for Book Clubs and other groups
Do you think adopted children should have access to information about their birth parents? Could Harvey have handled his first meeting with Leah better? What safeguards would you recommend in a situation like this, for him and for Leah?
Why do you think it was easier for Andy to call Abby “Mom” than it was for Gary?
Abby’s family members wanted to visit her to show their support. Are there situations when well-meaning friends and family could be more hindrance than help?
Gary felt an overwhelming need to look for his father. How could Abby and Grandma Vickie have better helped the two boys when they learned their father was missing?
Harvey is once more procrastinating choosing a new detective for his squad. Whom do you think he should choose? Sarah? Someone else in the Portland department? Someone from outside?
Harvey discovered there was another Harvey Alan Larson. Have you ever known of anyone with the same name as you?
Tom Merrick used his job as a realtor to make extra money on the sly. Have you known of situations where an employee takes advantage of an employer?
How might Abby and Peter help Janelle at the end of this story?
Abby wants Peter and the boys to have careers they love, but not everyone can do that. Should Peter sell his business? Have you ever had a moment in your life where you wanted a complete change of occupation?
Harvey offered his handkerchief to Abby to wipe her tears. She seemed surprised that anyone still carried one. Can you think of similar items that could seem old-fashioned to young people?
Do you think Holden and Mack would have released Peter if they had received the ransom money?
Can you recall a time where you felt helpless and had to completely trust in God for help?
Excerpt from Susan Page Davis’s novel
Breaking News
Kurt couldn’t stand to put it off any longer. After the morning news meeting with his staff, he lost no time getting to the police station.
He stopped at the window and gave the dispatcher a brief version of his mission, and she immediately called the patrol sergeant. The uniformed sergeant opened a door farther down the hall and guided Kurt into a tiny office that was more a niche than a room.
“I know Mick Tyler. How long has he been missing?” Sergeant Bedard opened a small notebook and sat with his pen ready. He was young, in his early thirties, clean cut, and exhibited the right amount of concern and efficiency.
“Since Monday morning.” As Bedard wrote, Kurt felt as if something was finally being done, and things would turn out all right. He had come prepared with all the contact information he had for Mick—Callie’s phone number and address, Mick’s cell phone, Lionel’s phone and address, a description of Mick’s car.
“Do you have the license plate number?” Bedard scrutinized the memo sheet Kurt had given him.
Competent and thorough, Kurt thought with relief. “No, sorry. Callie might have some records at the house.”
“I can check it.” Bedard wrote something else in his notebook, then looked up at Kurt. “Pardon my asking, but is there a chance Tyler is hiding from you?”
“Oh, I don’t think so. He never has before.”
“But isn’t he a hard drinker on the weekends?”
“I guess he can be, but I saw him for a minute Monday morning, and he was sober.” Kurt watched the sergeant, waiting for an expert opinion on Mick’s erratic behavior. “He was upbeat that day,” he added. “I had put him on a new assignment last Thursday.”
“What was it?”
“A nostalgic piece about an old family that used to live in Belgrade. He went out there Friday and scoped the house involved. One of our photographers, Wally Reed—”
“I know him.”
Kurt nodded. Sgt. Bedard apparently knew everyone at the paper. “Wally was going to meet him there at ten Monday morning and take some photos for the story. But when he got to Belgrade, Mick wasn’t there. Wally waited a while and then came back. But Mick hasn’t checked in since, and as I told you, his wife and the friend he was staying with haven’t heard from him either.”
Bedard frowned and studied his notes. “You say he and Mrs. Tyler were having some problems.”
“Well, I don’t know any details.” Kurt shifted in his chair, uncomfortable to be revealing another’s private affairs. “All he told me was that he wasn’t currently living at home. And when I stopped by the house yesterday, Callie seemed...”
The sergeant zeroed in on his hesitation. “How did she seem?”
Kurt groped for the right word.
“Mr. Borden, if Tyler’s in trouble, any little thing could be important.”
“Well, to be honest, she was pretty bitter. Sort of a good riddance attitude. She said ... she said he’d been a no-show for lots of family events.”
“So she considered this part of a pattern.”
