by Terri Reed
Ellie wiggled out of Rachelle’s arms and threw herself against Carter. “Daddy!”
He picked her up and held on tight, relishing the feel of his precious child.
The puppies nipped at Rachelle’s pants. Laughing, she got down on the floor to shower the two miscreants with snuggles and praise. Frosty even edged his way in to lick her face. Her laughter was infectious. Carter’s heart squeezed tight.
Giggling, Ellie shimmied out of his arms to join the lovefest on the floor. She pushed her way onto Rachelle’s lap and joined in the fun with the puppies and Frosty, who now lay down with his paws on Rachelle’s knee. The sight, so achingly sweet and tender, was almost more than Carter could bear.
And he found himself jealous of his daughter, the puppies and Frosty as Rachelle lavished her affection and attention so easily on them. He wanted it for himself. Which made no sense at all.
He tore his gaze away and found his parents watching the scene with bemused smiles. Carter had to put a stop to this now. Everyone was getting too close, too attached, too emotional.
He clapped his hands to gain everyone’s attention. A trick he’d learned from Ellie’s preschool teacher. “All right. It’s time for a bath and bedtime stories.”
Ellie leaned back into Rachelle’s arms. “Can Rachelle read my bedtime stories to me tonight?”
Carter’s stomach sank. Way too attached. “Honey, it’s been a really long day, and I would really like to spend some time with you.”
“Your father’s right. It’s been a very long day.” She stifled a yawn. “I can read to you another time.”
Grateful for her assist, Carter bent to pick Ellie up into his arms and then held out a hand to help Rachelle to her feet.
For a moment she clung to him. And he had the strangest sensation that if he could allow it, they could be a family.
Jolted by the thought, he quickly disengaged and stepped away from Rachelle. “We’ll see you in the morning.” He set Ellie on her feet. “Give Grandma and Grandpa kisses and thank them for your special day.”
She ran to her grandparents and gave them noisy kisses. “Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa.”
Ellie then raced back to Rachelle and wrapped her arms around her legs. “You’ll still be here tomorrow, right?”
Rachelle rubbed Ellie’s back. “I believe I will be. Now off with you. Sweet dreams.”
Carter grabbed a puppy under each arm. “Ellie, get the door, please. Come on, Frosty. ’Night, Mom, Dad.”
Ellie opened the front door so Carter and Frosty could pass through. As she shut the door, Carter heard Ellie say, “Sweet dreams to you, too, Rachelle.”
* * *
The next morning Rachelle awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee. Hungry and eager to start the day, she quickly dressed in navy capris and a flowered top that had flounces at the elbows and the neckline. The top was feminine and made her feel pretty. And she had to admit to herself that she wanted to look pretty and hoped that Carter noticed.
“Really?” she asked her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she plaited her hair into a single braid down her back because the heat index was to reach triple digits. “What do you hope will happen? Carter will declare his undying love for you? Ha!” Shaking her finger at herself, she said, “Don’t get all gooey about Carter. You are not looking for romance.”
They were only together to solve a crime and keep her alive. With a shudder, she really hoped and prayed that today would not be a repeat of yesterday. Nearly being kidnapped and shot at had never been on her bucket list. In fact, none of this had been on her bucket list.
When she’d decided to write an investigative piece on Jordan Jameson’s murder she never dreamed she would become a target herself or that she would end up ensconced deep within the Jameson clan.
Or find herself longing for Carter Jameson.
Frustrated with herself, she stuffed those feelings deep inside. There was no room in her life for emotions that had no place to grow. Carter wasn’t interested in her romantically and once her life was back to normal, she’d probably never see Carter or his adorable daughter again. The thought saddened her more than she wanted to admit.
When she stepped into the kitchen, Carter and Ellie were at the counter eating bacon, pancakes, fresh berries and drinking orange juice. Through the window in the back door, Rachelle could see Alex Jameson in the backyard with the puppies. Frosty lay on the porch observing. She assumed Scotty had gone with Noah to the NYC K-9 Command Unit headquarters.
