Page 19 of Paranoid

At fifteen, Dylan was almost impossible to read. As a younger kid, her son had been an open book. Now? Not so much.

The same could be said of his sister.

“We didn’t steal your damned drugs,” Harper said, recovering. “What do you think we’d do with them? Like what? Sell them at school?”

“What?” Dylan said, apparently shocked.

Rachel shook her head. “Geez, I hope not.”

“Mom. Really?” Harper was pissed.

Fabulous. So far the morning was on a roll.

“I’m just letting you know.”

“And accusing us.” Harper let out a sigh. “I can’t believe it.”

“Neither can I,” Rachel said, refusing to be baited. She hadn’t accused them, not really. She’d just let her kids know what was happening. “Okay.” She pocketed the bottle once more. “Come on. Get your backpacks and let’s all get into the car.”

“So now we just forget about it?” Harper raised a dubious eyebrow and pursed her lips in disgust.

“No way. Never forget about it. Xanax can be dangerous. You know that.” She was serious.

“Yeah, I do. So does he.” Harper hooked a thumb at her brother. “Oh, God, forget it. Okay? We’ve heard this all before. From, like, everyone. Teachers, and Dad, now you. We get it.”

So . . . that was that. Rachel decided she’d made her point and didn’t want to push it. So she changed the subject and said to the dog, waiting expectantly at the door, “You want to go for a ride?” Reno’s tail swept the floor frantically. “See, he’s ready,” she said to Dylan as she opened the back door and Reno shot through.

Harper rolled her eyes. “God, Mom, he’s a dog. He’s ready to go anywhere.”

“Take a lesson.”

“Yeah, right.” She shoved her phone into her backpack and stormed out, letting the screen door slam behind her. “I’m driving.”

“Not this morning. We’re late.”

Dylan, tiny earbuds already in his ears, camo backpack slung across one shoulder, walked past the refrigerator without grabbing anything for lunch. His head bouncing to some silent beat, he ignored his jacket hanging

on a rack near the back door and strode outside.

“Not your problem,” Rachel told herself as she headed for the detached garage and her ten-year-old Ford Explorer. If he got cold enough or hungry enough, he’d learn. Both kids knew the rules. Once they were in high school, they had to take some responsibility. Still she had to bite her tongue and refrain from announcing that the temperature wasn’t going to get out of the fifties this morning.

Surely he’d learn. Surely.

They piled into the SUV, Harper stung that she wasn’t allowed to take control of the wheel, riding shotgun, the dog and Dylan claiming the backseat.

The morning, as usual, was off to a fantastic start.

CHAPTER 4

Kayleigh called.

Not a text, but an actual phone call.

This time Cade picked up. It was stupid to keep avoiding her.

“So what? Now you don’t respond to texts?” she asked, and he imagined her green eyes sparking with a mixture of amusement and irritation. She’d always had a keen sense of humor; that had been part of the attraction. That and long nights when they’d been forced together during stakeouts. They’d both been detectives with the sheriff’s department. That, like so many other things, had changed. Unconsciously, he rubbed at the scar on his neck, a reminder that he’d nearly lost his life.

“Busy,” he said, which wasn’t really a lie. “Just trying to get settled in at my desk ”