Hannah Alexander - Collateral Damage

HOMETOWN SECRETS

Was the explosion that took the lives of Sarah Russell’s parents an act of murder? Her teenage daughter thinks so and is determined to seek answers in the sleepy small town where Sarah grew up. Sarah fears the teen will uncover a secret she’s not ready to share: everyone, including Sarah’s daughter, believes the girl is Sarah’s kid sister. Even the child’s father doesn’t know the truth. But as Sarah reunites with Nick Tyler to look into the mysterious deaths, she knows she’ll have to tell him—and their daughter—the truth. Yet someone wants to ensure that no one uncovers any long-buried secrets.

“Remember what I told you last night?” Nick said.

She glanced at him.

“You’re not alone, Sarah. We’ll find Emma.”

“Emma is sixteen and my responsibility, and I’m the only one left alive now who knows how impulsive she can be. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I can’t take any chances with her.”

“I’m catching on pretty quickly to her tactics. Let me take some of this load, okay? You won’t be any good to yourself or Emma if you give in to panic.” He placed a hand over hers.

Sarah felt the warmth of Nick’s hand melting into her icy fingers. She hadn’t realized how tightly she was wound. She shook her head. “I can handle this.”

“You lost both your parents and suddenly became the guardian of a very headstrong teenager who also, most likely, has PTSD mingling with grief after discovering their deaths might have been murder. I’m so sorry my efforts to get to the bottom—”

“Enough with the poor-little-Sarah routine, okay? I’ll deal with it.”

Because getting to the bottom of things was what Sarah was so afraid of.

HANNAH ALEXANDER

is the pseudonym of husband-and-wife writing team Cheryl and Mel Hodde (pronounced “Hoddee”). When they first met, Mel had just begun his new job as an E.R. doctor in Cheryl’s hometown, and Cheryl was working on a novel. Cheryl’s matchmaking pastor set them up on an unexpected blind date at a local restaurant. Surprised by the sneak attack, Cheryl blurted the first thing that occurred to her, “You’re a doctor? Could you help me paralyze someone?” Mel was shocked. “Only temporarily, of course,” she explained when she saw his expression. “And only fictitiously. I’m writing a novel.”

They began brainstorming immediately. Eighteen months later they were married, and the novels they set in fictitious Ozark towns began to sell. The first novel in the Hideaway series won the prestigious Christy Award for Best Romance in 2004.

Collateral Damage

Hannah Alexander

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

This book is dedicated to those who spend so much of their time and finances to keep a piece of history alive in Jolly Mill Park, Missouri. May God be with those on this special private park board, who strive to remind us that we are always making history.

Contents

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

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Extract

ONE

The warning shriek of a siren accompanied a blur of Missouri roadside shrubs and the flash of red-blue-red in Sarah Russell’s rearview mirror. She dabbed at her wet face with the cuff of her sleeve. Another blast of sound and flash of lights near her back bumper told her she was busted. “Oh, sure,” she muttered. “Don’t go after the real speeders. Pick on me.”

All she needed right now, atop everything else, was public humiliation—it would be bad enough when the whole Russell family found out she’d lost Emma after having custody for only three weeks. And she hadn’t been speeding. True, squealing tire rubber on the road was never a good idea, and she should have known better than to attempt highway traffic while fighting tears that flowed faster than her speedometer, but still...

With a wet sniffle, she pulled to the shoulder of Highway 60. A few more seconds and she’d have been out of the Sikeston city limits and on her way toward Jolly Mill.

She closed her eyes and focused on breathing deeply. The word murder reverberated through her mind in time with her heartbeat. Impossible. Couldn’t be! But what if it was true? Innocent, trusting sixteen-year-old Emma was headed toward disaster in more ways than one.

Sarah fumbled in her purse for a tissue and was blowing her nose when a uniformed figure stepped from the cruiser behind her. She lowered the window, winced at the squeak she’d never had repaired and looked up—into the face of her cousin, John Fred Russell.

“Oh, John.” She nearly burst into fresh tears at the sight of the man who’d been like a brother since her family moved here. Among all the Russell cousins, John was her favorite. A person couldn’t spit on the sidewalk in this town without the whole Russell clan hearing about it, but John had kept silent for years about her most devastating secret. He was a true man.

“Sarah Fey Russell,” he muttered with a voice of resignation.

“John, this isn’t a good time. Please, just let me go. Didn’t you recognize my car?”

“All I saw was a set of taillights weaving back and forth on the road like a flag in a high wind,” he drawled, wiggling his hand in the air. “But yes, when you finally stopped, I knew it was you.”

A pickup truck sped past. He glanced toward the receding vehicle then sighed and returned his attention to her. “I have to ask, of course, so just tell me you haven’t suddenly taken up drinking and driving for recreation.” Again, the dry tone, his southeastern Missouri accent as pronounced as usual. His typical expression of serenity was firmly in place, which meant he knew she wouldn’t need to breathe into a tube.

She shook her head, sniffed and dabbed at a few stray tears with her sleeve.

He leaned over and peered at her face more closely. “Hey, cuz.” His tone softened. “You crying? What’s wrong?”

He’d been a rock since Mom and Dad died three weeks ago.... Could Emma be right? Was it possible their deaths weren’t just a tragic accident? “I’ve already blown the guardianship.”

“How?”

“I’ve lost Emma.”

“What?”

Sarah reached toward the passenger seat for the printout of the long email she’d found after arriving home from her final, long day of teachers’ meetings to end the school year.

He took the sheet and squinted. “Wow. Save me some time. Give me the short version.”

“She’s driving across the state to Jolly Mill to investigate a rumor that the explosion that killed Mom and Dad was intentional.”

John hunkered down, eyes wide. “Someone thinks your parents were murdered?”

More tears surfaced as Sarah’s throat threatened to close. It was too fresh. Only three weeks since her world had shattered. “Nick Tyler suspects something. He’s Aunt Peg’s son.”