“Good morning,” Rachelle said.
Carter smiled. “Ellie wanted to see you. So we came down for breakfast.”
Touched, Rachelle hugged the child. Ellie gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Ivy Jameson handed her a cup of coffee. “Milk?”
“No, thank you. You wouldn’t by chance have an alternative creamer?”
“Let me check the cupboard. I usually keep a variety of things here for when we host Bible study.” She pulled out a powdered nondairy creamer. “Will this work?”
Rachelle would’ve preferred an almond beverage, but she took the nondairy creamer. “Thank you so much.” She applied a liberal amount to her coffee and stirred with the spoon Ivy handed her.
“Sit here.” Ellie patted the bar stool beside her. “I’m going with my friend Greta and her mom to Prospector Park.”
“Prospect Park,” Carter corrected.
Taking a seat, Rachelle said, “I’ve never been there. Is it an outdoor playground?”
“It’s one of the biggest parks in the five boroughs,” Carter told her. “With lots of shade trees.”
“I’m sure you will have lots of fun, Ellie.” Rachelle skipped the pancakes but took a spoonful of berries and several pieces of bacon, which she doused with syrup.
“Do you not like pancakes?” Ellie asked.
Rachelle shook her head. “Not really. But I love bacon.”
Carter’s soft chuckle heated her cheeks. “A little bacon with your syrup?”
She grimaced. “I wasn’t allowed much in the way of sweets as a kid so now I go a little overboard.”
He cocked his head and looked like he wanted to ask questions. Hoping to keep him from delving into her childhood, she stuffed her mouth. Thankfully, he let her comment go.
After breakfast, Rachelle helped Ivy with the dishes while Carter and Ellie went to their apartment so Ellie could get ready for her outing with her friend.
“Thank you, my dear,” Ivy said. “Carter told us what happened to you yesterday.” Concern laced her words. “Despite my initial reaction to your occupation, I hope you know you’re welcome to stay here with us as long as you need. Between Alex and Carter and Noah and the dogs, we will keep you safe.”
Touched to the point of tears, Rachelle blinked rapidly and busied herself drying the dish in her hand. “I really appreciate your offer.”
And she did, more than Mrs. Jameson could ever know. She felt wanted here, like she belonged. She knew she was getting herself in too deep, emotionally. She really needed to take a step back. But that time would come eventually. And it would hurt, but until then she would enjoy the sense of family, of belonging.
“Are you ready to go?” Carter stepped into the kitchen a few minutes later.
Drying her hands off on the dish towel, Rachelle nodded. “Yes.” She was eager to get digging more into Miles Landau’s life. “Thank you, Ivy, for breakfast.”
“My pleasure,” the older woman said. She turned to Carter. “Keep her safe.”
A flash of surprise in Carter’s eyes turned to determination. “Of course.”
When they arrived at the station, there was a buzz of activity going on. Carter led her to the conference room. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to see what’s happening.”
He shut the door behind her. Wondering if there was news regard
ing Jordan’s case, Rachelle immediately went to work looking for something that would lead them to Miles.
An hour later Carter returned just as she was getting up to go look for him to share what she’d found.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. The August heat brings out the crazy in everybody.” He ran his hand through his thick dark hair. Her gaze tracked his movement and her fingers curled against the itch to feel his hair, to brush back the stray lock that fell over his forehead. “There was some gang activity and a robbery. Nothing unusual.”
Forcing herself to focus, she said, “I think I found something that might be useful.”
He crossed the room to her side with purposeful strides. “Show me.”
“I was reading through all the comments on Miles’s Facebook page. He has quite the list of friends and followers. Anyway, this is from a couple of days after his release from prison.”
