Lynette Eason - A Silent Fury

She stopped, turned to find Joseph leaning against a porch pillar, watching her. This time her shiver had nothing to do with anger. She remembered how it had felt to rest her head against his broad shoulder, remembered what it was like to feel secure, safe.

Only to have him push her away. He’d wanted her to shelve her career and become the kind of wife she’d vowed never to be.

A cop’s wife-giving up her career to make him happy.

And yet the attraction between them had sizzled.

“Can we talk?” he asked. “About us.”

“That’s not even a topic,” she said. “There is no us.”

His jaw clenched. “We have to work together. Without letting our past interfere. Can we do that?”

“We can try.”

He reached to grasp her hand in a handshake, and the tingles that danced up her arm told her she was in trouble.

grew up in Greenville, SC. Her home church, Northgate Baptist, had a tremendous influence on her during her early years. She credits Christian parents and dedicated Sunday School teachers for her acceptance of Christ at the tender age of eight. Even as a young girl, she knew she wanted her life to reflect the love of Jesus.

Lynette attended the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, then moved to Spartanburg, SC, to attend Converse College, where she obtained her master’s degree in education. During this time, she met the boy next door, Jack Eason—and married him. Jack is the Executive Director of the Sound of Light Ministries. Lynette and Jack have two precious children, Lauryn, eight years old, and Will, who is six. She and Jack are members of New Life Baptist Fellowship Church in Boiling Springs, SC, where Jack serves as the worship leader and Lynette teaches Sunday School to the four- and five-year-olds.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

—Psalms 37:8–9

As always, to Jesus Christ.

You are as good as your Word.

Thanks go out to

My agent! Tamela, you rock. Thank you for your

unwavering support and belief in my writing.

God bless you!

Thanks to Officer Jim Hall with the ACFW Carolina

Christian Writers group for getting all my cop stuff

right. And if something’s not right, it’s my fault!

And once again, I thank my family and friends

for their encouragement and love as I write for the

One who gives me the stories.

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

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Pack it up, Santino, you’ve got a murderer and a missing girl to find. His boss’s words echoed in his mind as Joseph Santino, Special Agent for the FBI, watched the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport spread out in tiny detail below him. He’d been fine with the assignment until the man had added, “Oh, and you’ll be partnering up with a homicide detective there.” He looked down at his papers. “Catelyn Clark.”

At that point, Joseph wasn’t fine anymore. In fact, he’d done everything to get out of going, short of quitting his job. None of his arguments worked. So, here he was mentally preparing himself to face the one woman he’d never gotten over. The one woman he’d vowed to banish from his thoughts—and failed.

The plane landed, and Joseph grabbed his carry-on, anxious to get this case started so he could get it finished and get back to New York.

An hour and a half later he found himself staring down at the face of a sixteen-year-old girl laid out on the slab in the morgue.

Victim: Tracy Merritt.

Cause of death: blunt-force trauma to the back of the head.

The murder weapon: unknown and still missing.

The suspect: Dylan Carlisle.

Best friend to Joseph’s seventeen-year-old brother, Alonso.

Only the police hadn’t arrested Dylan because they didn’t have enough evidence. Yet. Joseph’s job was to find Kelly Franklin, the dead girl’s best friend who’d been reported missing the day Tracy’s body had been found. It was suspected that they’d been together and Kelly had been forcibly removed from the scene. Most likely, by the killer.

What a mess. Joseph sighed and turned away shaking his head.

His buddy, Victor Shields, captain of criminal investigations within the local police department, willingly offered Joseph his services and resources. Joseph had been a uniformed cop under Victor’s leadership before moving to the FBI. About a year after working in New York, Victor had called him for help. Joseph had responded and found the man’s runaway teenage daughter, bringing her home safely.

Now, business brought Joseph home once again. Only this time, the missing person hit close to home. A student at the Palmetto Deaf School, Kelly was not only Dylan’s girlfriend, but she was also a friend of Alonso, Joseph’s deaf brother.

Joseph’s heart tightened as he thought about his family. Having a deaf brother, mother and sister, Joseph, the eldest of six siblings, had grown up as the protector of the clan. Active in the deaf community, knowledgeable about the tight, small world within their own culture, Joseph knew he was the perfect person for this job. Because he was accepted as part of the deaf world, he could ask questions and get answers where other hearing cops couldn’t. At least not in a timely manner. And with one girl dead and another missing, time was of the essence.

He looked up at Kip Kennedy, the medical examiner, a balding man in his late fifties Joseph had known from his beat cop days. “I’m going to find out who did this to her.”

Kip sighed, shook his head. “I don’t know what this world is coming to. Kids dying, teenagers being snatched. It ain’t right. Unfortunately, the killer didn’t leave his calling card.”

“I want to know everything you find on this girl. I don’t care if you think it’s not important. Okay?”

“Sure. I’ll give you everything. I promise.” He looked down at the girl who’d never smile, never grow up, never have her own family. “It’s the least she deserves, and I’ll do my best to give you the tools to find the one who did this to her.”

Dead kids tied him in knots. Joseph did his best to shut down emotion and focus on the facts. “Thanks, Kip. I appreciate it.”

A young woman in her mid-twenties popped her head in the door. “The Merritt family is here.”

Kip nodded, looked up at Joseph and grimaced, his bald head shining in the overhead fluorescent light. “This is the part I really hate.”

“Yeah.”

Grabbing a lightweight jacket, Detective Catelyn Clark headed back to the Palmetto Deaf School. Tracy Merritt’s body had already been removed from the campus and taken to the morgue. As a homicide detective with the Spartanburg police force, Catelyn had been one of the first on the scene. She’d watched the crime-scene investigators do their job and had pitched in where she could. They’d found a baseball jacket and a flip-flop among other things that may or may not be related to the case. The flip-flop had been identified as belonging to Kelly Franklin, the missing girl.

But still, she wanted to go over the scene one more time. Before the yellow tape was removed and the school went back to normal. Her partner, Ethan O’Hara, was away on vacation with his bride of one year. He’d return home tomorrow, but would still have a couple of days off before returning to work. He’d spend them with his wife, Marianna. The man was so happy, it was disgusting. And incredibly sweet. Longing rose up in her, and she immediately vanquished it.