In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(36)

“I’ll handle that. You go home and take care of your daughter,” Kins said. “It’s Saturday night. I’m sure Dan would appreciate you being home.”

“What about Shannah?”

“She’s out with girlfriends. If she has a couple pops, though, I may get lucky.”

Tracy rolled her eyes. “Okay, Todd.”

“You see, that was funny,” Kins said.



Dan greeted Tracy at the door with a mischievous smile that meant something was up. “Come here. You’ll want to see this.”

He led her into the living room where Therese sat on the floor. Daniella stood with one hand holding onto the coffee table. She was smiling and drooling and reaching with her other hand for a rattle Therese held just out of reach. “What’s going on?” Tracy asked.

“Your daughter has reached a milestone early,” Therese said.

Tracy stepped forward and dropped to her knees. Daniella immediately turned her attention to Tracy. “Don’t distract her, Mrs. O,” Therese said. She shook the rattle, drawing Daniella’s attention. “All aloney,” Therese said lyrically. “All aloney.”

Daniella slapped at the wooden table, then unsteadily, she let go, took a wobbly step, a second step, and grabbed the rattle, falling into Therese.

Tracy laughed, which caused Daniella to smile and to kick her arms and legs. She picked up her baby and kissed her cheeks.

“She’s not supposed to be able to do that for another month,” Therese said. “This baby has some strong core muscles, I’ll tell you that.”

“She takes after her father,” Dan said.

“Fat chance,” Tracy said, continuing to coo and smile at her daughter. “This kid is all Crosswhite; Sarah was always ahead of the curve in everything she did.”

“Fat chance?” Dan said. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“It has nothing to do with your physical shape,” Tracy said.

“Ouch again,” Dan said.

Therese stood. “I’m sorry to have been first to see it, Mrs. O, but she surprised me as well. I left her for three seconds to grab my phone, and when I returned she’d pulled herself up and took two steps before falling back down.”

Tracy smiled. This was the trade-off for working. She knew she’d miss some milestones. “It’s okay, Therese. I’m glad we could all share it.”

“Phew. I thought you might be upset with me. Well then, I’m headed out with friends. I’ll leave her to walk for you two. There’s a stew on the stove.”

“Is that what smells so good?” Tracy said.

“I used what vegetables I could find,” Therese said and left the room.

“Hungry?” Dan asked.

“In a minute. I want to play with Daniella, and she probably needs to be fed. At least I hope so.”

“I waited for you,” Therese yelled from the nanny’s quarters.

Tracy laughed.

“She’s going to be walking all over the place,” Dan said, holding out his finger to his daughter.

“And she’s already a handful,” Tracy said.

“Like you said, she’s definitely all Crosswhite,” Dan said. “How was your day?”

“Interesting.” Tracy filled Dan in on what she and Kins had learned. “It’s a start, but . . . I’m afraid we’re going to find her body somewhere in that park tomorrow. We’re going back out with a CSI team and cadaver dogs in the morning. I’m sorry to work all weekend.”

“Is this dog walker legit? Could he be a suspect?”

“Always a suspect, but unlikely. He’s married and just about everyone told us he walks his dog every day at the same time. More likely a coincidence. Besides, I’m not sure why he’d be eager to tell us he saw her in the park if he was somehow culpable.”

Tracy picked up Daniella and got off the floor, carrying her daughter to the couch. She raised her shirt and fed Daniella while talking with Dan.

“How are you doing with all of this?” Dan asked.

“I’m okay. Thanks for asking though. I think keeping busy helps. I don’t have much time to think about things.”

“And this case isn’t hitting too close to home?”

“They’re always going to hit close to home, Dan. That’s just reality.”

“Yeah, but how are you going to feel if the cadaver dogs find a corpse tomorrow?”

“Sad,” she said without hesitation. “Sad for that young girl and her family, and all the more determined to catch the son-of-a-bitch responsible.”

Dan smiled.

“What?”

“All Crosswhite,” he said.

She smiled. “What do you call three middle-aged sisters living together?”

“Spinsters?”

She rolled her eyes. “What do you call three middle-aged brothers living together?”

“I don’t know. What do you call three middle-aged brothers living together?” Dan said, his tone indicating he now realized this was a joke.

“Horny, Randy, and Dan,” Tracy said.

“Dan?” He looked confused but also curious.

“Kins said ‘Todd,’ which he said is what makes the joke funny.” She carefully laid Daniella down on the cushions. “But I’m hopeful for Dan.”