Shadow Of Suspicion. Christy Barritt

      What was he talking about? That couldn’t be true. Plenty of people would have seen Sarah since then. First at the bus stop. Then at school. “I’m telling you—I would never do anything to hurt Sarah. I think of her like a daughter.”

      He raised his chin, his gaze still assessing. “Like the daughter you always wanted? How far were you willing to take that?”

      Her mouth dropped open at his implications. “What are you saying? That because I’m childless I would kidnap someone else’s daughter and stow her away somewhere?”

      “Yes, that’s precisely what I’m saying.” Those beautiful crystal eyes now looked steely blue.

      She shook her head with every ounce of her strength. She had to get through to him and convince him of her innocence. “You’re dead wrong. I would never do that. Never. I don’t know where all of this came from, but the last time I saw Sarah, she was with her father and she was about to head to the bus stop.”

      “A witness places her back at your house at 11:30 this morning.”

      Her jaw dropped. “11:30? That’s ridiculous. I wasn’t even home at 11:30. I was walking around the neighborhood, getting in my exercise, just like I always do.”

      “Can anyone prove that?”

      She let out an audible sigh, realizing the futility of her argument. “A couple of drivers passed me, but no one I know. I walk almost every day at the same time. It’s part of my routine.” A routine that anyone observant enough would have noticed.

      Laney should have been more careful. But she’d always been a creature of routine. Routines brought her comfort, something she immensely needed in her life since the murder of her husband three years ago.

      “So, no? You have no one to corroborate that?”

      She nibbled on her bottom lip, the first touch of despair creeping into her psyche. This was bad. Really bad. But once the police dug deeper, certainly they would see her innocence. They’d know whoever placed Sarah at her house at eleven thirty was wrong.

      “No, there’s no one I know of who can verify that,” she finally said. “I live alone. I’m a bit of a loner.”

      Why couldn’t she have run into someone today of all days? Normally she’d at least catch a glimpse of a neighbor as she was out. But not today. It had been cold and overcast out, the kind of weather that kept people inside. Up until six months ago, it would have kept Laney inside also. She’d used any excuse possible. She’d been so proud of herself for stepping outside of her comfort zone, for taking baby steps toward a more normal routine and out of the isolation that had consumed her.

      “Mr. Novak said you’d been arguing with him about his daughter lately.”

      Laney let out a little gasp. How in the world had that come up? And did the police really think it was relevant? Obviously they did since the detective had mentioned it. They thought it gave her motive.

      “I just hated to see her so unhappy,” Laney started, the car suddenly feeling hot and stuffy. “It wasn’t my place to speak up about how Sol was raising her. I admit that. I even apologized to Sol for interfering. Sarah just looked like she needed someone to talk to.”

      The detective shifted, his eyes perceptive and keen as he watched her every reaction. “What didn’t you agree with?”

      Laney had done nothing wrong, she reminded herself. She just had to speak the truth and trust that honesty would win over the accusations against her. “Her father was so hard on her, and she’s such a good girl. She was never allowed to do anything. She came home, took care of the house after school and did her schoolwork. Day after day. She had no life. No chance to hang out with friends. Sol took being overprotective to the extreme.”

      “I take it he didn’t react well to your reprimand?”

      Laney frowned. “Not at all. I apologized for interfering. I usually keep to myself. But I guess my talk did some good because Sol finally decided to let Sarah go to the school social this weekend. I was going to be a chaperone. It was the only way he would say yes. I’d never seen Sarah look so happy.”

      “I see.”

      Laney rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Look, I have no idea where she went or what’s going on, but I know every minute you spend focusing on me is a minute spent focusing on the wrong person.”

      Her words didn’t seem to affect the detective. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

      With that, the man exited the sedan, leaving Laney in the backseat feeling like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

      * * *

      Mark James stepped from his police issued sedan and approached the head of the SWAT team, a man who also happened to be his partner. Jim Swanson stood near the porch of the stately brick home as the rest of the SWAT members filed out. A team of detectives now swarmed the inside, looking for any evidence that Laney had taken Sarah. If there was anything there, they would find it.

      He mentally reviewed the time line. Sol got a call from school around twelve saying Sarah never showed up, so he’d reached out to a neighbor who said she’d seen Sarah go into Laney’s at eleven thirty. Sol claimed he tried to call Laney from work, but that her line had been busy. In a panic, he’d decided to head home and check things out himself.

      While in his car driving home, he’d gotten a ransom call from someone claiming to have abducted Sarah. The kidnapper wanted one-hundred thousand dollars and indicated that Sol should stay tuned for directions. Sarah had been placed on the other line as confirmation that she was alive. Before she was cut off, she’d mentioned a woman and she’d said Laney’s name.

      Mark could see Sol standing in his yard. The man’s eyes were glazed, his shoulders hunched and his expression haggard. Two officers surrounded him, making sure he didn’t do anything irrational. They were also monitoring his communications so they would know when Sarah’s abductors contacted him again and hopefully be able to trace the call and find out their location.

      “What do you think?” Mark asked.

      Jim Swanson shrugged. “She looked shocked when we came into the house. I didn’t see any guilt in her gaze. Only surprise and fear. You?”

      Mark looked back at his sedan and remembered the moisture he’d seen running from Laney Ryan’s eyes earlier. He’d been in this line of work for long enough to know not to let tears get to him. They could be deceitful. But, for some reason, seeing this suspect crying clutched his heart.

      “The woman across the street placed Sarah here at Ms. Ryan’s house before she disappeared,” Mark said. “They say the girl went inside and never came out.”

      Jim shook his head. “Sarah’s not in the house now. If that’s true, where did she go? Where could Laney have taken her?”

      “Our guys are checking out the backyard now to see if there’s any evidence of a scuffle back there, right?”

      “That’s right. But what about motive? That’s what doesn’t make sense.”

      Mark thought about the conversation he’d had with Laney in his sedan. “It’s hard to say, but she didn’t sound very impressed with Sol’s parenting skills. Maybe she was trying to help the girl in some kind of twisted way.”

      “We need to bring her in until we can thoroughly investigate,” Jim said.

      “I agree. I’m not sure we have enough evidence to keep her in custody, though.”

      “We can stall for as long as possible, until something turns up.”

      Mark turned back to the sedan and watched Laney for a moment. He hadn’t known what he’d expected, but certainly not the beautiful woman who’d been led out in handcuffs. The petite woman had light brown hair that was cut level with her chin. She was bookish and looked smart. Her green eyes had