Silent Night Sanctuary. Rita Herron

Someone who’d lost a child and wanted to replace it with another? A crazy lunatic who simply saw an opportunity?

      He glanced at the screen again. Leah looked so lost, so devastated….

      He had to do something.

      Not that he wanted to see her again after all these years, but she needed help. And a child was in danger.

      The past week he’d decided to start his own private investigative firm specializing in children’s cases. In memory of Ramona Samples, the woman who’d helped him find a home with the McDermonts, he’d decided to call his agency Guardian Angel Investigations. He planned to hire other detectives to work for him, ex-cops or military men, as well as security and computer specialists. GAI would step in when the police or feds failed.

      Or when a client chose not to call the police.

      And he’d jump-start his agency by finding Leah’s sister.

      Leah had called in the locals, but after seeing her plea on the news, he sensed she was hiding something. If she’d done something to her sister, he’d nail her ass to the wall.

      But memories of Leah in high school returned and he couldn’t believe she’d hurt anyone. He’d harbored a crush on her in high school and had planned to meet her at a party once, but then she’d hooked up with his brother.

      He’d never spoken to her after that day. And it had caused a rift between him and Jerry.

      Maybe moving back home for a while would enable him to mend fences with Jerry. After all, Jerry had probably changed. He owned a construction company and had built neighborhoods all around Sanctuary.

      Gage turned off the TV, tucked the newspaper photo of Ruby inside his bomber jacket, climbed in his Explorer and headed toward Sanctuary.

      He’d find out what happened to this little girl and make the person who’d abducted her pay.

      HE WATCHED Leah Holden’s house from the top of the ridge with his telephoto lens, the frigid December air biting at his neck and hands. His skin was raw, dry and chafed, but he barely noticed. Rage heated his bloodstream, making it flow thick and hot through his system.

      Leah shouldn’t have called the police. He’d never expected her to, counting on her fear and cowardice to keep her quiet.

      The bitch should have heeded the warning. If she had, she’d have the kid back by now, and life could go on as normal.

      But no, she’d called the damn cops.

      She’d be sorry she ever came back to town. Ever messed with their lives. Ever lived.

      Because of her, Ruby might have to die.

       Chapter Two

      Shoulders tight with tension, Gage left the beltway for the curvy roads to the Blue Ridge Mountains. He’d thought he’d never return to Sanctuary—but the moment he’d seen Leah Holden in trouble, he knew he had no choice.

      The roads grew more narrow and winding as the hills and ridges encroached. Thick, tall pines and evergreens covered the sloping hills, the deep recesses, the cliffs—perfect hiding places for moonshiners, meth labs, domestic violence and possible criminals. Fishers, hikers, campers and vacationers as well as locals came and went. Anyone could have been a possible suspect in a child abduction.

      He wound through the heart of Sanctuary, past the town square with the park, and the local storefronts decorated for the holidays with bows, lights and wreaths. He recognized Delilah’s Diner, the drugstore which still boasted an old-fashioned soda fountain, and of course Magnolia Manor, where he’d lived for a while.

      Remembering how it felt to be a lost, lonely little kid, he wondered how Ruby was holding up.

      And if she was still alive.

      Leaving the small downtown area, he drove past signs pointing to several rental cabins and the creek gurgling along the ridges, then turned into the entrance to the small rural development where Leah’s family had lived. It was an older subdivision which, judging from the yards filled with toys and bikes, was still home to many families.

      He’d read the reports—Leah had a degree in education, and had been teaching at Sanctuary Elementary. She made a modest teacher’s salary but had no money to speak of.

      Could explain why there had been no ransom request. The kidnapper hadn’t wanted money. He’d wanted Ruby.

      Not a place he wanted to go…but he had to.

      In spite of the fact that winter had descended, pansies bloomed around Leah’s mailbox, and a bird feeder was perched in the front yard, making the place look homey and well kept.

      Holiday lights dangled from the roof with a Santa and sleigh next to the chimney, and a Christmas tree glowed through the front window.

      A bicycle with a purple basket leaned against the open carport—the lack of a garage was a reminder that the home had been built forty years earlier. Hot-pink roller skates had been left in front of the bike as if the little girl had kicked them off before running inside. He parked in the drive, noticed Leah drove a small minivan, and frowned. Everything here reeked of family—a loving family.

      One he’d never had. One a kid deserved.

      Bracing himself to see Leah again, he strode up to the front porch and rang the bell.

      A minute later, a fragile voice came from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”

      “Gage McDermont, Leah. I’m here about your sister.”

      The sound of locks being turned echoed from inside, and she opened the door, her eyes wide.

      “Gage McDermont?” she gaped at him, obviously surprised to find him on her doorstep. “Do you know something about Ruby?”

      The sight of her red-rimmed, swollen eyes and her trembling, petite frame made his stomach knot. She’d been pretty as a young girl, but she’d matured and her beauty sucker punched him.

      He forced himself to refrain from pulling her into his arms to comfort her.

      He’d find out what happened to her sister. But he wouldn’t get involved with Leah personally. She’d broken his heart once.

      He wouldn’t let her do it again.

      LEAH CLUTCHED THE TISSUE in her hands and tried to control her trembling as she stared at the man on her porch.

      A man she’d thought she was in love with at age sixteen. A man who’d ditched her the night she’d gone to a party to see him.

      The last man she wanted to see—or accept help from—now.

      “I thought you were on the Raleigh police force,” she said, her voice shaking.

      “I was.” The wind tossed his dark, curly hair across his forehead, his brown eyes so intense that something flamed low in her belly, reminding her that he’d always caused a heated reaction within her. No other man ever had.

      But she wouldn’t go there again.

      “I’m starting my own private detective agency.” He pointed to the foyer. “Mind if I come in?”

      She swayed, dizzy with fatigue and the sudden jolt of his masculine scent invading her house. He’d been tall in high school, but now he easily cleared six feet. His shoulders had broadened and his face had filled out, dark with a five-o’clock shadow.

      “Leah, I really am here to help.”

      She clutched her bathrobe around her and stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter. Although she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he’d offered to help her. They hadn’t spoken in years. “I’ll make some coffee.”

      “Thanks. I could use some.”

      Needing to escape and compose herself, she rushed to the kitchen but he followed her, his gaze