I took the book from him, recalling all the times he’d teased me about reading when we were younger. I’d always felt embarrassed and somehow ashamed—something Marcus had never made me feel.
“Why did you come?” I asked him as I set the book on the end table, out of his reach. I wouldn’t let him make me feel bad about something I loved. “Do you have news about Annie?”
His lips came up in a teasing smile. “What if I don’t have news about Annie? What if I came just because I wanted to see you again?”
I would normally assume he was teasing me, but now I wasn’t so sure.
His laughter filled the parlor, but I could tell it was laced with discomfort. “I can see from the expression on your face how that would be received.”
“I’m sorry, Lewis.” I didn’t want to assume he was courting me, so I wasn’t sure how to word my response. “You’ve always been—”
“The annoying older brother type. I know. You’ve told me.”
I shook my head, feeling both frustrated and annoyed. “I can’t tell if you’re teasing me or if you’re serious.”
“Because I can’t tell how you’d react if I was honest with you.”
I fidgeted with the pleats in my skirt, trying to make sense of this change in him. “Why can’t things stay as they were?”
He was quiet for a moment, but then he said, “You want me to continue teasing you relentlessly?”
Lewis was trying to hold on to his pride. I didn’t want to reject him outright, but I couldn’t pretend to have feelings for him when I didn’t. I’d never thought of Lewis that way. “Well,” I said with a smile I didn’t feel, “perhaps not relentlessly, but I would like to be friends.”
He wasn’t looking at me, but he gave a half smile. “I guess I can make that work.”
My heart was breaking, though I couldn’t understand why. Eventhough I didn’t have romantic feelings for Lewis, I did love him. I didn’t want him to be disappointed or hurt, and I didn’t want to lose him from my life completely.
“You’re in luck,” he said as he sat up straighter. “I did come to tell you about Annie Barker.”
“You did?” My focus shifted with a renewed sense of hope.
He stood and walked to the window to look out at the storm before answering me. “I inquired about her and her gang, including the man she’s romantically entangled with, the gangster Lloyd Rogers. They work with the gang on some jobs and alone on others. They’ve held up a couple of banks, but they mostly rob smaller stores and funeral homes in the least likely of Midwestern towns.”
“Funeral homes?” I couldn’t believe that my mother—if this was her—would rob funeral homes, too.
“It looks like they’re on the move north again,” he continued. “I’ve mapped out the last few reports that have been linked to them, and they were in southern Missouri, central Missouri, and then northwestern Missouri last week. If I’m not mistaken, they’re working their way into Iowa and will more than likely end up in Saint Paul at some point to lie low.”
I sat up straighter. “They’ll be in Saint Paul?”
“That’s my best guess, but don’t get your hopes up, Carrie. I could be wrong.”
“But you could be right.”
He shrugged.
“And did you have a chance to investigate whether or not there are other Annie Barkers from Texas?” I held my breath, hoping I wouldn’t have to worry about the criminal.
He nodded, but his face was grim. “I found one other Annie Barker from Texas, but she’s five years old. There was one in Oregon and two on the East Coast, but they are either too young or too old to be the right Annie.”
My heart fell as I stared at him. “That means ...?” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I’m afraid so, Carrie. I’m sorry.”
The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed the half hour, and Lewis said, “I should be heading home. I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
“You didn’t overstay your welcome.”
The look he gave me was so heartrending, I held my breath. He wanted more from me, but I couldn’t give it.
