Texas Prey. Barb Han

scrolled down the page. “He hasn’t posted anything in months. He either hasn’t been online or he’s abandoned his page altogether.”

      “We can rule him out as a phony, then. He can’t be a crackpot trying to rattle me if he doesn’t even realize I’ve tried to contact him. Plus, he’s too old to be Shane. Look at the birthdate.”

      “You’re probably right, but if it was him, then he might not really know when he was born. I’ve read about cases of abducted kids being told lies about when and where they were born to make it more difficult for them to dig around in the past.”

      “Wouldn’t he need an actual birth certificate to enroll in school? My stepmother had to produce that, shot records, and a current electric bill for my half brothers,” Rebecca said. She didn’t want to feel the spark of hope that Shane might actually still be alive. She wanted her brother to be somewhere safe—had dreamed it, hoped it and prayed it. But she didn’t want to create false expectations based on a social-media page.

      “A birth certificate can be made. For a price. The rest would fall into place from there. Maybe we can find some of Randy’s friends. Dig around a little in his background. Pay him a visit.” Brody scribbled down a few names. “I don’t want to invite them into your social network, so we’ll have to reach out another way.”

      He scanned through photo after photo on the home pages of the people connected to Randy. A good fifteen minutes had passed when Brody made a satisfied grunt. “Look here. At this pic. And this one. Then, this one. See what’s in the background?” He displayed the pictures in a larger window to view one at a time. Three friends had tagged Randy at a local restaurant called Mervin’s Eats.

      “When was the last picture posted?” Rebecca asked as another flicker of excitement fizzed through her.

      “Three months ago.” Brody glanced at the clock on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. “Too early to go and check out the place now. Looks like we just figured out where we’re eating tonight, though.” He pulled up another screen, his fingers working the keyboard, and pulled up the address to Mervin’s Eats in Bayville, Texas. He copied down the address in his notebook.

      This was the first promising lead she’d had in fifteen years. It was hard to contain the enthusiasm swelling inside her. “For so many years, everyone’s said he’s gone. What if they were wrong?”

      “I have plans to track down every possibility. That means we’re going to run into dead ends.” His honest blue eyes had darkened with concern.

      “Believe me, I know better than anyone about disappointment.” He was trying not to get her hopes up in case he had to dash them, and she appreciated him for it. “I’ve handled it before and I will again. It just feels nice to have a little hope for a change.”

      His nod and smile said he understood. “We need to keep working other trails, too. If we can figure out why or how our guy was connected to Mason Ridge before, maybe we can figure out what he’s doing here now.”

      “I can’t stand waiting around. I’d like to go out looking for him.”

      “Okay. Give me a chance to study these notes so I have a better idea where to start searching. See if I can find some connection either to this town or to your family.”

      She shivered as an icy chill ran down her back. That thought was unnerving. Could someone close to them have orchestrated Shane’s disappearance? She hadn’t considered it before.

      Brody’s gaze trained on her. “Have you eaten anything today?”

      “Not yet. Stomach’s been churning all morning. My brain, too. I was thinking about the fact the places where he took my brother and me weren’t secure. It couldn’t have taken him more than a half hour to get us both there, so they were close by. He had to know the area, which, now that I think about it, would rule out a random person passing through town. I told the sheriff all this before, but there’s another thing I can’t stop thinking about. He didn’t want me. He wanted my brother. I got in the way when I followed them and the guy was distressed about it.”

      “Makes me think it might’ve been his first time to kidnap someone,” Brody said quietly.

      “Not the work of someone used to slipping into a strange town to snatch a kid.”

      “What else did the sheriff say?” Brody asked, his interest piqued.

      “That he probably improvised, saw a couple of abandoned buildings and hid us there. But why? Wouldn’t he want to get out of town as quickly as possible?”

      “And the response to that?”

      “Nothing to me. I did hear someone from the FBI tell my parents later that the guy most likely hadn’t pre-planned the kidnapping.”

      If she could go back and trade places with her brother, she wouldn’t hesitate. How many times had she wished she’d been the one to disappear, to die?

      There was a slim chance that Shane was still alive, she reminded herself. The odds weren’t good, Rebecca knew that, but she also knew better than to focus her energy on the negative.

      That bastard had made a mistake once. She was living proof. All she needed was another misstep. With Brody’s eyes on this case, maybe he would figure it out and bring the monster to justice. Rebecca would do whatever it took to help. “If only I remembered more...”

      Brody’s arm around her shoulder, his fingers lifting her chin, stemmed the emotion threatening to unravel her.

      “I hate that you’re going through this again. I’m sorry it happened to you in the first place. Believe me, I’ll do everything I can to find that jerk.”

      A mix of emotion played inside her. Fear. Anxiety. Sadness.

      Hope?

      “Let’s get something to eat and we’ll hit Woodrain Park. He’s probably smart enough to pick a new place, but we have to cover it, anyway.” His words wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She leaned over until their foreheads touched.

      “I won’t let him hurt you again.” He said other sweet words—words that made her want to yield to his strength.

      And yet, getting too close to Brody wasn’t a good idea. No one could quiet the monster’s voice in the back of her head for long. He would return. He always returned. And she’d slip into her armor, blocking out the world.

      “I’ll fix something to eat.” She rose and walked toward the kitchen, stopping in front of the sink.

      Brody followed. The gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans was a stark reminder of the dangers they faced. He rummaged around the fridge, tossing up an apple. “Not much here to work with.”

      “I left my groceries scattered across the lot.”

      He nodded and then searched the pantry, pulling out almond butter, bread and cinnamon grahams. “These’ll work.”

      She nodded.

      He moved to the sink with the supplies, glanced up and froze. His gaze fixed on something out the window.

      Cursing, he palmed his weapon and adjusted his position, stepping away from the window. “Get down. Now.”

      Rebecca dropped to her knees as panic roared through her, making her limbs feel heavy. “What is it? What’s going on?”

      “Someone’s out there watching.”

      Brody crawled past her with the agility and speed of a lion zeroed in on his prey. “Lock the door behind me. Wait right here until I get back.”

      “No,” she pleaded, trying to stop her body from shaking. She opened the drawer and gripped a knife.

      “Take me with you. I don’t want to be here alone.”