Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(55)

Grant’s gut twisted. Anger burned a path through his chest.

Gently prying her fingers loose, he picked her up and held her close. In an active mood, she squirmed and batted her chubby fists on his shoulder. Her feet moved as if she was running in place.

The police were making zero progress investigating the murders within the boundaries of the law. Enough was enough. Lee and Kate’s deaths had to be connected to the bullying and suicide of Lindsay Hamilton. Ellie knew something about that case, and Grant needed to make her talk to him. He also needed to find out where Lee had gotten that twenty thousand dollars, even if discovering the truth was painful. Scarlet Falls was festering with secrets, and Grant was going to drag them all out into the light.

Grant made two vows. No one would hurt these children, and he would find the person who killed his brother and make the guilty party pay.





Chapter Twenty-One


Ellie turned her car into her neighborhood. A police car passed her, lights on, and her pulse scrambled. She pressed the gas pedal harder. No! It can’t be.

The police couldn’t be going to her house.

Nausea flooded her belly as she drove down her street. A police car sat at the curb next to the park. Two more were parked at Lee and Kate’s house. Relief, and then guilt, surged through Ellie. She shouldn’t be grateful the police were needed at her neighbor’s house instead of her own. Her gaze was drawn to the policeman taking photographs at the playground.

What had happened?

Ellie parked in her driveway, got out of her car, and slammed the door. With one eye on the Barrett house, she ran up to her front porch and went inside. An empty hush greeted her.

“Nan,” she called out in the foyer. Silence answered her. “Julia!”

Ellie hurried back to the kitchen and family room, but the rooms were empty. Nan wasn’t there. She’d made sure her grandmother was settled on the sofa before she’d left to deliver the files Grant had found to the firm. Ellie jogged upstairs and checked the three bedrooms anyway. No Nan. No Julia.

She raced outside and across the front yards. In the Barretts’ driveway, a uniformed officer stood next to his open cruiser and talked into his radio. On the front porch, she pressed the doorbell.

Another officer opened the door.

“I’m Ellie Ross. I live next door. What happened?”

“This way, ma’am.” He stood back and gestured for her to enter the house.

Ellie walked into the foyer, dread gathering behind her sternum. She looked up as Grant carried Faith down the stairs.

“Ellie.” He moved toward her. “Everyone is fine.”

“What happened?” she repeated. “Are Nan and Julia here?”

“Yes, and they’re all right.” His words were reassuring, but his eyes went flat.

Still, knowing that her family was OK made her light-headed with relief. Ellie reached for the wall.

“Whoa.” One-handing the baby, Grant caught her elbow. He steered her into Lee’s office. “Sit down. I’ll be right back. Keep your head down and breathe slowly.”

In the desk chair, she rested her elbows on her knees and let her forehead drop into her palms. The room pitched beneath her. Her vision went fuzzy. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on sucking air in and out of her lungs. The increased oxygen didn’t help.

They are all right. They are all right. Do not throw up.

Her inability to find the file hadn’t gotten her grandmother or her daughter killed.

Yet.

She heard the office door close. A hand splayed between her shoulder blades. Grant. The warmth and weight of his touch anchored her to the present.

Everyone was all right.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

Ellie lifted her head and nodded. The room tilted, then stilled.

“What happened?” she asked again, this time without the hysteria in her voice.

“Julia took the kids to the playground down the street for some air.”

“I told her to stay with Nan.”

“Nan is the one who sent her over. Your grandmother thought some fresh air would cheer them all up.”

“If I wanted her cheered up, I wouldn’t have grounded her.” Ellie swallowed her anger, but her hands clenched into tight fists.

“While the kids were at the park, a man approached them. Julia didn’t like the looks of him. She grabbed the kids and ran home yelling. Hannah chased the guy off. No one was hurt. I brought your grandmother over here just in case. I didn’t want her alone.” He paused, his gaze seeking hers as she stared at her fists. “They’re OK, Ellie. Your daughter reacted in exactly the right way. She listened to her instincts and saved them all.”

Ellie raised her chin. Her eyes locked with his. Her gut was screaming at her to trust him. He had taken care of her family while she wasn’t there. But could she count on him to keep quiet?

Thoughts spinning, she let her head fall into her hands. Her palms pressed against her temples as if trying to contain the terrible images rolling through her mind.

“Ellie!”

Hands shook her shoulders. She opened her eyes.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Grant crouched in front of her. Concern filled the blue of his eyes.

She shook her head. How could she trust him? She’d just met him. He was a military officer. He followed orders and rules. He’d tell the police, and her family would suffer the consequences.