Hometown Love (Love on the North Shore #2)(3)
Jessie made him a copy. “Good luck. I hope you find her soon.”
“You and me both. Thanks for your help.”
Mack returned to the office with the video and soon they tracked down the owner of the car, José Batista’s brother. When they questioned him, he’d been so nervous that he slipped up and mentioned that he was meeting José later that night at a motel in Manchester.
Now several hours later, Mack, along with other members of the squad and local police department, prepared to descend upon Batista’s room. A quick check with the woman working the front desk verified which room he was in and that he planned to check out on Saturday. Not that he’d get the chance.
Mack gripped his holstered Glock as they approached the door. José Batista had no criminal record and no weapons registered to him, but one never knew what might be on the other side of the door. The guy felt desperate enough to kidnap his daughter and book plane tickets to Texas; who knew what else he might be willing to do?
Next to him, Dakota stopped and pounded on the door.
Perhaps assuming it was his brother, Batista opened the door. Dakota restrained him before the guy could even blink. While the other agents secured the room, Mack approached the girl seated on the bed. “Daniela?”
The girl nodded and gripped the remote control she held. “Please don’t hurt my dad.” Tears slipped down her face.
Tired but relieved, Mack sat down next to her. “We won’t.”
Chapter 1
Six months later
Perspiration trickled down Jessie’s temple as she crossed Main Street. She heard the sound of children in the playground on the Town Common, but she didn’t pause to see if she knew anyone there. If she stopped, it was more than likely she’d see someone she knew and that would interrupt her morning run. Already the run was taking longer than usual thanks to the four weeks off she’d been forced to take after pulling her hamstring.
She turned onto union Street as her thoughts went back to the day before. In the five years since she’d ended things with Jeremy Flynn, she hadn’t seen or heard from him despite the fact he lived just ten miles away in Danvers. That wonderful record, however, had come to a screeching halt yesterday—when she’d walked into the coffee shop next to her doctor’s office in Salem and saw him sitting with Sharon Pelletier. Jessie had stopped dead in her tracks. When their eyes met, he’d smiled, but she’d turned and walked out.
Ever since then, she’d struggled with the same question. Should she talk to Sharon? A few years younger than her, Sharon lived in North Salem, too. While they were not friends, they knew each other. Depending on how long Jeremy and Sharon had been together, Sharon might not have seen the real Jeremy yet. He hadn’t showed Jessie the real him for almost a year. Maybe she could save Sharon from all she’d experienced with Jeremy.
Side-stepping a puddle leftover from the previous night’s rain storm, Jessie continued down the sidewalk, passing the well-maintained homes lining the street, her options going back and forth in her mind until she noticed the rented moving truck parked at the old Kerry house. Built in 1796, it was one of the oldest homes in town and had been in the Kerry family for over one hundred years. Earlier that year, Lincoln Kerry had passed away and his son had come home just long enough to clean it out and put it up for sale. If Lincoln were alive, he’d be devastated, but perhaps he’d be glad to know a fellow North Salem resident had purchased it and not some stranger.
She’d known Matthew “Mack” Ellsbury and his younger sister, Erin, all her life. And while Erin and her parents, Rose and Matthew Ellsbury, remained in North Salem, Mack had moved not long after college to be closer to work.
A dull ache in her leg caused Jessie to slow down as she passed by Mrs. Mitchell’s house, and she waved at the widow working in her flowerbeds.
Trying not to think about the ache or what to do about Sharon, Jessie pushed on. Maybe she’d started running again too soon. Tomorrow, she’d head over to the gym for a swim before opening the store.
“Hey, Jessie,” a familiar voice called out as she approached the Kerry house. “How’s it going?”
Jessie stopped, grateful for the distraction as Sean O’Brien came down the front steps on his way back to the moving truck. “Hi, Sean. I was going to call you this afternoon. The bathroom vanity you ordered came in yesterday.”
Sean stopped in front of her. “Excellent. If we finish up here early enough, I’ll pick it up. Otherwise I’ll get it tomorrow.” Sean uncapped the water he’d grabbed on his way over and took a long swallow. “I want the downstairs bathroom finished before Mia comes back for Ma’s wedding.”
“She won’t make it back until then?” She’d become friends with Sean’s girlfriend that summer when Mia had stayed at The Victorian Rose. Earlier that month Mia had returned to California to finish the movie she was staring in.
Sean shook his head. “Doubt it, but I’m flying out to California next weekend.”
“Need a break already, O’Brien?” Mack emerged from the house, a backwards baseball cap covering his dark hair. “I guess that’s what happens when you get old.”
For a moment, Jessie spiraled back fourteen years and her tongue went from being a useful organ to a giant bowtie just like it had every time Mack had tutored her in geometry during study hall. A senior, and one of the most popular guys in school, Mack was the number one crush of most of the girls in her freshman class—including her. Not that he ever noticed any of them. Why would he when every cheerleader in North Salem and Danvers were constantly throwing themselves at him?