Page 7 of Sean

“A kidnapper!” The clerk in the next line repeated. “In our neck of the woods?”

A middle-aged woman began running his items across the scanner, talking as she worked. “That’s what my husband says—that a known kidnapper was spotted in the area sometime yesterday.”

“How can he be sure?”

His clerk rolled her eyes and sighed. “You know Tony works for the sheriff’s office. I guess there was some alert on the kidnapper’s car, and it was spotted on a traffic cam coming off the highway and headed this way.”

“No traffic cams around here,” the other woman commented. “Too bad. They might have caught him.”

“Well, it sounds like they’re watching the area to see if the car shows up again. Tony says they’re on high alert. Seems like this guy took two little kids, and no one knows what he did with them.”

Even though they seemed to be assuming the kidnapper was a man, Sean was sure they were talking about Julia. She’d taken the kids away from their father, and she hadn’t gotten his permission. Wilson must have reported it and given the police a description of her car. That could be a huge complication.

“Those poor little lambs. Nowhere is safe.” The other clerk shook her head, her lips pinched tight together.

“That’ll be ninety-six, seventy-four,” his clerk said to him, taking the cash he held out to her. “You’re buying more groceries than usual.”

He controlled his wince. That was the disadvantage of a small town—they knew him well enough to know what was out of the ordinary. Maybe he should have driven the extra twenty minutes to a big-box store. “My nieces are coming to visit,” he lied.

He thanked the clerk and exited the store, his mind ticking through the ways this could get ugly, kicking himself for not having put Julia’s car out of sight in his workshop. He’d been banking on his isolated location to help protect her. Now, he was worried. He loaded the groceries into his truck and drove cautiously out of town. Once in the country, he put his foot down on the accelerator. He considered calling Julia, but she’d only worry. Most likely, everything was fine. No need to spread panic. Just a need to get home quickly.

When he pulled in the driveway and everything seemed fine, his insides settled a little. He parked his truck so that it blocked the view of her car from the road. Then, he grabbed armloads of groceries and hauled them inside.

“Everything okay?” he asked, finding Julia and Lucy in the living room reading a book about horses.

“Fine.” She looked up and smiled at him. “Amos is just finishing his bath. It’s nearly bedtime for these guys. Lucy, go see if your brother needs any help while I put away groceries with Sean.”

He took the bags into the kitchen, setting them on the table. Julia followed him. When he was sure the kids couldn’t hear, he stepped closer to her and spoke quietly.

“There’s talk in town about a kidnapper coming into the area. They caught a vehicle on a traffic cam getting off the highway, and the license plate matched a kidnapping report. I think they were talking about be you.”

Her already pale skin lost every tinge of color, and her breathing ramped up. “What? Oh, my god. That’s why I’ve avoided the main roads for weeks. I should have…” She was pacing as she talked and growing more upset by the moment.

He got in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders to still her. “It’ll be okay. No one knows you’re here. We’ll hide your car and keep the kids inside. There’s no reason to panic. Instead, we have to be smart.”

“Right. You’re right. There aren’t any traffic cams on your road.”

“None for miles,” he assured her. His fingers worked slow, soothing circles into her shoulders and he watched her calm. “It would be nearly impossible to track you to my place.”

She nodded, getting herself under control. Just as she stepped away from him, they heard a child’s scream coming from the backyard.

“That’s Amos!” she exclaimed, but Sean was already moving. He raced through the living room and out onto the deck. Amos was still shrieking, so Sean followed the sound, running toward the side of the house.

“Let him go!” Sean roared when he caught sight of the two figures—an adult, probably male, trying to keep hold of Amos, who was screaming and struggling against him. When the assailant saw Sean closing in on him, he released the boy and sprinted away into the woods. Julia rushed past Sean and scooped up a crying Amos. Everything in Sean wanted to chase after the assailant, but right then it was more important to stay with Julia and the kids. He got them in the house where Julia kept trying to soothe a near hysterical Amos.

“It was daddy,” the child wailed. “He grabbed me, and it scared me, so I screamed.”

Julia looked up and met Sean’s eyes. Wilson had tracked her there. Somehow, he’d done it.

“Baby, what were you doing outside?” Julia asked her nephew as she hugged him close to her. Lucy joined them and the three huddled together on the couch.

“I wanted to see the stars.” The kid sniffed.

Dammit. Sean had been the one to suggest that Amos check out the constellations. “I’m going to lock the house up, then go outside and look around. I won’t go far, I’ll have my phone on me, and I’ll knock like this before I come back in.” He demonstrated a quick knocking pattern on the wall. Julia nodded her understanding. Sean went rapidly through the house, checking each window and door before heading outside where he paused to listen.

All was quiet except for the usual nocturnal sounds of animals moving through the woods and the slight rustle of leaves. He went out to the road and searched for any tracks left behind by a vehicle, but he couldn’t see much in the darkness and didn’t want to go far. If Wilson knew where Julia and the kids were, he’d come back—and Sean would need to be there to keep them safe. But would he be enough?

Sean could fend off one man, but Wilson was known for using associates, hiring others to do his dirty work, like Mason and Quinn—two of Wilson’s henchmen who had attacked Sean’s friends. Both of them were out of the picture, but there were always scumbags ready for hire.

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