Stranger in Town - By Cheryl Bradshaw Page 0,46

pulsating wave of nerves throughout my body, and now I was anticipating his arrival. Even though he’d said we would work together on this case, I never expected him to keep his word, so I was astounded when he asked me to tag along. The feds were flying in the next morning. If we were going to find something on our own, we had to be quick.

Cade pulled to a stop next to me and popped the passenger-side door open. He had one hand on the wheel and the other stretched out across the top of the seat. I thought he’d move it when I got in, but he didn’t.

A thin toothpick hung out of his mouth again. He looked at me and smiled. It was one of those casual smiles a person gives to another person when they’ve become comfortable in the relationship. But I was nowhere near being able to reciprocate.

“Why are you sitting like that?” he said.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re going steady with the door.”

“Well, your arm is in my way.”

“I’m not even touching you, woman,” he said. “Relax.”

He moved his hand, resting it on his thigh.

“Is that what you call every female you meet?”

He laughed.

“What, woman?”

I nodded. He winked.

“Only the ones I like.”

I didn’t dare look over. I wasn’t sure whether he was serious or just messing around. And I didn’t want to know—at least, that’s what I told myself. Cade leaned over and turned the volume up on the radio. Some guy singing what sounded like a mix of country and hard rock blared through the speakers.

“Who is he—and what is he?” I said.

“The singer? Brantley Gilbert. You like it?”

I reached over, turning it back down. “Not really.”

Cade cranked it back up. “Give it a minute. It will grow on you.”

Country music rarely did anything for me, but I had to admit, the song was catchy. When it was over, Cade pushed a button and shut the radio off.

“There’s something I haven’t told you about the Kents,” he said.

“What is it?”

“They had two children,” he said.

“Had?”

“Yep, both dead,” he said.

“Let me guess, girls?”

Cade nodded.

I swallowed—hard.

“Do you have any water?” I said.

Cade reached under the seat and handed me a can of soda. “Here, drink this.”

“No thanks. I don’t drink soda.”

He gently tossed it into my lap. “Stop complaining, and just drink it.”

I popped the top on the can and took a few sips. I had to admit, it tasted good.

“What happened to their children?” I said.

“I talked to the principal at the school Regina Kent worked at. He told me some years back, Regina decided to visit her parents in Utah over the holidays. Bradley couldn’t go; he had too many patients to see. Regina packed up the car and got the kids ready, but by the time they left, it was almost midnight. They were tired, so she told the kids they could sleep in the car.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “She let them lay down, no seatbelts.”

He nodded and continued.

“It started snowing, the roads were slick, and Regina thought about heading back home, but she was more than halfway to Utah already. She woke the girls and told them to put their seatbelts on. In the process, she turned around. They were hit head-on by a semi-truck on the highway. The car rolled several times. By the time the ambulance was on the scene, both girls were dead. Regina was the only survivor.”

The idea of a child dying right in front of his parents was surreal to me.

“I think I’d rather not have a child at all than to face one of my kids dying before me. The guilt she felt must have been excruciating.”

“I’m sure Regina felt the same way,” he said. “After the accident, she quit her job and went into hiding, completely cutting herself off from society. Before the accident, she was well known around here. And after, she was well-known, but for an entirely different reason. People in town say she went crazy.”

CHAPTER 31

In the wake of her children’s deaths, Regina Kent became a recluse, never going out for anything. The people in town hadn’t seen her in years. Everyone assumed she’d locked herself inside of her house, deciding she was too fragile to ever venture out into the public eye again. Bradley Kent took a few weeks off after the children died and then resumed his practice. A year later, he retired. By that time he’d become somewhat of an enigma, at times displaying heartfelt emotions over his children,