The ride to the crime scene was short—and silent. Ron kept glancing her way, but she remained facing forward. She spotted the flashing lights well before they got close. As much as she wanted to know what’d happened, she was also terrified of the knowledge.
In the short time she’d been a police officer, she had witnessed all kinds of things—including stabbings, shootings, and murder. She didn’t know most of the people, but occasionally, she found herself at a house with someone she knew. Those were the worst calls to take. And it was the reason she didn’t want to get out of the car now.
“You don’t have to do this,” Ron said as he shut off the engine.
“Yes, I do.”
Before she changed her mind, Marlee opened the door and stood. The cool night air brushed against her tear-streaked face. She dashed the drops away, but more took their place. Marlee walked to Ron, who waited on her at the front of the vehicle. Together, they approached the scene. Yellow tape was everywhere. Marlee spotted four different detectives talking to people and taking notes.
The cops on scene went silent the moment they spotted her. She steeled herself as Ron lifted the tape, and they ducked under it.
“Sorry, Frampton,” someone said as she walked past.
Others also spoke, but she stopped hearing them the moment she saw the white sheet covering the body on the ground. She stumbled, but Ron was there to keep her upright. Those standing around Macey’s body moved away. The forensic team stopped snapping pictures and gathering evidence.
Marlee halted before she got too close to her sister so as not to contaminate the crime scene. The sheet didn’t cover the blood that had seeped out to pool around Macey. The streetlight nearby blinked, and a breeze rushed through, lifting the edge of the sheet near Macey’s head to reveal a long, auburn curl.
“How?” Marlee asked when she found her voice.
Ron swallowed. “This can wait.”
Marlee speared him with a look. “How?”
“Evidence is still being gathered, but from what has been pieced together so far, your sister went for a walk. A witness said a van pulled up beside her and yanked her inside. Then, her body was found here.”
Macey wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t have left the house after dark—or without her cell phone. “She was taken during the day, wasn’t she?”
“A witness told us it was about two hours after you went to work.”
Marlee’s stomach roiled at the thought, recalling the dread that had overtaken her all day that she had pushed aside. “What did they do to her?”
“They took the baby then slit her throat,” Ron said, his voice low and filled with misery. “Her phone was with her, but just out of reach. It appears she tried to grab it, but the blood loss likely made her too weak.”
The fury that welled within Marlee was staggering. “And the baby?”
“We’ve put out an APB and given the information to the Feds, as well.”
That got Marlee’s attention. “The FBI? Why?” Then it hit her. “The infant kidnappings in LA.”
“We think it might be connected,” Ron said. “Over the past three weeks, two other pregnant women were killed in the same way as Macey. Their babies were also taken.”
His voice faded away as Marlee returned her attention to her sister. The image of her twin lying dead upon the street with a sheet over her would be something forever stamped in her mind. Marlee was going to have to tell their parents and make funeral plans, but really, all she wanted to do was find the bastards who had killed Macey and tore her baby daughter from her womb so violently.
Marlee had a mission now, and nothing would dissuade her from it.
Chapter 1
Present day
Clearview, Texas
Damn, it was a cold one, and it was only November. The worst months had yet to come. Cooper blew warm air onto his hands and rubbed them together as he finished changing the tire on his mother’s car.
“I told you I could get someone to come out and do that,” Betty Owens said from the front step, huddled in a jacket.
He glanced at his mom. “I’m more than capable. There’s no need to waste money when I’m here.”
“But you have a life, Cooper.”
He finished tightening the last lug nut and straightened before he flashed her a smile. “What? You don’t want to see your handsome son?”
“Oh,” she said with a roll of her eyes as she scoffed at him. “Get inside. Your breakfast is getting cold.”
Cooper put away the tools and hurried into the warm house. He watched his mom moving about the tiny kitchen as he removed his coat and washed his hands. It was the same house he’d grown up in. He’d pushed her to make some improvements over the years to keep it up to date, and though she’d put up a fuss, she was also glad when the upgrades were done.
“What happened this time?” He pulled out a chair at the bar and eyed her, knowing his mom.
She shrugged. “It was a nail.”
“I saw it. I’ll take the tire over to have it patched.”
His mother sat beside him and began spreading strawberry jam on her toast. She took a bite and swallowed it before she set it down with a huff. “Fine. Last night, coming home from work, I swerved when an owl flew across the road.”
Just as he’d suspected. He put his hand on her arm. “Mom, I love animals as much as you, but you need to be more careful. If it’s your life or theirs, then I’d rather you be safe.”
“Your father used to tell me the same thing,” she replied with a sad smile. “I’ll be more careful.”
“Thank you.”
Cooper went back to eating, shoveling the eggs and bacon into his mouth. He could cook, but there never seemed to be enough time. More often than not, he stopped off at the café and grabbed his meals. It was just easier that way. But, man, did he miss his mother’s cooking.
He was lucky enough to be close friends with Brice and Caleb Harper, as well as their sister Abby, who was married to Clayton East. The Easts had the largest cattle ranch in the area. Luckily, Abby loved to cook, and there was always food whenever he and Jace dropped by. Which was often.
“Anything new going on in your life?” his mom asked.
It was her not-so-subtle way of asking if he was dating. “Still single. I’ve got too much going on to find time to date.”
“Life is too short, honey. You should use your time more wisely,” she admonished.
He grinned. This wasn’t the first time she’d told him such things. He could throw it back at her that she had been single for over eighteen years now, but he didn’t. His father had been the love of her life. And even though it had been many years since his father’s death, Cooper remembered how good life had been back then.
Being a single mom wasn’t easy, but his mother had never complained. She picked up and carried on. Though she’d cried in her room at night, thinking Cooper hadn’t heard her. He never told her he knew of her suffering, and he never would. She had wanted to carry that alone in silence, and he gave her that.
“If I’m meant to find someone, I will,” Cooper said.
His mother’s green eyes met his. “Son, you’re a good man. There is absolutely someone out there for you.”