“Keri? Are you sitting down? It’s about Justin Kramer.”

It had been some years since detective Keri Mahoney had heard her first love’s name, but it had cropped up only too often in recent weeks. Her sister Raven’s phone call got her full attention. “What about him?”

“I think the Kansas City police are getting close to an arrest. Justin and his lawyer spent the better part of the afternoon in an interrogation room with the detectives working his wife’s homicide.”

“I just can’t believe it,” Keri breathed, almost to herself.

“I absolutely don’t believe it,” Raven said emphatically. “Justin Kramer is no killer.”

“Not when he was fourteen, you mean.” But considering he never bothered to keep in touch after his family’s move, how could Keri really know if he was capable of murder at the ripe old age of twenty-nine?

The Mahoney Sisters: Fighting for justice and love.

REASONABLE DOUBT

SUSPICION OF GUILT

BETRAYAL OF TRUST

TRACEY V. BATEMAN

lives in Missouri with her husband and their four children. She writes full-time and is active in various roles in her home church. She has won several awards for her writing and credits God’s grace and a limited number of entries for each win. To relax, she enjoys long talks with her husband, reading and music and hanging out with her kids, who can finally enjoy movies she likes. Tracey loves to encourage everyone to dream big. She believes she is living proof that, with God, nothing is impossible.

Reasonable Doubt
Tracey V. Bateman

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

Dedicated to my niece Amanda Guidry.

Thanks for your editorial input and practical,

commonsense ideas as I put the proposal together

for this book. You are so talented. I look forward

to watching as God unfolds your future.

Dear Reader,

Is God really a God of second chances? Would Jesus have told His disciples to forgive seventy times seven if He Himself were not willing to do the same?

These were the questions probing my mind and heart as I worked on Reasonable Doubt. Looking back at the poor choices I’ve made over the years, and particularly in my late teens and early twenties, I am awed and humbled at the grace God has poured into my life to give me a future and a hope that I don’t deserve. His mercies are new and fresh daily. Oh, how grateful I am for that.

The world is so hopeless, so unforgiving, but we have a message to give that there is hope. As Justin and Keri discovered, although poor choices drove them apart, God saw the end from the beginning and brought them back together in order to use them for His glorious purpose.

My prayer as I write this, my first letter to Steeple Hill readers, is that God spoke to your heart through this book, that He assured you that you have His plan and His purpose for you—a future and a hope, new mercies every day.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you in His care.

Tracey V. Bateman

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter One

Justin Kramer knew two things for certain.

One, he hadn’t murdered his wife.

Two, the detectives weren’t buying it.

The four-month-old memory of Amelia’s body lying facedown on the blue living-room carpet was etched as a horrifying image in his mind. An image Justin knew he wouldn’t shake for the rest of his life—which, if the cops had their way, would be spent up the river, without possibility of parole.

The detectives stood over him like a couple of lions working together to bring down a zebra. Justin’s glare swept them both. “What do you think my wife’s killer is doing while you two are playing good cop/bad cop for the third time?”

Detective Raney slapped his hands flat on the table and rested his considerable weight on tree trunk-like arms. He leaned forward and stared Justin square in the eye.

Disgusted, Justin clamped his lips together and shifted backward. The guy’s breath stank of cigarettes and coffee—one or the other was enough to gag a horse. Together they were nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment.

The detective pressed forward to close the distance caused by Justin’s not-so-subtle retreat. “Just shut your smart mouth and answer the questions.”

Without even trying to hide his amusement, Justin twisted his lips. “I can’t shut my mouth and answer the questions at the same time.” He knew he sounded like a juvenile delinquent, but he was getting pretty sick of being accused of murder when he’d done nothing worse than allow Amelia to run all over him for years.

Detective Appling clapped his partner on the shoulder, effectively getting him out of Justin’s immediate air space.

Appling’s face molded into an amiable expression—one obviously carefully practiced and intended to instill confidence in the would-be criminal. “Come on, Justin. Don’t you think it’s time to tell the truth?”

The good-cop routine was getting old. Justin leveled his gaze at Appling. “Didn’t you two switch roles? Seems like last time you hauled me in for questioning, you were the heavy.”

Detective Appling’s eyes glittered hard. His lips tensed and turned down at the corners. He perched on the edge of the table, no longer playing a pal. “Let’s talk about where you were the night your wife was killed. Say…around eleven-thirty.”

