Rita Herron - Silent Night Sanctuary

Carina gestured for him to follow her down the narrow hallway to another office.

Driscill glanced up from his desk, a look of wary surprise crossing his face. He’d beefed up some since high school, and his hair was shorter now, receding slightly, but Gage would have recognized his tree-trunk neck and crooked nose anywhere. A mean look still glittered in his eyes.

“Gage McDermont, what in the hell are you doing back in Sanctuary? We having a class reunion someone forgot to tell me about?”

Gage forced a chuckle. “Hardly.” He shot a look across the office. “I have a feeling you know everything that’s going on in this town.”

A cocky grin slid across Driscill’s face. “It’s my job to know.” He patted his gun. “And I take my job seriously. What are you doing here, McDermont? I thought you were some hotshot detective in Raleigh.”

Gage gritted his teeth. He didn’t intend to share the circumstances of his departure from the police department with this moron from his past. “I got tired of playing by the rules and decided to strike out on my own.”

Charlie raked a hand over his thinning hair. “You got tired of the rules? Now that’s funny. You were always the goody-two-shoes in high school.”

He had tried to be the nice guy. But nice guys finished last. “I’ve changed.”

Charlie grinned. “Is that so?”

Gage nodded. “Yeah, I have a private investigation agency. I’m here about Ruby Holden’s disappearance.”

Driscill’s olive skin paled slightly, although he masked his reaction quickly. “You’re a P.I. for kids?”

“I’m working for Leah Holden.”

Driscill stood, boots hitting the cement floor. “She called you in?”

He shook his head. “I read about the case and heard you’d called off the search, so I offered my assistance. Fill me in. Where are you on the investigation? Do you have any leads?”

Driscill scowled. “If you’ve followed the news, you know we did everything we could. Organized search parties, questioned everyone in town. Even consulted the feds. But no leads yet.”

“Why didn’t you immediately call in the bureau?”

“We thought we could handle it ourselves,” Driscill said. “Thought the kid just snuck out and got lost or something.”

Gage arched a brow. “And the child left that cryptic note?”

A muscle twitched in Driscill’s jaw. “We did everything possible to find that little girl. Hell, the whole town was looking for her for days.”

“Did you have any viable suspects?” Gage asked.

“No. You know as well as I do that if someone kidnapped her, they’re probably long gone by now.” He cracked his knuckles. “The feds have issued alerts and have her listed on the database for missing and exploited children. They’ll let us know if they get a tip.”

“Did you look into that rental house that backs up to Leah’s property?” Gage asked.

Charlie frowned. “No. Didn’t see a need to.”

“The kidnapper could have hid out there.”

“Maybe.”

“Are there any registered child offenders in the area?”

“Daryl Trevett. I questioned him already and he was working at the plastic factory all night.” Charlie lowered his voice. “The problem may be Leah Holden herself.”

“What do you mean?”

He cut his eyes toward the door as if debating how much to share, then cleared his throat. “She’s had emotional problems. Had a breakdown when her daddy died. That’s the reason her mama sent her away her senior year.” Driscill narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you know?”

He’d heard rumors.

Driscill shrugged. “Maybe she lost it again when her mama died, and she couldn’t handle being a parent.”

Gage hid any reaction. He wanted the facts. “You have anything to support that theory?”

“All I know is that she’s been seeing a shrink.” He jammed a toothpick between his teeth and chewed on it. “And since she moved back, she’s kept to herself. Don’t want anything to do with her old friends or the town. Except for Jerry, that is. Apparently Jerry thought she wanted to rekindle their relationship.”

Jealousy left a bitter taste in Gage’s mouth.

Had Leah really tried to get back together with his brother?

HE SWALLOWED THE pill, chasing it with a stiff whiskey, and paced the bottom floor of the old house. The mountains were full of rotting shanties and abandoned houses like this, places he’d discovered on his secret hikes into the woods.

Places no one would think to look because they probably didn’t even know about them.

The rooms smelled musty and dank, and he wheezed a labored breath, then removed his inhaler and pressed it over his mouth and nose. Dammit, he was allergic to dust and half the trees in the woods.

Upstairs in the attic room, he heard footsteps. Then the little girl began screaming for help and beating the walls.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest. Poor kid, didn’t she know it was futile? They were miles and miles from the town, deep in the ridges.

She could scream her lungs out and no one would hear her.

Sick of her whining, he strode outside to escape the sound. He didn’t know what he was going to do with the kid yet.

But Leah Holden had called in the cops, so he couldn’t give her back.

Still, he wasn’t ready to kill her. Not yet.

If it came down to it, he’d do it. He could bury her out in the hills and no would ever find her or link him to her kidnapping and death.

Then his peaceful life in Sanctuary could go back to normal.

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