Page 53 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

Mike aimed a stony-eyed glower in their direction. “I just got a call. Clara Parson bailed out her husband this morning. Mitch Parson is on the loose. No one knows where he is.”

Tommy swore. The news was like a blow to the gut. Just when he thought his day couldn’t get any worse, something else happened to turn his day to shit. He glanced down at Sadie,whose face had turned a sickly white. “Well, if Curtis’s didn’t shoot himself, looks like we’ve got another suspect.”

Sadie paced backand forth across her living room. A bone-weary sadness weighed down her entire body, but she couldn’t stop moving. The day had dragged on for an eternity with still no answers and another dead body. The only bright spot in the last couple of days was Clara getting away from her asshole husband.

Thank God Marie had driven Amelia home earlier. Tommy had entertained her while she’d prepared dinner then put her over-tired daughter to bed. Guilt lingered after she’d given her a goodnight kiss and closed the door behind her. Amelia was having a magical school break filled with baking cookies and watching movies, but she was doing it without her. Once the case was solved, she’d make it up to Amelia tenfold.

Tommy stood in the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room, his feet wide and arms crossed. “I can’t believe she bailed him out of jail. What the hell was she thinking?”

“Abused women stay with their abusers all the time. It’s a vicious cycle. One that’s almost impossible to understand from the outside.” Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. Her entire childhood was centered around a woman who didn’t know how to stop that cycle.

“I hate that she feels obligated to him,” Tommy said.

“Good thing it’s too late to go speak with her.” She faced Tommy and pressed her hands to her stomach. “I have so many emotions swirling inside me. I don’t think I could have kept a cool head.”

“You need sleep. It’s been a long day and you’ve been through the ringer.”

“My nerve endings are literally buzzing, like I just downed ten espressos. My eyelids are so heavy, but I don’t know if I could even sleep if I tried.” Frustrated tears threatened to fill her eyes. She blinked them back.

Tommy extended a hand. “Come here.”

She fell against him. “My mind is spinning.”

He smoothed a palm up and down her back. “I know. It’s nothing we need to think about now. Put it out of your mind.”

She huffed out a humorless laugh. “Easier said than done. Do you think Mitch could be behind this? We agreed he’d have acted differently if he’d known about Clara.”

The pecs beneath her cheek rose and fell. “He might have played us. Knew his history would point to lashing out at his wife as soon as he learned of the affair. He could have gone after Shawn then bided his time before punishing Clara.”

“That’s so vile. If we find out that is what happened, he’s a lot smarter than we gave him credit for.”

“When we figure out what happened, we’ll make sure whoever is responsible for all this shit goes down. But right now, you need to quiet your mind and sleep.”

She hugged him tight. “You’re right.”

“Are you okay by yourself, or do you want me to crash on the couch?”

She smiled against him. She was an army-trained veteran. If there was one thing she didn’t need, it was a man around her house to protect her. Plus, the first time she had Tommy stay the night, she wanted him in her bed and not the couch. “No, I’ll be fine.”

He skimmed his knuckles up and down her arms. “I should get going then. Let you rest.”

Part of her wanted to take back her earlier words and ask him to stay, but that’s not how she wanted to start this relationship.She squeezed him tight then took a step back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Tommy gently brushed his lips to hers. “Can’t wait.”

She watched him shrug into his jacket and walk out the door, sending her a wave before closing it behind him. Giddiness lifted her spirits as she locked up, turned off the lights, and headed for her bedroom. Shedding her uniform, she found her warmest pajamas and slipped under the down comforter on her queen-sized bed.

Her mind raced a mile a minute. She flipped on the lamp beside the bed and the files she’d brought home caught her attention. Putting the events of the past few days out of her mind wasn’t a possibility, but maybe immersing herself in a new angle could at least help make sense of things. Grabbing the top file, she skimmed the highlights of page after page.

Her gaze landed on Tina Wells’ name.Tommy’s mom. Her breath caught in her throat. She devoured every detail on the sheet. Tears misted in her eyes. Tina had been taking an evening stroll when a car jumped onto the sidewalk, hit and killed her, then took off. The only witness was a teenager from across the square—the only relative information provided that the taillights fleeing the scene were from a car as opposed to a large truck or SUV.

The ache in her soul intensified. She understood how crushing it was to lose someone she loved, but she knew exactly what happened to Amelia’s father. The not knowing had to keep the wound open, festering.

She tossed the files on the nightstand and clicked off the lamp. Exhaustion filled her eyes with grains of sand—her brain finally overloaded to the point of explosion. Sleep was her only option at this point, and her body was finally ready to succumb. Lowering her eyelids, her breathing slowed and she fell into the blessed darkness of slumber.

Sadie jerked awake on a gasp.Goosebumps erupted on her arms despite the flannel pajamas and thick down blanket. Intuition tingled the back of her neck, as if eyes were on her. She stilled her body, listening for any unfamiliar sounds. Not even her crazy cat jumping around the house vibrated the ancient floorboards.

Moving her arm slowly from under the covers, she secured the sidearm she kept in a locked box and tucked inside the drawer of her nightstand. She slid off the safety and crept onto the balls of her bare feet. She locked down the nerves threatening to tremble and put on her game face. If someone was stupid enough to break into her home, they’d pay a hefty price.

---