“He’s told you where he was. Repeatedly.” Bob Landau, a friend and the only attorney Justin knew, sat in a chair at the other end of the table, looking a lot more comfortable than he had any right to while Justin’s freedom dangled from a worn-out thread.

Justin’s call had interrupted a workout, so the lawyer had gunned it over to the police station without bothering to change out of a pair of sweats, running shoes and a sweatshirt. Nor had he bothered to remove his Chicago White Sox baseball cap. In Kansas City Royals territory that act alone was practically criminal.

Detective Raney sneered at Bob. He snagged a metal chair leg with his booted toes and pulled it out. With a grunt he plopped into the seat. “I’m tired of getting the same answer.”

Too bad for him. Justin only had one answer to give—the truth. “For the third time, I was at the Victory Mission Men’s Shelter. All night. I didn’t leave until a little after six the next morning.”

He’d never forget sitting up with Ike Rawlings all night while the alcoholic shook and vomited out his addiction. Only Jesus had gotten them through those horrific hours. In the morning, Ike had surrendered to Christ. Chills still crawled up Justin’s spine at the awe of a life changed. God’s love and glory manifested in one life-changing moment.

Raney jerked his head at Justin and picked up a manila file folder from the table. He waved it under Justin’s nose like a plate of filet mignon. “Know what I have here?”

“Not a clue. But I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”

In one fluid movement, the officer slapped the file open on the table with the flat of his hand, keeping the bottom of the page covered. “Signed testimony from two men who say you left during the night and came back later.”

Triumph gleamed in the detective’s eyes. Closing the file, he leaned back, lacing pudgy fingers over his ample gut.

Unwilling to give Raney the satisfaction of knowing how badly the news had rattled him, Justin forced himself to keep a bland expression. “You’re bluffing.”

The officer glared over the rim of an enormous coffee mug. He set the cup back down, gathered a long, slow breath and started again. “The cards are stacked against you, Kramer.” He held up his thumb then one finger and another as he counted off the marks against Justin. “A murdered woman, no sign of forced entry and there are witnesses who demolish your alibi. And, I have to tell you, those separate bedrooms don’t exactly speak of marital bliss.”

Bob shifted forward. “Why don’t you guys give him a break? You haven’t even charged him with a crime.”

“Yet.”

The smirk on the cop’s face touched a raw nerve, but Justin knew he had to stay calm—not give in to the goading.

Detective Appling scrubbed at his bristled face and half sighed, half growled, obviously disappointed not to have rattled him. “You went to the shelter and waited until everyone fell asleep. Then you snuck out, strangled your wife and got back before anyone knew you’d gone. Not bad for a rookie killer.”

“What makes you think I’m a rookie?” Justin had meant to be flippant—a knee-jerk response to the ridiculous assumptions. Big mistake.

The officer leaned in, his brow arched. “Is that a confession?”

“Hey! Objection!” Bob’s hand smacked down hard on the cheap, plastic-veneer tabletop.

Shifting his gaze to Bob, Appling cut a look that was nothing less than derisive. “Give me a break. This isn’t a courtroom.”

Bob shot from his chair. “Do you realize that Mr. Kramer’s cooperation is voluntary?”

“We hear you, Mr. Landau. But we have a good reason for questioning him about his so-called alibi. And like you said, he agreed to the questions, so he might as well answer the right ones, or there’s really no point, is there?”

“Just watch how you phrase your sentences. I’d hate to slap you with a lawsuit.”

“Sure you would.” The officer turned his attention back to Justin. “See, one problem with your version of the story is that your drunk can’t be found for questioning.”

“You know where he is. I already told you.”

“Refresh my memory.”

Justin knew they were testing him. Would he give the same story he’d told them twice already? Or would the details change? Carefully, he conjured the memory of Ike’s battle that night.

“I wanted him to stay for a few weeks to rehabilitate, take some Bible classes, but he insisted. Said he needed to get a job as soon as possible and take care of his family. So I put him on a bus to Chicago.”

“So you said, but we can’t find any Ike Rawlings in Chicago.”

Justin shrugged. “It’s my fault you’re not much of a detective?”

The detective’s lips curled into a sneer. “Watch yourself, Kramer. At the very least, the Chicago PD should be able to find him. But so far, no phone listing, no electric bills issued to Ike Rawlings. As a matter of fact, we’ve checked every Rawlings in the Chicago area, and nada.”

“He could have been using a phony name, I guess. Lots of the men who come to the mission do that.” It was a thin suggestion, Justin knew, and the detective’s short laugh proved it.

