When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,26

up to the sky. “Thank you, Lord, for savin’ me! I swear I’ll be a better person now!”

Ernie and the fire department were a great distraction, but Joe and the other deputies had been in the house for several minutes, and my anxiety had nearly reached the breaking point. Joe stepped out of the house then, talking on his phone. He looked up at me, and I could tell something was wrong.

Obviously Neely Kate could too, because she put an arm around me.

Officer Ernie caught sight of Joe and made a beeline for him. “Get out of my house!”

Joe’s brow shot up to his hairline, and he didn’t look like he was in any mood to get into a territorial war with Henryetta’s finest. “Your house? Did you pay the property taxes on this place, Officer?”

Officer Ernie stopped short. “Well, no…”

“You’re lookin’ a little pale,” Neely Kate said, taking a step forward. “Are you sure you’re okay after your near-death experience, Officer Ernie?”

The officer’s anger faded. “You’re right. I haven’t had anything to eat in nearly forty-five minutes. I bet my blood sugar has plummeted.”

“I have a protein bar in my purse,” Neely Kate said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and steering him toward my truck. She shuddered a little as she touched him, but she steeled her back.

“I don’t like protein bars,” he whined, leaning into her, which caused her to shudder again.

Neely Kate was really taking one for the team.

“I have some grapes too. Or a turkey sandwich.” She cast Joe a dark look and mouthed, you owe me big time as they headed for the truck.

Joe gave her a grim nod.

“What did you find?” Mike’s mother called out.

Joe hung up the phone and strode toward her, casting a glance at Deanna, who was standing next to the car, engaged in a heated phone call.

“Mrs. Beauregard,” Joe said, “I need to know if Mike has been on edge this week…acting out of the ordinary…”

“He’s been on edge,” she said, clenching her shaking hands in front of her. “I know he’s got a lot of spec houses right now and he’s overextended himself. We offered to give him money, but he said he had a house closing soon.”

I was relieved to see she was being more cooperative.

“Do you know if he’s borrowed money from anyone?” Joe asked.

She shook her head and glanced at Deanna, who had her back to us. “He has multiple loans. I think he may have taken out a second mortgage on the house, but there wasn’t much equity, so it mustn’t have brought much in.” She lifted her fingertips to her lips. “What did you find?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, but your grandchildren are now officially listed as missing persons.”

I gasped, and Joe shot me a worried looked.

Panic had me in its grip, but I knew he’d have a hard time focusing on doing his job if he was worried about me, so I gave him a reassuring smile. I’m okay.

He still looked concerned, but he returned his attention to Mike’s mother, who had started to cry.

“I knew we should have come over last night,” Mike’s father said. “I knew something was up when he wouldn’t let us talk to the kids.”

Mike’s mother’s wail had caught Deanna’s attention, and she quickly ended her call and hurried over. “Please do not talk to my clients unless I’m present.” She glanced from Joe to Mike’s mother and back. “What did you find in there?”

“Nothing I can tell you about right now, but we have reason to believe the children are missing.”

“What about Mike?” his father asked.

“We’re not sure,” Joe said, “which makes it imperative that you tell me if he contacts you.”

Mike’s father nodded.

Joe shifted his attention to me, leading me several feet away and out of earshot. “I’m gonna need you two to leave.”

“What did you find, Joe?” I asked in a whisper.

His gaze held mine. “I need you to trust me, Rose. Can you do that?”

“You don’t think they’re dead, do you?” I asked, my knees weak.

“No, darlin’, I swear to you I don’t. There’s no blood or anything to lead me to believe they’re hurt. But I found a note that leads me to believe they’ve been taken, and that’s all I can tell you, okay? I shouldn’t have even told you that much.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but a sense of tranquility washed through me. I was terrified for Ashley and Mikey, but if I could pick anyone to look