She showed him the post. It was a picture of Miles mugging for the camera outside the prison. His shaved head gleamed like a recently polished bowling ball. His thin frame was muscled and his dark eyes had a feral light. The caption accompanying the photo read, Watch out, here I come.
“Ominous but not a direct threat to anyone in particular,” Carter said.
“This is what I wanted to show you.” She scrolled down through the two hundred-plus comments and landed on one that read, Looking forward to you coming home.
“Who is that from?”
“Cecilia Landau,” she said. “I checked out her social media pages and I believe she’s Miles’s mother. He might be hiding out at her place.”
“That is a good catch.”
Approval resonated in his tone and pleasure infused her.
“I’ll let Noah know and he should send officers over.” He headed for the door.
“Wait.”
Carter stopped and arched an eyebrow.
“You and I should go over. She might talk to me.”
He shook his head. “No way. I’m not putting you back out in the field. After what happened last night...”
“But you and Frosty would be with me,” she argued. “Though I would suggest putting on civilian clothes.” She gestured to his uniform. “Less intimidating that way.”
“Noah will never go for it.”
She hurried to his side. “We won’t know unless we ask him.”
“Suit yourself.” He gestured for her to precede him out of the conference room.
Carter rapped on Noah’s door, then opened it so she could pass through first. She really liked the way Carter was so polite and thoughtful.
Despite the nervous flutter in her tummy, she told Noah what she’d found and what she’d like to do. Even before she finished he was shaking his head.
Frustration ate a hole through her patience. “Listen, both of you. I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me but if we don’t find Miles this will never end. Mrs. Landau is not going to willingly talk to the police—I can guarantee you that. But she might talk to me. If I come at her saying I’m doing a report on recently released inmates and want to include her son, she might be more inclined to talk to me. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame.”
“It’s too big a risk,” Carter said. “If Miles is the one after you he would have told his mother about the nosy reporter.”
“Maybe not,” she countered. “She may be in the dark about his current activity.”
Noah rubbed his chin. “We could bring Mrs. Landau in for questioning.”
“Then she’s guaranteed not to talk,” Rachelle stated.
“I won’t authorize a visit, it would be too risky, but a phone call couldn’t do any harm,” Noah said.
Forcing herself to be content with a call, Rachelle hurried back to the conference room to look up the number.
She would have to employ all of her charm to get Mrs. Landau to talk to her.
Rachelle was up to the task.
TEN
At the end of the day, Rachelle was discouraged. Mrs. Landau had hung up on her at the first mention of her son, Miles.
And though Rachelle and Carter had gone through every last scrap of her notes and research, they’d come up with nothing solid. No new leads on Jordan’s killer.
She prayed the police caught Miles soon. Then they’d know one way or another if he was the murderer they sought.
When they arrived home to the three-story house in Rego Park, Ellie hadn’t returned from her outing to the park. Carter went upstairs to his apartment to change out of his uniform.
Needing some downtime as well, Rachelle went to the spare bedroom in his parents’ portion of the large multifamily home that had become hers for the past few nights. It was a nice, comfortable room, with a double-size mattress and decorated in sea-foam green and cream.
She wondered if at one time this had been one of the boys’ bedroom. Maybe Carter’s?
With a sigh, she decided she really needed to keep her mind off the too-handsome officer. Nothing would come of letting herself pine for him when he had repeatedly made it clear he wasn’t interested.
Lying on the bed, she closed her eyes to rest. The bang of a door opening, then Ellie’s sweet voice drew her out of the bedroom like a butterfly to a flower.
Rachelle hung back in the shadow of the hallway as she watched the Jamesons greet each other. Carter, now wearing jogging shorts and a T-shirt, swept his daughter into his arms and kissed her face. She giggled as he made raspberry sounds against her neck.
Rachelle’s heart ached with love and longing for this family. But they would never be hers. Saddened and dismayed at the same time by the thought, she began to retreat, deciding it was time to distance herself. But Ellie spied her before she had taken two steps.