“Okay, sure…phony name, and the guy conveniently left town so that there’s no tracing him. Not much of an alibi to refute our witnesses.”

“You keep talking about witnesses, but I didn’t see any signatures.”

“And you’re not going to.”

Bob grabbed his briefcase from the floor next to his vacated chair. “I think you’ve taken enough of Mr. Kramer’s time today, so unless you plan to arrest him, we’re going to walk out of here now.”

The detectives exchanged looks that clearly revealed their reluctance to let him go. Justin’s stomach churned.

A scowl twisted Detective Raney’s fat face. “Get out of here,” he snarled, his breath assaulting Justin’s air space once more.

Justin balled his fists to keep his hands from trembling. “I’m free to go?”

“For now.”

Feeling his bravado crumbling, Justin rose on shaky legs and followed Bob, praying to God he wouldn’t pass out before he made it through the door.

They walked shoulder to shoulder down the long hallway. A blast of cold air shot into the building as Bob opened the heavy glass doors. In the parking lot, Justin expelled a pent-up breath. He shook his head. “I don’t get why anyone would say I left the center that night, when I didn’t. Do you think it’s a case of mistaken identity?”

“No,” Bob replied in a flat, hard tone. “I think someone is setting you up. There’s no telling what evidence has been planted the police haven’t run across yet. But eventually, they’re going to find a convenient piece of proof that you killed Amelia.”

“But I didn’t.”

“You and I know that. And whoever killed her knows it, but that won’t convince a jury. Eyewitnesses and circumstantial evidence convince juries. The cops have those things. We have nothing.”

Deputy Keri Mahoney opened her mouth wide to take a bite of her on-the-go burger when her cell phone rang to the tune of “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” She jumped, and ketchup escaped the bun, globbing onto her uniform before she could stop it. “Great.” Why had she ever allowed Dad’s southern-belle fiancée to program that stupid song into the phone? It nearly sent her through the roof every time it rang.

Negotiating the hamburger to prevent another glob of ketchup from plopping onto her clothes, she tried to snatch her cell at the same time. Impossible. With a growl, she pulled into the nearest parking lot and located the phone.

“Yes?”

“Kere?”

Swiping at the ketchup stain on her tan slacks, Keri scowled.

“Who else?” she barked.

“Sheesh. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed or what?” Her sister Raven’s voice only irritated her more, but she fought to keep her temper in check.

“What’s up, Rave?”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Yeah, I’m in the Jeep.”

“It’s about Justin Kramer.”

She stopped swiping and gave Raven her full attention. “What about him?”

“I think the KC police are getting close to an arrest.”

Swallowing past the sudden thickness in her throat, Keri managed to croak, “How do you know?”

“Eugene. Who else?” Raven’s contact at the Kansas City PD. A dispatcher with a crush on the annoyingly gorgeous TV reporter.

“Is it still off the record?”

“Yeah, for now. But he said Justin and his lawyer spent the better part of the afternoon in an interrogation room with the detectives working his wife’s homicide.”

“I just can’t believe it,” she breathed, almost to herself.

No longer in the mood for lunch, Keri wrapped her barely eaten sandwich and stuffed it back in the bag.

“I absolutely don’t believe it,” Raven said emphatically. “Justin Kramer is no killer.”

“Not when he was fourteen, you mean.” But considering he’d never bothered to come back as he’d said he would, how could she really know if he was capable of murder at the ripe old age of twenty-nine?

“She can’t make you go. It’s not fair.”

Fourteen-year-old Keri Mahoney sat on the bank overlooking Bennett Lake and swiped at the tears on her freckled cheeks. She stared glumly at the shallow, gray water gurgling over opaque brown stones in the summer breeze. The brilliant sun reflected off the creek—a mocking contrast to the dismal reality stretching before her.

Justin Kramer sat beside her, equally sullen, snapping twigs and tossing them into the water. One by one the pieces disappeared, carried away by the current. Keri knew exactly how they felt. Helpless, hopeless…drowning.

Justin sighed. “Aunt Toni says we might come back for a visit sometime.” But his voice didn’t offer much hope, as if he couldn’t quite convince himself they’d ever see each other again.

“Who am I going to talk to when you’re gone?” She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in the rough denim of her jeans. “You’re the only friend I have.”

“You still have Jesus.” The statement might have sounded stupid coming from anyone else, but Justin’s words rang with sincerity. Keri had the familiar, unsettling sense that Justin knew God as no one else did—better than she did, anyway.

