Page 58 of Christmas in the Shadows

Suddenly, her unease turned into something much stronger.

It turned into fear.

Though she’d tried to give Gilbert the benefit of the doubt, she felt more and more certain he was behind this. The fact he’d invited Tex back here wasn’t a coincidence.

He wanted to use Tex for some reason, didn’t he?

Her throat tightened and she tried to figure out what she should do.

Before she could do anything, she heard a door slam at the back of the house.

Was that Tex coming back inside? Or was it someone nefarious?

CHAPTER 21

Tex stepped back into the house. As he entered the kitchen, he saw the tense looks on everyone’s faces.

They feared the worst.

“Everything’s good,” he assured them. “It was just a family of deer. They ran off when they saw me. I guess I’ve been on edge lately after everything that’s happened.”

“Everything that’s happened?” Gilbert asked, a lilt of curiosity—and maybe something else—in his voice.

“You know.” Tex shrugged. “The brick through the window, someone breaking into Chelsea’s house. Then what happened today with Mikey. It’s just all been a lot.”

“Your house was broken into?” Anna asked with a gasp.

“Yes, I’m not sure why exactly. Of all the homes someone could have chosen, they had to be disappointed once they saw how little of value I had inside mine.”

“This whole world is going to pot, isn’t it?” Anna shook her head. Then she glanced at Gilbert and beamed. “That’s why I’m trying to convince Gilbert to retire so the two of us can move to Florida or maybe the Caribbean.”

Tex sat back down at the table and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really. Are you seriously considering that?” He glanced at Gilbert.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. The idea is very appealing, especially if Anna is with me.”

He squeezed her hand.

Things really had changed for the man since Anna had come into his life, hadn’t they?

They prayed and then passed the food around. Tex had just taken the first bite of his mashed potatoes when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Part of him wanted to ignore it. He knew he was being rude by taking another call.

But the other part of him knew that this might not be able to wait.

“I’m really sorry for this,” Tex said, pulling out his phone. “But there’s been an issue at work, and I need to take this.”

“I understand,” Gilbert said. “The food will be waiting here for you when you return.”

Tex escaped again, this time going into the bathroom so he could close the door to have more privacy.

It was a message from Gage. His colleague hadn’t been able to track the phone number Tex had sent him.

That wasn’t surprising. Most likely, the person who’d been sending out the messages had used a burner.

On a whim, Tex decided to call Patrick. He leaned against the wall as he waited for him to answer and then he spoke in a low tone.

“Tex? I thought I recognized your number.”

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