“Office.”
She appeared in his doorway. “There’s a strange car in the driveway. Yours?”
“It’s a rental. My truck is in the shop.”
“Got it.” She left.
He went back to reviewing past cases long forgotten. The minutes turned into hours. By the end of the workday, he hadn’t isolated a single suspect.
The security system chimed. Seconds later, Sammy appeared in his doorway. “Daddy!” She rushed in and he lifted her onto his lap.
“How was school?”
“Good.” She grew quiet as she stared at his computer screen. “What’s an Alp-ha?”
He closed the laptop. “Just boring work stuff.”
“I saw the word, ‘kill’.”
He moved that computer out of the way, then slid his real estate one over. The plus side of having a full-time nanny was that his daughter was learning to read. Albeit basic words, but she’d seen plenty in those few seconds.
“I liked your question about alpha,” he said. “What do you do when you don’t know what a word means?”
“I ask you.”
He laughed. “What else could you do?”
“Ask Mrs. Morris.”
He opened the laptop and clicked over to the dictionary. “We can use the dictionary, Samantha. Why don’t you type in the word?” With his help, she did, and together they read the definition.
“Alpha. The ‘ph’ together makes an ‘f’ sound.”
Big blue eyes met his. “That’s funny.”
After reading the definitions to her, he changed the subject. “Tell me about school.”
“I have a new teacher. Miss Liz.”
“Awesome. What’s she like?”
“Sooooo nice. She told me that she knew my mommy had died and she wanted to be my special friend.”
What the hell?
Sammy scooted off him. “Mrs. Morris is making me a snack plate.” Together, they walked into the kitchen to find Miranda slicing an apple. While Sammy ate, he asked Miranda if she had ever told anyone at the school that Sammy’s mom had died.
“Absolutely not,” Miranda replied. “I’ve never said more than a few words to the staff.”
When Dakota had enrolled Sammy, he’d mentioned Beth’s death to the staff director, but he didn’t think she had added that to Sammy’s file. Dakota was aware that he was on edge, but he needed to touch base with the childcare center.
“Miranda, I’ve got a meeting tonight at eight.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Miranda said before turning her attention to Sammy. “Sammy and I are going to make a lasagna for dinner.”
“I want to play with my dolls,” Sammy said.
“You can do that while the lasagna bakes in the oven,” said Miranda. “I sure could use your help counting out the layers.”
