Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(2)

“Two,” Josie answered. “Almost three.”

With a wistful smile, the woman said, “Oh I remember when mine was two. What a great age.”

“Oh, he’s not—” Josie was about to explain that she wasn’t Harris’s mother, that she was only watching him for a friend, but Lucy whined, “Mom! I want to go on the carousel!”

Harris stopped wiggling in Josie’s arms. “Me too!” he said. “JoJo, horses again!”

Josie shifted him in her arms. “Again?” she said. “We already went on three times.”

Just the thought of it made the acid in her stomach churn. She’d been feeling peaky on and off for a week now, and three rides on the spinning carousel had certainly not helped.

“Mo-om,” Lucy said, now tugging her mother away from the slide and toward the opposite end of the playground where the shiny new carousel had been installed weeks earlier, thanks to the machinations of the mayor.

An amusement park a few counties away had gone out of business, and Mayor Tara Charleston had seen an opportunity to “enhance Denton’s lovely public park” as she phrased it when she convinced the city council to spend an exorbitant amount of money to have the carousel deconstructed, transported to Denton, and rebuilt inside the city park. At least the city had saved money by having art students from Denton University restore it. Now its bright carnival colors flashed in the afternoon sunlight as it spun, its horses rising and falling in concert with the jubilant music that played while it went round and round. Just looking at it from the playground area made Josie’s stomach turn.

“JoJo, please,” Harris tried again, squirming in her arms.

Before she could try to talk him out of it, a man’s voice said, “You’re Josie Quinn.”

Lucy and her mother stopped and turned back, watching as the man walked up from behind Josie and extended a hand. Josie had seen him in the park when they arrived, walking around the perimeter of the playground, talking on his cell phone. He was lean and tan with salt-and-pepper colored hair. In a blue polo shirt, khaki shorts and a pair of loafers, he looked as though he should be on a golf course rather than a playground, but the late April weather was warm enough for his light-weight clothing.

“I’m Colin Ross,” he told her, his hand still extended.

Josie shifted Harris in her arms so she could shake the man’s hand. Lucy and her mother walked up closer. Lucy’s mother looked from Colin to Josie and back. “Colin,” she said. “You know this woman?”

He turned to her and smiled. “Amy,” he said. “You don’t recognize her from the news?”

Tension knotted Josie’s shoulder blades. As a detective for the Denton Police Department, Josie had solved some of the most shocking cases in the state, many of which had made national news, but she still wasn’t used to her celebrity. Or notoriety.

Amy stared at Josie with uncertainty until, finally breaking the tension, Josie extended a hand. “He’s right. I’m Josie Quinn. I’m a detective with the police department.”

Amy’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God, you just solved the Drew Pratt case!”

Josie nodded, noticing that Colin was beaming at her. “My team solved the case, yes.”

Colin said, “She’s fantastic. Do you know who her father is?”

Josie opened her mouth to say that her father was dead but before she could, Colin said, “Christian Payne.”

A year ago, Josie had found out that she’d been kidnapped as an infant. Her real family believed she died in a fire. She had only been recently reunited with them. It was still hard to get used to having an entirely new family. “You know him?” Josie asked.

Colin smiled. “We both work for Quarmark.”

“Right,” Josie said. “Big pharma. Do you work in marketing as well?”

“No, I’m on the team that develops the pricing structures for new drugs Quarmark rolls out onto the market.”

“Fun stuff,” Amy remarked.

“Daddy,” Lucy whined. “I want to go on the carousel.”

“JoJo,” Harris said, pointing over Josie’s shoulder. “Swings!”

Josie was relieved he had changed his mind. “Just a minute, buddy.”

Amy placed a hand on her husband’s back. “Honey, Lucy wants to go on the carousel. Do you want to go on with her or should I?”

Colin smiled down at his daughter. “Maybe all three of us could go on.”

“Which horse will you go on, Daddy?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I have to have a good look at them before I choose.” He shot Josie another smile. “It was great to meet you.”

“You too,” Josie said. As the Ross family drifted off toward the carousel, Josie set Harris down on the grass and he raced off to the swings. As she helped him into one of the empty swings and began pushing him lightly, she saw that Amy and Lucy Ross had gotten on the carousel. Colin stood just outside the fence, talking on his cell phone again. So much for a family carousel ride.

“Higher!” Harris cried. “Please, JoJo?”

Josie smiled down at his crown of golden blond hair and pushed a little more forcefully, even though sending him a fraction higher caused a small uptick in her anxiety. She didn’t know how his mother, Misty, brought him here all the time. It seemed so fraught with danger. To Josie, Harris still seemed so small and fragile. She couldn’t help but fear that he’d break a bone or crack his skull with one bad fall. In her mind she heard Misty, her own mother Shannon, and her grandmother, Lisette all laughing at her—which they frequently did when she fussed too much over Harris’s safety. They all said the same thing: “Kids are more resilient than they look.”