Page 107 of Our Little Secret

She touched her flat abdomen.

A baby? With a man who seemed darker, eviler by every passing moment?

“No,” she said aloud in the bathroom as she stared at the window of the tiny wand in her hand and noticed it was trembling. Her throat went dry and she felt her pulse ticking up with anxiety as, sure enough, the results became clearly visible: She was pregnant.

And there was little doubt the father was Gideon Ross.

CHAPTER 24

“Shep’s still not back?” Brooke asked, dropping the sack of groceries on the kitchen counter. She’d known he was still missing of course. If the dog had returned, Neal or Marilee or Leah would’ve texted or called and the retriever would have bounded to greet her.

“No.” Leah shook her head. She’d found her spot at the table once more, only now there was no dog curled in his bed nearby and she seemed perturbed, angry about something. But then, didn’t that always happen?

Brooke couldn’t worry about her sister, not when there were too many other things on her mind. On the way home she’d driven slowly, studying and searching side streets and parking lots, peering into carports and garages with open doors. She’d also called the local vets and animal hospitals when she hadn’t been talking with her friends, assuring them all that her daughter was home and unharmed.

“Thank God she’s safe!” Andrea had said when Brooke phoned earlier. “Zuri just told me that she was home. I guess she posted it on Insta or something.”

“So the word is out.”

“Yes. And Allison Carelli is home too. Finally. Again, it’s all over the Internet, and I think the police are talking to her and her cousin, Robert Barrone. It’s just crazy. Zuri finally fessed up that she had an inkling of what was going on and let me tell you, she is sooo grounded.”

“I know. Neal and I have to talk seriously with Marilee. Again.”

“I hear ya. I don’t know what gets into these kids’ heads,” Andrea admitted. “And Allison? What was she thinking? Does she have any idea what kind of hell she put her parents through?”

“Maybe that was the whole idea,” Brooke said.

“Dark, Brooke, but I hear ya. Who knows? Look, I’ve gotta run, but I hope you find your dog.”

“Me too,” Brooke said, her heart twisting as they ended the conversation. She suspected that Gideon had taken him or let him loose, and she was heartsick all over again. If anything happened to sweet, goofy Shep and Gideon was behind it? She’d kill him.

Really? You’d murder the father of your child?

For now she pushed that homicidal thought aside and took a deep breath. At the moment she needed to concentrate on her family. Maybe Leah was right. It was time for Brooke to become more media savvy. If she wanted to know what was going on in her daughter’s life, she needed to scan the Internet and social media, dig a little deeper by checking on her friends and acquaintances, the places they met, where they went.

“What took you so long?” Leah eyed the single sack of groceries.

“I drove around looking for Shep and ran a couple of errands, including getting gas and coffee, you know,” Brooke said, not admitting how long she’d been at the coffee shop with its free Wi-Fi connection, where she’d tried and failed to do a deeper search into Gideon Ross. Once again she’d failed. It was as if he were a ghost. A ghost with evil intent.

She forced her mind to the here and now. “You hungry?” she asked her sister.

“Not really.” Leah held up her cup. “I’ve had this. It’s enough for now.”

“Okay. And Neal’s gone?” She had noticed his car wasn’t in its spot in the garage.

“Yeah. He just said he was going out.”

“To . . . ?”

“What am I, his keeper?” Leah asked sarcastically, an edge to her voice. “Isn’t that your job?”

Brooke looked up sharply. “Geez, no. And I just thought he might’ve said where he was going.”

“He didn’t tell me, okay?” she said, obviously in a bad mood. “He just said something about being back in the afternoon.”

“Odd,” Brooke said aloud as she slid the package of bagels into a cupboard. Then she remembered it was Saturday. Golf. She checked the time. “Maybe not so odd.” Nothing came between her husband and his standing tee time, not even, apparently, a family crisis with their daughter or the dog. Nope. Not when his two handicap was at stake.

Leah’s lips pinched a bit. “He said you’d know where he was.”