Feeling the warmth of his palm on her back, she looked up, drinking in his tender expression, memorizing the smooth contours of his handsome face. Black hair, freshly cut, swept across his forehead and around his ears. His nose was just wide enough to even out his face, and his square jaw made him the most handsome boy in class. Not one eighth-grade girl could dispute that fact.

Keri couldn’t help the pride that accompanied her relationship with Justin. She barely gave a thought to her own looks when Justin looked at her. He never mentioned her freckles, skinny legs or coarse, orange hair. Every girl wanted to be pretty, but Justin didn’t care if she wasn’t, so Keri didn’t, either. Not much.

Beautiful blue eyes pierced her very soul. Words had never been necessary between them. Even now, though he didn’t speak, Keri knew he was thinking about his parents. How could he not, when the only life he’d ever known had been snuffed out along with their lives only a week ago?

Why did God have to take both of his parents away? Why couldn’t at least one of them have survived the car accident?

“Justin!” Hidden by the trees surrounding the creek, they heard Justin’s aunt calling from the cabin. “Where are you? It’s time to go.”

Justin’s hand tightened around hers, and Keri rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm around her, drawing her close. It was the first time he’d done that, and Keri felt her heart pound at the grown-up gesture.

Rather than feeling awkward, it felt right, as though she belonged in his embrace. She’d always thought they’d marry some day. Only now…now he was going away.

“Promise you won’t forget Jesus,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Keri’s heart sank. For once, why couldn’t he talk about something personal? Confess undying love. Kiss her. She loved Jesus, too, but there was a time and a place.

“Justin Michael Kramer, get up here this instant or you’re going to be in big trouble, young man!”

Reluctance clouded his eyes and he pulled away. “I guess I better go before she explodes a vein.”

A sense of panic swelled inside Keri. She grabbed at his black T-shirt. “Kiss me goodbye, Justin.” His startled gaze met hers just before she closed her eyes and lifted her chin.

Feather-soft lips brushed across hers. Never had Keri experienced the feelings springing to life in her heart in that moment. Justin, her friend, her hero and now the first boy ever to kiss her. It seemed right.

Only his aunt interrupted the beautiful moment. “Justin!”

He pulled away and jumped to his feet. A long silent stare followed, then he sprinted toward the edge of the woods.

“I love you,” Keri called after him. “I won’t forget you, I promise.”

He turned. “I’ll be back,” he promised before disappearing into the trees.

“I’ll wait,” she whispered. “I’ll never forget you.”

The squeal of tires accosted Keri’s attention and she jerked around. A blur of red shot past the parking lot, weaving down the road. Horns blared as the pickup narrowly missed a black sedan and a blue hatchback.

“Gotta go, Rave.”

“What do you mean you have to—”

Making a grab for the strobe light, Keri punched off the phone and switched on her siren. Junior Connor—already drunk at 7:00 p.m.—was headed for the bar, which meant he’d brought along his own booze. Mentally, she racked up the charges, from DUI to open container, to manslaughter if she didn’t get to him before he got to that group of teens hanging out on the corner.

Anger boiled her blood as she slammed the SUV into gear and burned out after the pickup. She wasn’t about to sit by and let that lush take out someone’s kid. Not on her watch.

Red digital numbers glared; it was just past midnight. Punching his pillow, Justin let out a half growl as he replayed today’s interrogation over and over in his head. He was sick of being called in for questioning by those goons, sick of not knowing who had killed Amelia, and even more sick of being the only suspect the police seemed to have.

Helplessness sliced at his gut like a dagger. So far, he’d sat back and done pretty much nothing while the detectives worked to find anything to pin Amelia’s murder on his shoulders. He was a sitting duck, just waiting to be arrested for a murder he didn’t commit.

Releasing a heavy sigh, he flopped over. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he stared toward the ceiling. He needed a vacation. A long, peaceful vacation somewhere away from the media attention, away from the stress of the city and wondering each morning if this might be the day when his worst nightmare became a reality. He closed his eyes, and his mind conjured the image of the only vacation spot he’d ever known.

Until his parents’ deaths, he’d spent time every summer at the Mahoney cabin on Lake Bennett. He could almost smell the crisp clean lake, could almost see the sun reflecting off wind-rippled water. A flash of freckles on cheeks just below enormous green eyes joined the nostalgic images. His girl. His lips curved upward as he finally succumbed to his fatigue and drifted to sleep.