“I don’t know. I only know that at work he either shows up or he calls in. But not this time.”
Bedard nodded. “I’ll have one of our officers do some checking. Could be he decided to get away for a few days and forgot to let you know.”
Kurt doubted that. “If he was involved in an accident, wouldn’t his car show up in your reports?”
“Depends on where it happened. Sometimes it takes a while for our system to get updates from other agencies. But I’ll put someone on it right away. Meanwhile, if there’s any word from him, you let us know.”
“Of course.” Kurt stood, wishing he’d come in sooner to file the report. Now to tell Grant. He wished he didn’t have to, but they needed to inform the newspaper staff right away. Terry Fallon, the reporter covering Mick’s former police beat, would find out soon anyhow, when he went to collect the daily reports from the police log. Kurt didn’t want the employees to find out that way.
~~~~
On Thursday morning Janet went next door to help Sharon prepare for her daughter’s arrival.
“Tory ought to be here by suppertime,” Sharon said with a smile.
“I’m glad she’s coming.” Janet stood on the opposite side of an old, oak-framed double bed from Sharon, tucking in the sheets.
“So am I. I’d rattle around in this big old house all by my lonesome, now that Andrew is gone.”
“Oh, he left this morning?” Janet asked.
“Yes. He was the last. I was surprised he stayed this long, but I’m glad he did.”
“What does he do? He lives in Knoxville, right?
“Yes, Tennessee.” Sharon reached for a pillowcase. “He’s a city planner. They’ve had a lot of growth in that area. I think he’s good at it. At least, he’s always busy. He doesn’t call me very often, and I have to admit I don’t know that much about his work.”
Janet nodded, thankful again for her close, loving family. Although her only brother lived in Idaho, they kept in touch, and she and Kurt received phone calls from their three married children often.
“He was a bit put out that he couldn’t get hold of his school friend again before he left.” Sharon smiled ruefully. “At least he got to see Dad conscious.”
“I’m so glad your father’s improving,” Janet said.
Sharon’s smile widened. “Me, too. He’s not saying much yet, just a few words here and there, and I can tell by the look in his eyes sometimes that he’s terribly frustrated.”
Janet nodded and picked up a pillow. “Can’t communicate the way he wants to.”
“Right. But the doctors are optimistic. They say that with time and therapy, he may regain a lot of his speech and mobility.”
“That’s wonderful.” Sharon didn’t say anything about Elwood’s previous attempts to convey messages to his children, and Janet didn’t bring it up. It would only add to Sharon’s stress. They were both aware of it, and if Elwood was able to shed any light on the mysterious events he had mentioned earlier, Sharon would tell her.
“Today I started looking into options for long-term care,” Sharon said. �
��The doctors aren’t sure if he’ll be able to come home, and he certainly can’t live alone anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
Sharon shrugged. “Part of life. But I can’t stay forever. Vic says he needs me. He’s getting way behind on the financials for the company. So I figured I’d better start making arrangements. You know, tie up loose ends as soon as I can. I told him it may take me another week, and he wasn’t happy, but he said to do what I have to for Dad.”
“That’s nice of him,” Janet said.
“Yes, he’s pretty good about things like that. But I could tell he wished I was home. I suggested he might have our accountant help out a little extra, but that would be expensive.” She laughed. “I work cheap.”
“Is Tory flying up?” Janet asked.
“No, she’s driving. She lives in Providence now, and she got the rest of the week off, and all of next week.”
“Why don’t the two of you have supper with us?”
“Oh, thank you, but Tory asked me especially if we could eat at the seafood restaurant in Waterville after she sees her grandfather tonight. Dad took her there the last time she was in Maine, and she hasn’t forgotten the scallops. Maybe another time?”
“Sure. Have you got another blanket for this bed? The nights are getting colder.”
~~~~
Kurt and Janet sat in the family room watching the tail end of Jeopardy. The final category was “U.S. Presidents.” Janet thought she might have a chance of guessing the answer if the relevant president lived before 1920. She enjoyed reading historical novels and dabbled in genealogy, which had taken her on some lively forays into colonial and early American history. But if the question involved a more recent President, Kurt surely had the advantage with his exhaustive news background.