“Rachelle.” Ellie broke away from her father and ran to Rachelle, giving her a warm hug.
“Well, hello there,” Rachelle said, aware of Carter’s gaze on her and his daughter. “Did you have a good time at the park?”
“I did.” Ellie slipped her hand into Rachelle’s and drew her into the living room. “We had a picnic and Greta and I met some nice girls to play with. I even saw Snapper.”
“What?!” Carter and his parents, who had joined them, all stared at the child.
Rachelle tucked in her chin. “Isn’t Snapper...?”
“Uncle Jordan’s partner,” Ellie said. “I hugged him and told him he should come home with me.” Sadness crossed her face. “But he ran away and no one else saw him. Greta’s mom was upset when I told her about Snapper. She said I shouldn’t touch dogs without permission from their owner. But Snapper is family.”
“Ellie, are you sure it was Snapper?” Alex asked, his voice breaking slightly.
“It could have been a different German shepherd, Ellie,” Carter said gently. “And Greta’s mom is correct. You know better than to approach a dog without permission, and even then, only if I’m with you.”
Ellie shook her head adamantly. “It was Snapper. He had on his black collar.”
Carter exchanged a look of disbelief with his dad.
Snapper disappeared the day Jordan had died. If the dog were still alive... Rachelle knew this was momentous. “We should go to the park,” she said to Carter.
“There’s no we,” he said. “You’re not going anywhere.” He looked at his father. “I’ll call Noah on the way.”
Alex nodded, already moving to the hall closet, where he grabbed two flashlights.
Carter squatted down in front of Ellie. “Sweetie, can you describe where in the park you were when you saw Snapper?”
She scrunched up her little nose. “We were in the funny trees. We pumped water into a trunk and played in the sand.”
“Sounds like they were in Zucker Natural Exploration Area,” Ivy said. “It’s just off Nellie’s Lawn in the northeast part o
f the park.”
“Got it.” He gave Ellie a hug.
“Are you going to bring Snapper home?” Ellie asked.
“I’m going to try.” He stood and met Rachelle’s gaze. “You’ll stay put?”
Though he had reason to ask, the question rankled. “Yes. I’ll keep Ellie occupied while we wait for you to come back.”
He gave a sharp nod before leaving with Frosty and his father.
“Who would like to help me fix dinner?” Ivy asked, breaking the silence.
Rachelle immediately said, “I will.” Anything to keep her mind off being left behind while Carter and his father went in search of Snapper.
“Me, too,” Ellie cried.
“Great.” Ivy headed to the kitchen. “I’ll send Katie a text and ask if she’d like to come down. She wasn’t feeling well earlier. She has been so tired. The pregnancy is really taking its toll.”
Rachelle would imagine the death of her husband was more the culprit. Her heart hurt for this family and all they had suffered. She wished she could solve the crime. She didn’t want to find the truth for herself anymore. She wanted it for Carter and his family.
* * *
“Do you think she really saw Snapper?” his father asked as Carter drove them to Prospect Park, located in the neighboring borough of Brooklyn.
Steeling himself against the hope in his father’s voice, Carter said, “I don’t know, Dad. We can pray so.”
Taking out his phone, he called Noah and told him what was happening. “Dad and I are on our way there now.”
“I’ll join you,” Noah said, and clicked off.
Carter didn’t think Ellie would make up a story about something so important, though she was an imaginative child. If Snapper were out there, he would have come home, wouldn’t he? There had been so many sightings over the past five months and every time it was either the wrong dog or just a fool’s errand. But if Ellie really had seen Snapper, then they had to try to find him.
By the time Carter pulled to a stop along Flatbush Avenue, two other vehicles from the NYC K-9 Command Unit pulled up behind him. Noah and his dog, Scotty, got out of his SUV. Tony Knight and his dog, Rusty, a male chocolate Lab specializing in search and rescue, climbed out of the next vehicle.