Page 63 of Shadowing Her Stalker

Lowering herself to the floor in front of the woman who’d turned her world upside down, she whispered, “Okay. Okay. Easy. Deep breaths, Zarah. Breathe in...”

Chapter Fifteen

Within minutes, her parents’ house was a complete circus. Teams from both the state police and the Searcy County Sheriff’s Office jostled for jurisdiction, but everyone knew in the end the county would have to give way.

“I knew I should have checked your financials,” Wyatt muttered.

“Most people don’t hire their own kidnappers,” she murmured, her gaze fixed on her former assistant.

“Would have saved a lot of time and grief,” he replied.

“Next time,” she promised.

They watched as Zarah was properly secured and led to one of the trooper’s vehicles for transport to Little Rock. A short distance away, Cara’s mother stood behind the EMT checking Paul Stanton’s arm to ascertain whether X-rays might be needed, reading her onetime prom date the proverbial riot act. Her father stood off to one side, a faint smile curving his mouth, his admiring gaze locked on his wife.

“She’s something,” Wyatt said to her father. “Nearly gave me a heart attack when she pulled a gun out of her kitchen drawer.”

Jim Beckett looped an arm over Cara’s shoulders and tucked her into his embrace.

“My dad didn’t like leaving my mother in the house alone while he was out doing chores, but as he used to say, you can’t keep the inside and the outside up at the same time. So, he kept his old service pistol in the kitchen drawer in case trouble came strolling up the road. She must have brought it with her when she moved in with us.”

“She did,” Cara said quietly. “She told me Granddad would want us to have it to hand.”

Without peeling his eyes off the floor show, her father pressed a kiss to the side of her head in a gesture he hadn’t made in years, but one she remembered so well it brought a hot rush of tears to Cara’s eyes.

“And another thing, Paul Anthony Stanton,” her mother said, shaking her finger in the face of the man who held the second-most-powerful office in the state. “The minute they haul you out of here, I’m not only calling your precious mama, but I’m also callin’ Delia Raitt. By the time I’m done with you, you won’t be able to get elected prom king in prison or dogcatcher anywhere else!”

“I know I should stop her, but it’s so darn entertaining,” her father murmured to no one in particular. “Better than any show on CineFlix.”

“Agent Dawson?” A shorter, powerfully built man with a blankly sober expression stood in the doorway Wyatt had filled mere hours before. “Could we speak to you in private, please?”

Wyatt nodded. “Yes, sir.” He glanced first at Cara, then her father. “Y’all okay here?”

“We’ll be fine,” her father replied, giving her a squeeze as he answered for both of them.

Wyatt hesitated, his gaze lingering on her. Her cheeks heated, but thankfully, her father remained enthralled by the dressing down her mother hadn’t quite wrapped up. “I’m good. Go do what you do,” she said with a little jerk of her chin.

When he was gone, her father said, “I like him. Decent guy.”

“I do too,” Cara said quietly.

Satisfied with what he found, the EMT turned to one of the troopers standing nearby. “Doesn’t look to be broken, but he should have an X-ray to be sure there’s no fracture.”

“Too bad,” Jim whispered to Cara as the troopers hauled the man up from the chair and out of their house. “Swing for the fences next time, sugar.”

She giggled and gave him a playful elbow jab. “Daddy. Behave.” She assumed a prim expression. “You know I’m a pacifist.”

He pulled back enough to tuck his chin to his chest and glare at her. “What? You only eat fish caught in the Pacific?”

She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Even for a dad joke that was bad.”

Betsy Beckett turned to face them, hands planted on her hips. Thankfully, she seemed to have expended her supply of vitriol. “What’s so funny, you two?”

“Not Dad’s jokes,” Cara replied. She slid out from under her father’s arm and hugged her mother. “You were fantastic today.”

“I guess I learned more than I thought I had, watchin’ all those depressing shows your daddy likes.”

“I wasn’t worried. I know my wife.” He leaned in and pressed a smacking kiss to Betsy’s lips. “She can take care of herself and everyone else around her.” He turned and looked at Cara as he pulled on the heavy work jacket he’d shrugged out of when the first of the patrol cars arrived. “You get it from her, Care Bear. You’re like your mama.”

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