“He was the youngest man ever to be President of the United States,” Alex Trebek said.
Kurt smiled at her. “You know this.”
“Hmm. Kennedy?” She squinted at the screen. “Does it say elected?”
“I don’t think so, but I don’t have my glasses on.”
“Then it must be Theodore Roosevelt,” Janet said with certainty. “He was younger, but he wasn’t elected to his first term. He inherited the job from McKinley.”
“In a manner of speaking,” Kurt agreed.
The music ended, and they listened carefully to the responses. Kennedy … wrong … Kennedy … wrong …Roosevelt … correct!
“There you go,” said Kurt, pushing the off button on the remote. “You win tonight. If you’d been on the show, you’d have almost forty thousand dollars.”
Janet laughed. “If I’d been on there, I wouldn’t have made it to Final Jeopardy. All those questions about business moguls and rock music! Besides, you knew it before I did.”
“Speaking of the Kennedys,” Kurt said, rising and picking up his empty coffee mug, “Do you remember the summer of ’68? Bobby Kennedy’s assassination?”
“Well, sure. I was in school when we heard the news. Why?”
He frowned. “Nothing. Just something Mick Tyler said to me a few days before he went missing.”
“About Robert Kennedy?”
“Well, about Senator Jacobs.”
Janet eyed him in confusion. “The man who used to own the house down the road.”
“Right. He said Jacobs disappeared the same year Robert Kennedy was shot, so no one thinks of it anymore. All they remember is Kennedy’s assassination.”
She nodded slowly. “I sure don’t remember much about the Senator’s disappearance. Just Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. But I was pretty young. Kurt, don’t you think it’s strange that Jacobs disappeared, and when Mick started digging into the story, he disappeared, too?”
The doorbell rang, and they looked at each other in surprise.
“Must be Sharon.” Janet hurried to the entry and flipped the switch for the outside light. She could see Sharon through the glass in the door. A young woman was with her.
“Well, hi!” Janet swung the door wide. “Been to the hospital? You must be Tory. Come on in.”
The two women spilled into the hallway, and Sharon clutched Janet’s arm.
“Thank heaven you’re home! Call the police!” Sharon’s eyes were wide with fear.
“What’s wrong?” Janet asked.
Tory smiled at her in wan apology. “We just got back from dinner, and someone has broken into Grandpa’s house.”
End of Excerpt
Order Breaking News here.
More of SUSAN PAGE DAVIS’S Mystery and Suspense books that you might enjoy:
Other Books in this Series:
The Priority Unit
Fort Point
Found Art
Heartbreaker Hero
The House Next Door
The Labor Day Challenge
The Frasier Island Series:
Frasier Island
Finding Marie
Inside Story
Hearts in the Crosshairs
The Saboteur
The Mainely Mysteries Series (coauthored by Susan's daughter, Megan Elaine Davis)
Homicide at Blue Heron Lake
Treasure at Blue Heron Lake
Impostors at Blue Heron Lake
Trail to Justice
Tearoom Mysteries (from Guideposts, books written by several authors)
Tearoom for Two
Trouble Brewing
Steeped in Secrets
A selection of Susan’s Historical Novels:
Echo Canyon (set in 1860)
River Rest (set in 1918)
My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains (set in 1866)
The Crimson Cipher (set in 1915)
The Outlaw Takes a Bride (western)
Mrs. Mayberry Meets Her Match
The Seafaring Women of the Vera B. (Co-authored with Susan’s son James S. Davis)
The Ladies' Shooting Club Series (westerns)
The Sheriff's Surrender
The Gunsmith's Gallantry
The Blacksmith's Bravery
Captive Trail (western)
Cowgirl Trail (western)
Heart of a Cowboy (western collection)
The Prairie Dreams series (set in the 1850s)
The Lady’s Maid
Lady Anne’s Quest
A Lady in the Making
The Prisoner’s Wife
The Castaway’s Bride
The Lumberjack’s Lady
Mountain Christmas Brides
Seven Brides for Seven Texans
See all of her books at www.susanpagedavis.com.
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