Justin awoke slowly, battling the fading images of a sweet, sweet dream, one he didn’t want to forget. He fought to remember a face surrounded by riotous red curls, and pea-green eyes invaded his consciousness.

“Keri,” he whispered into the still-darkened room. He sat up.

Determination sent a jolt through his stomach. He was going to do it! Take the boys on a vacation like the ones he’d enjoyed growing up. The Mahoney cabin at Lake Bennett. The twins would love the lake. Too bad it wasn’t summertime. Trout fishing and cutoff shorts were out of the question this time of year, but even in winter, a couple of nine-year-old boys would find plenty to pique their interest.

He couldn’t bear the thought of the boys spending Thanksgiving in the house where their mother had been murdered. Josh’s outbursts and nightmares were getting worse. The kid definitely needed a little time away. By this time next year, he hoped, they would be able to put the house on the market and begin the process of putting all of this behind them. He prayed so.

Justin raked his fingers through hair that could have used a pair of scissors three weeks ago. The police had never told him he was under any kind of restriction to stay in Kansas City. He supposed it was implied, possibly understood. But certainly not mandated.

At a sudden ping, ping against the window, he pushed back the covers, swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked across the freezing wooden floor.

His gut clenched as he recognized the falling ice. If he waited much longer, the curvy roads between here and the cabin might not be drivable. On a good day, it was a two-hour drive. If this weather didn’t let up, he was looking at three, four, maybe five hours.

The red digital numbers on the bedside clock glowed 4:30 a.m. Too early to call Mr. Mahoney and ask about using the cabin. He’d try to find a number to call once he was on the road. If he couldn’t rent the Mahoney cabin, there were several others on the lake, a couple of them rentals, as he recalled. Grabbing a suitcase from the closet, he slung it on the bed and started packing.

Fifteen years. That’s how long he’d been away. He couldn’t help but remember that last day sitting with Keri on the bank overlooking the lake. He smiled at the memory of her sweet kiss. A first for them both.

Was she still in Briarwood? He didn’t count on seeing her, not in this weather and considering the cabin was at least an hour’s drive away from the small town where he’d spent the first fourteen years of his life. Still, the memories were sweet, and he couldn’t help but wonder how her life had panned out. Better than his, he hoped.

The twins mumbled their displeasure when he woke them a few moments later.

“Where’re we going, Dad?” Billy asked with a yawn.

“You’ll find out.” He settled the boys at the kitchen table. Made them toast, then snatched a leftover ham from the fridge. Just as he started to slice through the meat to make sandwiches for the road, a thud caught his attention, he turned and felt the pain in his finger as the blade nicked the tender flesh of his thumb.

He winced. “What happened?”

“Billy fell out of his chair.”

“You all right, Billy?”

The child sat up on the floor, sleepy-eyed but nodding. “I’m okay.”

“You’re bleeding, Dad.” Josh’s voice rang with tension.

Justin glanced at his throbbing finger. Blood dripped onto the floor. He turned quickly to the sink and ran his finger under the water, grateful it wasn’t a deep cut. He grabbed a bandage and covered the wound.

When he turned back around, Josh had wiped up the blood from the floor. However, the boy’s face had also lost all color and he sat holding the rag in his hand.

“Here, give me that, son.”

Josh relinquished the cloth and turned away.

With a sigh, Justin ruffled his head. “You two get some movies and toys. Only what will fit in your schoolbags.”

He watched them, Billy scrambling with his usual fervor, Josh slinking away as though he couldn’t care less.

A wave of helplessness washed over Justin. Nothing seemed to help Josh cope with the events of the past months. Counseling hadn’t helped. Not so far, anyway. Church wasn’t restoring the child’s soul. Yet he believed God was faithful. He had built a life and ministry on that belief. Once he’d returned to God, he would have built his marriage on the same belief if Amelia had been open. But religion was never her thing, as she reminded him every time he tried to talk to her about God.

If only she’d listened. Maybe she’d still be alive.

Chapter Two

“Let’s get one thing straight, Junior. No one made you crawl behind that wheel and drive drunk.” The barred door clanged shut with the same finality that rang in Deputy Keri Mahoney’s voice. “You’re in jail because you deserve it, so stop whining.”

“You just ain’t got no compassion in your soul.” Hours after his arrest for drunk driving, Junior Connor’s words were still slurred, doing little to strengthen his case with Keri. “But I don’t guess I should expect no more from a power-hungry female, doin’ a man’s job.”

