Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(2)

Kate patted his arm. “They’ll be grown and gone before we can blink. I can’t believe Carson is six already.”

“If we can just get past the colic.” Among other things.

“Amen. God, it’s cold.” Kate zipped her coat higher under her chin. “We should move somewhere warm. It’s March. I’m totally over this thing called winter.” A scraping sound diverted Lee’s attention.

“Me too,” he said absently. His ears strained for another odd noise. The wind blew. Clattering, winter-bare tree branches waved overhead.

Head bowed against a sharp gust, Kate quickened her steps. Lee grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” She turned to him, the question furrowing her brow.

“I don’t know.” He scanned the dark street. A dozen vehicles were strung out along the snow-edged curb. The restaurant rode the edge of the commercial section of their quiet, boring town. The other businesses along this side street had closed hours ago. A block ahead, the neighborhood turned residential. The thin air smelled faintly of garlic, wood smoke, and snow.

There was absolutely no reason for the unease brewing in his gut. “Something’s wrong.”

Kate lifted her head. “The streetlight is out.”

“I guess that’s it.”

They started forward again. Kate slipped, and Lee wrapped a steadying arm around her.

A man stepped out from behind a truck and headed up the sidewalk in their direction. Work boots, jeans, and a black leather jacket were normal attire. Even the baseball cap that shadowed his face was ordinary. But something about the man’s posture put Lee on edge. There was readiness in the set of his shoulders, unnatural purpose in the cadence of his stride, and though the man wasn’t staring at them, Lee could feel the energy of his focus.

He pushed Kate behind him and veered into the street. They’d cross and continue on the opposite sidewalk. Their car was barely twenty feet away. Lee pulled out his keys, planning to get Kate locked into the vehicle and then deal with the man if necessary.

But the man stepped into the street and cut off their path. He raised his hand. Lee’s attention locked on a semiautomatic handgun, the barrel elongated by a silencer. Pointed at Lee and Kate, the muzzle yawned as large as a manhole cover.

“Wallet, keys, purse.” Gloved fingers curled in a gimme gesture.

Lee dug his wallet and keys out of his pockets. He reached back, took Kate’s handbag, and handed the items over. The man lowered the gun to tuck the purse under his arm and pocket the small items. Lee breathed. Being robbed sucked, but it was the best possible outcome of this scenario.

The gun came up again. Shocked, Lee froze. Moonlight glinted on metal as the muzzle flashed. The bullet tore through his skull with a searing blast of agony. Then his brain disconnected from his body. His knees buckled, and he did a slow-motion face-plant on the frozen blacktop. Liquid dripped into his eyes, obscuring his vision. But he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not the pain from the wound. Not the warmth of the blood flowing into his eyes. The patch of ice beneath his cheek should have been cold. Kate’s screams sounded far away, though he knew she stood just two feet behind him.

The gunman said something to Kate, but the ringing in Lee’s ears drowned out the words. He strained to hear.

“Stop screaming and answer me,” the man said.

But Kate couldn’t stop. If anything, her shrieks grew louder, the pitch rising with hysteria, and then faltering with sobs. Lee tried to lift his head to see what was happening, but his muscles wouldn’t respond to his commands.

His gaze fixed on a pair of tan work boots. Blood speckled the toe. He moved his eyes. Kate dropped to her knees beside him. The takeout box hit the street. Lasagna spilled out, tomato sauce staining the roadside slush red. No, Kate. Run, was what he wanted to say, but nothing came out of his mouth. Paralyzed, he was unable to react, unable to protect his wife.

Clack psst. The second shot sounded like a pneumatic nail gun firing. Only Lee’s eyelids could flinch. In his peripheral vision he saw his wife collapse across his legs like a marionette with snipped strings. Grief crushed his heart.

Kate. I love you.

What had he done?



Ellie smoothed joint compound over the patch in the drywall. Her living room was shaping up. The upstairs renovations were finished. Soon it would be time to tackle the ugliest kitchen ever designed. She could hardly wait. Except then she’d sell the house and move again. That was the whole point, but this was the first neighborhood she’d be sad to leave.

“Do you want some tea?” her grandmother called.

“No, thanks.” Ellie stretched a kink in her neck. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven.”

Alarm slipped through Ellie. “Julia isn’t back.” Her fifteen-year-old daughter was babysitting for the next-door neighbors, the Barretts. Lee Barrett was also an attorney in the firm where Ellie worked as an administrative assistant.

Nan appeared in the doorway. “What time did they say they’d be home?”

“By ten.”

“They’re only an hour late. Maybe the restaurant was slow or they got a flat,” Nan reasoned, but her voice was tinged with concern. “They could be enjoying themselves. It is their anniversary.”

Ellie tossed her trowel on the drop cloth and picked up her cell phone from the top rung of the stepladder. “If they were running late, they would have called.” She texted her daughter and waited three minutes. No answer. “I’m going over there.”