A Soldier's Homecoming. Rachel Lee

skin crawled with it. He waited for Maude to come to his table, pretending not to notice, but every nerve ending in his body was wound tighter than a spring. Hyper-alert, on guard, half expecting a bomb or a gunshot.

      What he got, instead, was a menu, and a few minutes later Gage Dalton entered the restaurant. Gage stood looking around the room and announced easily, “This man is not the man who approached Sophie Halloran yesterday. Leave him alone.”

      The eyes shifted away, conversation resumed, and in seconds Ethan had heard enough to understand the basics of what had the whole town acting as if it was under attack.

      Gage joined him at the table, and Maude returned for their orders.

      “Steak and eggs, over easy,” Gage said to Maude.

      She snorted. “Like you have to tell me that.” Then she looked at Ethan.

      “Same here,” he said.

      “So what’s your name?” Maude demanded. “I don’t like to call people ‘hey, you.’”

      He rustled up a smile. “Ethan.”

      Maude nodded. “You want coffee with that?”

      “Always.”

      Another nod, then she grabbed the menu and stomped away.

      “Our Maude,” said Gage, “has great charm. It does take some getting used to.”

      “She’s harmless enough,” Ethan said.

      “Depends on your point of comparison.”

      “So what exactly happened yesterday? I was half-sure I’d get shot while I was walking into town this morning.”

      “Remember the deputy who gave you a ride the other day? Connie Halloran?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Some stranger approached her daughter in a car and called her over by name.”

      “I gathered that somebody had tried to abduct a kid, but I didn’t know it was her kid.”

      Gage shook his head. “The rumor mill is in high gear. No abduction attempt, though. At least, not overtly. The guy wanted to talk to the girl.”

      “That’s creepy enough.”

      Gage leaned forward, lowering his voice. “When Micah came in this morning, he suggested I take you on.”

      Ethan was startled. “Take me on?”

      “As a deputy. At least temporarily.”

      “But why?”

      “He seems to feel you’re fresher at dealing with threats than the rest of us.” Gage grinned. “He’s right, you know. Whatever we used to be, we’re all small-town cops now.”

      Ethan nodded slowly, turning the idea over in his head. He, too, kept his voice low. “You want me to protect the girl?”

      “Sort of.”

      Ethan waited patiently. He was good at that from years of sitting in out-of-the-way places waiting, waiting, waiting for his target. For information. For whatever.

      “The thing is, what if this guy isn’t really a stranger?”

      Ethan’s brow creased. “What do you mean?”

      “Sophie didn’t recognize the guy, but she’s only seven. Anyway, everyone has it fixed in their heads that this guy is someone from outside the county. What if he’s not? They’ll dismiss anyone they know, even if he does something suspicious.”

      “I see what you mean.”

      “Now maybe Sophie’s his target. Or maybe he just happens to like little blond girls and goes for another one. Whichever way, if Farmer Sam sees Rancher Jesse talking to a little girl, he’s not going to get suspicious. Because they’re neighbors.”

      “I read you.”

      Gage smiled. “Micah said you’d help.”

      “He did, did he?”

      Gage’s smile broadened. “I always wanted another Micah Parish on my staff.” He laughed and leaned back to let Maude pour their coffee, then put their plates in front of them. After she moved away, he leaned in again, keeping his voice well below the level of surrounding conversation. “We’ll go over to the office after breakfast. It’s time to plan.”

      “I didn’t say I’d do it.”

      Gage’s smile faded as he studied the younger man. After a bit he said, “You’ll do it. You’re not the kind to walk away.”

      Ethan walked back to the sheriff’s office with Gage. Throughout breakfast, only a few more words had passed between them, either, because neither man was much of a talker or because too many ears were listening.

      Ethan had come this way looking for something of himself, something that wasn’t connected to the years in Afghanistan and Iraq. Whoever, whatever, he’d been before was gone. Now, about to return to civilian life, he needed new anchors. Experience had taught him to deal with events that came out of the blue, often hectic, usually unstoppable and always initially confusing. It took a lot to throw him offstride.

      But right now he felt very much offstride. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d expected coming out here, but this sure as hell wasn’t it. He hadn’t expected events to rise around him like quicksand again.

      Protect a little girl? How could he say no?

      “Velma,” Gage said as they passed the dispatcher’s desk, “Ethan here is going to be working with us. And I don’t want anyone outside the department to know that for a while.”

      She snorted and blew smoke through her nostrils. A cigarette dangled from her left hand, ash hanging precariously. “Like that’s gonna happen.”

      “You heard me. I know you can keep a secret.”

      They were already turning into Gage’s office as Velma called after them, “It won’t be me who lets the cat out.”

      Gage half smiled. “That woman is such an icon at that desk that if she ever passes on, we’re going to have to put a statue of her there.”

      Ethan returned the half smile and settled into the chair he’d occupied only the day before. Gage rounded the desk, running his fingers through his prematurely gray hair, and sat.

      “Help me here,” he said. “We need to run surveillance. Keep an eye on Sophie in a way that doesn’t overly restrict her. Keep an eye on the other kids. Because what we don’t know here is whether she was a specific target or a target of opportunity. He could know the names of dozens of kids.”

      “Certainly possible if he’s a local.”

      “The schools will be on lockdown all day. No students will be allowed out. Parents are being advised to pick up their kids at school or at bus stops. But that still leaves after school.”

      Ethan nodded. “My bet is that if the guy hasn’t moved on, he’s not going to try anything until the heat lessens. Just walking from the motel to the diner, I could tell you’re on high alert.”

      “Are you saying we should stop?”

      “I’m saying you need to be less visible.” Ethan leaned forward. “If the guy hasn’t moved on, you need to surveil in a way that will give him the guts to make a move. Otherwise, once things have been quiet for a week or so, you’re going back to your normal routine and he’s coming out of the woodwork.”

      “I was thinking that, too.” Gage rubbed his chin. “But if we’re facing a local, then all my deputies are well-known. It won’t matter if they’re in or out of uniform.”

      Ethan nodded slowly. “In Iraq and Afghanistan, I never removed my uniform. I knew I was walking around with a target painted