Page 5 of Sinister Secrets

The bushes rustle. A mud-streaked face appears.

“What kind of animals?”

“Have you ever met a pygmy goat before?”

The little boy shakes his head.

“No! But they’re one of the funnest animals ever!” I force a brightness I don’t feel into my tone as I add, “And the cutest! If you’ve never met one before, it’s time to change that, don’t you think?”

Jeffery’s eyes are huge as he crawls out of his hiding spot. I stand and hold out my hand. Breathe a sigh of relief as he takes it. Give him a smile even though the sight of him makes me want to cry.

His pajamas are dirty and torn. Welts cover his arms. The tops of his feet are painted with bloody scratches. The poor bottoms are probably shredded.

“You know, there are a lot of rocks on the way. Would you mind if I carried you, so your feet don’t get hurt?”

He looks up at me with his impossibly wide eyes, studying me for a long moment. Finally, he gives a solemn nod.

Now it’s my turn to hesitate. I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s sad. Pathetic, really. I celebrated my thirty-ninth birthday two days ago, and the truth is that I’ve never actually held a child before.

“I’ll do it,” Sheriff Kingston says, stepping forward.

“No!” The little boy flings himself at me so hard I stumble back a step.

“It’s okay, baby,” I say, avoiding the sheriff’s eyes as I stroke the boy’s head. “I’ve got you. Here we go. One, two, three, up.”

His arms circle around my neck as I lift him into my arms. His legs wrap around me as I settle him onto my hip, and suddenly, I realize that this is the easy part. It’s everything else that’s going to be difficult.

CHAPTER 4

I sit on the ground beside Jeffery, watching as he plays with Stephano, unable to take my eyes off the duo. As the pygmy goat bounces up and down to the musical soundtrack of giggles, it’s hard to believe that this is the same terrified little boy who came crawling out of a clump of palmettos just a short while ago. Things could have turned out so much worse. There’s so much to be thankful for.

But at the same time, I can’t forget that a life has been lost, a dead body dumped on my property. I have no idea who did it, or why, and my best chance of finding those answers is discovering a way to pull them from this child’s mind, but he’s been through enough.

I can’t question him, at least not today, no matter how much I’d like to. Jeffery’s well-being has to come first, which means I can’t let anyone else do it yet, either, which is turning out to be a bit more difficult than I’d anticipated.

My nerves crackle as Sheriff Kingston circles us like a vulture waiting for its next meal. Even though he’d agreed that the last thing the boy needed right now was to be interrogated, it seems he’s forgotten. My hands ball into fists as his loops get smaller, tighter around us, the dirt kicked up by his feet tickling my nose.

Jake takes a step forward, ready to intervene. Catching his eye, I give a tiny shake of my head. We’re not going to be the ones to start a war here. Besides—after breathing all the dust caused by his pacing, if and when the man crosses the line, I feel I deserve the honor of being the one to stop him in his tracks.

Stephano has just dragged his rough tongue over Jeffery’s cheek, earning a shriek of delight, when a sheriff’s cruiser pulls into the drive. The vehicle doesn’t even have the chance to come to a stop before the boy’s mother jumps from the passenger seat, running toward the barn.

“Jeffery?”

The child’s head perks, neck stretching as he strains to see. Stephano spins, taking a seat on his lap, though whether he’s trying to claim his newly conquered territory or preparing to defend the boy is a mystery.

“Jeffery!”

“Mommy!”

My heart wrenches, a pang of loss, of regret as I try to remember the feeling of my own mother’s arms and can’t, spear through me as the woman falls to her knees beside her child, pulling him to her in a tight embrace. The goat stands and frolics several feet, then checks to see if the kid is watching. When he realizes he isn’t, the tiny troublemaker baas and bounces off in search of more attention.

He ends up standing on Jake’s boot. Stomps when he isn’t immediately acknowledged. But I’m the only one to notice. All eyes except mine are on the mother and child. Unable to read Jake’s expression, I tear my gaze away, join the others in watching the tearful reunion, Jeffery now cradled in his mother’s lap.

“Thank you.” Though still emotional, her voice has softened, taking on a musical cadence as she tears her eyes from her child, looking around at those of us gathered in the barn. “Thank you for finding my baby.”

Her gaze lands on me and her head tilts to the side. “Cassidy?”

I study her a moment, blinking hard when I realize who it is that I’m looking at. The dark skin, the gently rounded face, the long hair the color of a crow’s feathers gathered in a braid over her shoulder, though now fine filaments of silver are woven in among the glossy black.