spite of the simmering emotions that radiated from her eyes.
“So, you know the plan? You’re coming with me to hang out at my sister’s place until we have a better idea of what’s going on?”
Once again she nodded and stepped closer to him, close enough that he could smell the scent of clean shampoo and soap. “You’re in Amber Lake, Oklahoma. Does that sound familiar?”
She frowned and shook her head. “Then let’s get you out of here,” he said. Together they left the hospital and he led her to his pickup. He opened the passenger door and she stepped up into the cab.
As Seth slid behind the steering wheel he wondered how on earth this was going to work. He’d never spent any time with a woman who couldn’t...or wouldn’t talk. Usually he complained about having the opposite problem...hooking up with women who wouldn’t let him get a word in edgewise.
Seth was accustomed to being the strong, silent type but that obviously wasn’t going to work in this particular situation.
The good news was that Samantha would probably be home and she was a typical sixteen-year-old chatterbox. Linda would be home around five to help with what suddenly felt like a babysitting job for a traumatized victim who intrigued him like no other woman had done in a very long time.
Just a job, he reminded himself as he pulled into the driveway of Linda’s neat three-bedroom ranch-style house. Atkins had told him earlier in the day that he’d posted signs that Deadman’s Dunes were off-limits to everyone for the time being.
But Seth knew there was no way Sheriff Atkins and his team could monitor all of the dunes day and night in an attempt to prevent another burial. He glanced at the woman seated next to him staring out the passenger window. She held the keys to catching the killer. Hopefully she would be able to give them the information they needed before another woman died.
“Here we are,” he said. He realized he hadn’t said a word on the short ride home from the hospital.
She turned and looked at him. As he saw the gratitude in her beautiful eyes, a surge of unexpected protectiveness rose up inside him. “It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. “You’re going to be just fine.”
Her eyes darkened and at that moment Samantha exploded out of the house, her short dark curls bouncing and a bright smile of welcome on her beautiful face. She halted at the edge of the driveway as Seth and Jane got out of the truck.
“Hi, Uncle Seth,” she said as she beelined to Jane. “Hi, I’m Samantha, and I’m so glad you’re here. Mom explained to me that you’re not talking right now, but it’s okay, I talk enough for two people. If you need to borrow any of my clothes, you’re welcome to them. Clothes, makeup, whatever you need I’ve got.”
Seth could almost feel the tension leaving Jane as Samantha’s friendly chatter filled the air. He guessed that Jane was probably in her mid to late twenties, probably ten years older than Samantha, but Samantha could charm the birds out of the trees when she wasn’t having a typical teenage hormonal moment.
He watched as Samantha took Jane’s hand. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room and then if you want you can help me with supper. I’m hoping if I have it all ready to eat when Mom gets home I can talk her into getting a puppy.”
“Good luck with that,” Seth said dryly as he followed the two into the house.
“I’ve been working on her for the past month. I think I’ve almost got her convinced. You should help me, Uncle Seth. You know having a puppy would teach me responsibility and keep me from doing drugs and partying.”
“You don’t need a puppy to keep you from doing drugs,” Seth replied. “If I even think that’s an issue you’ll have to contend with me.”
Samantha smiled at Jane. “Don’t worry, he sounds like a big tough guy but he’s got a really mushy center.”
Seth watched as Samantha led Jane down the hallway and the two disappeared into the spare room. Knowing at least for the moment that Jane was in good hands, he walked into the kitchen and pulled a cold soda from the fridge.
If this had been a usual case, Seth would have been holed up in the sheriff’s office, leading a new investigation not only into this latest crime, but also reinvestigating the two that had