Page 17 of Glimmer in the Darkness

“It’s the only option.”

“You still think she is the kidnapper.”

Vince said nothing, which told him everything he needed to know.

Cassidy was their only suspect. Vince didn’t want to say that to James—nobody did. Because they pitied him or distrusted him or both.

As long as Vince and the rest of the police department were focused on Cassidy, the real kidnapper, the real killer, could operate freely.

James slipped his billfold from his back pocket, dropped a twenty and a five on the bar, and stood. “Cassidy didn’t do it.”

Vince watched him in the mirror. “What if you’re wrong?”

“What if you are?”

“Tell me where she is, James.”

“I have no idea.” At least that was true. He headed for the door.

James managed to make it all the way to his car without meeting anybody’s eyes. Maybe it wasn’t a feat, though. Maybe they were avoiding his gaze as much as he was theirs. This town that stuck together, that hated outsiders. This town that never gave Cassidy a chance.

He drove the narrow back roads toward Lake Ayasha and home, wrestling with his choices. When he was surrounded by people who accused her, James was sure she was innocent. But looking into her eyes, he questioned it. Questioned her.

The people of this town, even the police, were all so certain. If it wasn’t her, their certainty would keep them from looking for the real killer. Their certainty was jading them.

If James turned her in, they’d treat her like a suspect, question her, try to get the truth out of her. Would she be able to convince them she was innocent soon enough to get them to look where she claimed the kidnapper had taken her and Hallie before?

What if she couldn’t? What would become of Ella? What would become of Reid?

He’d watched his mother wither after Hallie’s death. Dad had kept their family together, kept Mom alive, by the strength of his will and his faith. Maybe he could have kept it up longer, but, thanks to the cancer, they’d never know.

After Dad died, Mom had been inconsolable. She faded away long before the heart attack claimed her.

James wouldn’t let Reid suffer the same fate. He couldn’t.

So what were his choices? He already knew he wasn’t going to turn Cassidy in, but he could let her search alone.

Except that somebody’d been following her. Somebody who hadn’t turned her in. Had it been random, some creepy guy who’d seen a pretty girl?

Or had her pursuer recognized her? Had it been the killer?

James couldn’t let her go back on the mountain alone.

If he turned her in, at least she’d be safe.

James hadn’t prayed a lot in recent years. Hadn’t had much reason to. Everything he’d wanted had been denied him. He no longer cared about anything enough to pray about it.

But he needed wisdom. Direction.

What should I do?

Can I trust her, Lord?

The answer felt obvious. He would try to figure out where those caves were, then go with Cassidy and learn what he could. If he decided she wasn’t telling the truth, he could always turn her in later. And maybe, maybe they’d be able to find the place she was looking for.

Maybe he’d learn the truth about his sister’s death. Maybe, finally, he could have some peace.

But this wasn’t about him or his losses. It wasn’t about Cassidy and her story. This was about Ella.