Carla Cassidy - The Sheriff's Secretary

He turned and stared at Mariah’s front door, wondering what he should do.

Why was he here? Why hadn’t he gone home? He pushed himself forward and lightly tapped on the door. She opened it. Her soft curly hair spilled around her shoulders and her blue eyes radiated gentle concern as she looked at him. She wore the terry cloth robe she’d had on the night they made love. That night seemed as if it were a million years ago.

It was at that moment that Lucas realized he could fall in love with her, if he allowed it, and that there would be no happy ending. When this was all over, he feared that to her he would be just a bad memory.

And that she’d remember him as the man who broke her heart and never looked back.

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Carla Cassidy is an award-winning author who has written more than fifty novels for Silhouette Books. In 1995, she won Best Silhouette Romance from Romantic Times BOOKreviews for her novel Anything for Danny. In 1998, she also won a Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series from Romantic Times BOOKreviews.

Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.

Sheriff Lucas Jamison —He’s desperate to find his missing sister and her young charge.

Mariah Harrington —Her entire world explodes when her son, Billy, disappears.

Jenny Jamison —Is Lucas’s sister an innocent babysitter or part of a dangerous plot?

Frank Landers —Mariah’s ex-husband had no interest in being a father, but would he kidnap his own son to torment the woman who left him?

Phil Ribideaux —Had the wealthy playboy— Jenny’s ex-boyfriend—been driven to commit a crime when his father disinherited him?

Remy Troulous —The dangerous young man heads a gang called the Voodoo Priests. What was his connection with Jenny?

Louis DuBois, Wally Ellis and Ed Maylor — The sheriff’s men were doing their best to solve the crime…weren’t they?

Prologue Prologue It had been easier than he’d expected. He drew a deep breath to calm the rush of adrenaline he’d sustained for the past hour and a half. As the adrenaline eased, a new sense of euphoria flooded his veins. He’d done it. He’d actually managed to pull it off. All the months of planning had finally paid off. To assure himself of his success, he walked across the shack’s wooden floor and opened the slat in the door that offered him a view into the small room. They were both still out, unconscious on the mat where he’d placed them when he’d carried them in from the boat. Billy had been easy. He probably weighed no more than fifty pounds. Jenny had been more difficult. He’d struggled beneath her dead weight, not wanting to drop her into the gator-infested water that surrounded the shack. They were out, but soon the drugs would wear off and they’d wake up and know they were trapped. They wouldn’t know who had taken them or why they were here. And then the fear would begin. Although, on the outside, the shack looked as if a stiff breeze could blow it over and into the murky waters of Conja Creek, that appearance was deceiving. He’d spent the past month making sure the small interior room was strong and secure, like a fortress, not to keep people out but rather to keep people in. It was the perfect place for, when they woke, when they began to scream for help, there would be nobody to hear them but the gators and the fish. He checked his watch, then closed the slat with a sigh of satisfaction. They had all the basic necessities they needed to survive until he returned here. But now it was time for him to go. Minutes later he lowered himself into his boat. It would take him nearly an hour to maneuver through the maze of waterways half-choked with vegetation. He didn’t mind the time it would take. He’d use it to think about Sheriff Lucas Jamison, the golden boy who had it all. He tightened his hands on the boat’s steering wheel. Sheriff Lucas Jamison, the confident know-it-all, the town’s favorite son, the man who looked at him like he was nothing. Right now Lucas was the town’s favorite son, but soon he would know what it was like to be terrified.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

It had been easier than he’d expected. He drew a deep breath to calm the rush of adrenaline he’d sustained for the past hour and a half.

As the adrenaline eased, a new sense of euphoria flooded his veins. He’d done it. He’d actually managed to pull it off. All the months of planning had finally paid off.

To assure himself of his success, he walked across the shack’s wooden floor and opened the slat in the door that offered him a view into the small room.

They were both still out, unconscious on the mat where he’d placed them when he’d carried them in from the boat. Billy had been easy. He probably weighed no more than fifty pounds.

Jenny had been more difficult. He’d struggled beneath her dead weight, not wanting to drop her into the gator-infested water that surrounded the shack.

They were out, but soon the drugs would wear off and they’d wake up and know they were trapped. They wouldn’t know who had taken them or why they were here. And then the fear would begin.

Although, on the outside, the shack looked as if a stiff breeze could blow it over and into the murky waters of Conja Creek, that appearance was deceiving.

He’d spent the past month making sure the small interior room was strong and secure, like a fortress, not to keep people out but rather to keep people in. It was the perfect place for, when they woke, when they began to scream for help, there would be nobody to hear them but the gators and the fish.

He checked his watch, then closed the slat with a sigh of satisfaction. They had all the basic necessities they needed to survive until he returned here. But now it was time for him to go.

Minutes later he lowered himself into his boat. It would take him nearly an hour to maneuver through the maze of waterways half-choked with vegetation.

He didn’t mind the time it would take. He’d use it to think about Sheriff Lucas Jamison, the golden boy who had it all. He tightened his hands on the boat’s steering wheel. Sheriff Lucas Jamison, the confident know-it-all, the town’s favorite son, the man who looked at him like he was nothing. Right now Lucas was the town’s favorite son, but soon he would know what it was like to be terrified.

Mariah Harrington wasn’t worried when she got home from work and found her eight-year-old son and her roommate missing. It was a gorgeous late-summer afternoon, and odds were good that Billy and Jenny had walked to the nearby park to enjoy an hour or so of outdoor fun. Jenny’s car was in the driveway, so Mariah knew they couldn’t have gone far.