Reid sincerely laughed and all the tension left his body. “If you knew Russ, you’d realize he always has somewhere to be other than where he is.”
She returned his smile.
The urge to touch the side of her face and run a thumb along her jaw nearly made him forget he had no right to do so.
He shoved his hand in his pocket. “Why don’t you pack while I take Bandit for a short walk? After being cooped up all day, he needs to release some energy.”
And so do I before I follow through on my impulses.
“Sounds good.”
Oblivious to his warring emotions, she turned toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and he kept an eye on her until she disappeared around the corner. He retrieved his jacket and exhaled out his thoughts.
The last thing he needed was to get involved with Megan again. Correction. The last thing he needed was to get involved with any woman. Especially a woman whose child’s life hung in the balance. He’d barely survived losing Diane. He could never survive losing a child.
He lifted his jacket collar to keep the drizzle from soaking his shirt and blew out the last of his feelings. He reached for the doorknob, and a piercing scream sounded from deep inside the house.
He dropped Bandit’s leash and jerked out his gun. Pulse kicking up, he moved cautiously into the home, flattening his back against the wall. His heart thumped wildly. He wanted to race to Megan, but rushing into the unknown could get them both killed.
He counted to three. Glanced around the corner.
Clear.
He moved through the family room. Another corner. Quick look.
Clear.
He went down the short hallway to the first bedroom and swung his gun around the corner.
Empty.
To the next bedroom. Sliding slowly. Same procedure. He hissed out a breath and lowered his weapon.
Megan stood alone in the middle of Ella’s room, a child’s suitcase in her hand and her face fixed straight ahead as if in a trance. He’d checked this room on his walkthrough and hadn’t seen anything odd.
So what made her scream?
“What is it?” he asked.
She didn’t speak but pointed at the dresser. He tucked the gun into his holster and followed the direction of her finger.
On Ella’s dresser sat a raggedy brown bear with a Band-Aid on one paw. Boo-Boo, he assumed.
“Her bear?” he asked, not understanding.
“Behind it.”
He crossed the room and glanced behind it. A full-size baseball cap sat there, a business card too. The cap boasted a silhouette of a mountain and had the words Tacoma Rainiers embroidered on it. This was once the official cap of the minor league team Fowler followed. The team had changed logos. The old logo meant this cap could be the one Fowler wore during the robbery.
The very cap Megan kept referring to when Reid had questioned her, and a memory she’d associated so closely with Fowler that anytime she’d seen the picture of it during the trial, a cold sweat had broken out on her face.
“He’s going to kill me,” she said, her attention fixed on the dresser.
As if protecting her, Bandit trotted across the room, dragging his leash and sitting with his side touching her leg. He was taking over where Reid had failed.
He shouldn’t have missed seeing the cap on his sweep. But he was looking for something dangerous, not a baseball cap hiding behind a bear. Still, Megan’s rigid posture and shell-shocked stare were all his fault.
Nothing would comfort her at the moment. At least nothing Reid could say. Without thinking, he drew her into his arms and turned her away from the dresser.
