS Series:
Perfect
Ruined
Rebel
Lucky
Charmed
Saved
Dreamer
Gifted
Dark Echoes: (Dark Falls, CO Romantic Thriller Book 7) Page 18