Keri ignored the familiar comment. She was accustomed to the fact that most of the men in Briarwood, Missouri, hadn’t progressed past 1950 in terms of male/female relationships. But that wasn’t Junior’s only problem. He was a drunk. Keri had no tolerance for drunks, thugs or idiots who ran red lights through school zones. Junior embodied all three.

“Drinking and driving kills people. You remember my mama, don’t you?”

“Sure, I remember her. Fine woman.” He snorted. “Too bad you ain’t got none of her qualities.”

Keri stomped back across the lemony-clean concrete floor and glared at him through the bars. He’d already made it to his bunk and his eyelids were half shut, so she knew she was more than likely wasting her breath, but the words hissed from between her clenched teeth like steam from a kettle. “Maybe I’d have gotten some of her qualities if a low-life drunk like you hadn’t killed her before she had the chance to teach me.”

He opened one eye and shot up straight from his cot. “You know good and well I ain’t never killed no one. Ain’t even all that drunk, if you wanna know the truth of it.” He pointed his gnarly finger. “You didn’t have no call to go arresting me in the first place. I got half a mind to sue the department.”

Disgusted, Keri didn’t trust herself to answer. If Junior didn’t shut up pretty soon, she might have to accidentally toss the key to his cell out the window.

“You hear me, girl? I’ll sue you and this whole department. I’ll own the town before it’s all over.”

“Go ahead and sue, if you can get your lawyer to return your phone calls.” She spun around and headed back to the twenty-five-year-old metal desk, where a stack of paperwork and an extra-large pumpkin cappuccino from the local Quick Shop awaited her. If only Junior would go to sleep and give her some peace and quiet, she’d have it all done before her shift ended at 7:00 a.m. Then she had two weeks of vacation coming.

Dad had suggested—no, downright insisted—she take her two weeks this year, even if he had to sneak out and flatten all four of her tires once they got to the cabin to make sure she stuck to the bargain. He didn’t have to worry about that. For now, she needed solace. Quiet. Time for reflection.

Given her history of taking working vacations, Keri had to admit her dad was right to be skeptical. But this year things were going to be different. Her resolve was strong. Under no circumstance was she going to stay home where the chief could drag her out of the house with some flimsy excuse again, as he had every year since she’d joined the force.

With a weary sigh she plopped into her chair and rolled up to the desk. She scowled at the mountain-high stack of papers. As the only full-time deputy in Briarwood for the past ten years, she held a dead-end job in a dead-end town, and as far as Keri could see, looming before her was a dead-end future unless she could somehow convince the all-male city council that she would be a good replacement for Chief Manning when he retired at the end of the year.

She balled her fist, ready to pound the desk at the unfairness of generations of chauvinism, but then she thought better of it as Junior’s loud snoring sawed through the air. No sense taking a chance on waking him up—not if she intended to get through months of neglected paperwork.

Just why the town couldn’t dig up the money for a new jail with an up-to-date computer system when they had recently spent ten thousand dollars on park beautification, she couldn’t fathom. Instead the good folks of Briarwood were stuck with an Andy Griffith jail, and she and Chief Manning were the Andy and Barney jokes of the town.

Keri sipped a frothy taste of her pumpkin cappuccino. She sighed as the sweet spices licked her taste buds and tempted her memory with pictures of holiday mealtimes at the Mahoney house. She could picture them all sitting around the cherrywood dining table: her two sisters, Dad and Mom.

Holidays never were quite the same after Mom died. Nothing was the same. Keri was finishing up high school, but her older sisters Raven and Denni were already in college by then. She was alone. If only Justin hadn’t moved away, he’d have been there for her during that time, and who knew where her life might have ended up?

Impatiently, Keri dropped the drink cup into the wastebasket, as if to toss away the memories, but they persisted. And at the thought of her childhood sweetheart, the memory of Raven’s wretched phone call floated through her mind.

Keri’s gut tightened. Was Justin a murderer?

The heater fan roared to life, bringing her back to the present and to Junior’s whining.

“That thing woke me up. If I don’t get enough sleep I’ll get a headache.”

“Tough. This isn’t a hotel.”

“I could sue you for violation of my civil rights. And don’t think I ain’t got a good lawyer.”

“Yeah, a real good lawyer who couldn’t get you out of jail and won’t return your calls,” Keri muttered.

He didn’t respond right away, and Keri found herself alone with her memories once again. The thought of her Justin harming anyone, let alone committing murder was almost impossible for Keri to fathom, despite her years as a police officer.

“I need an aspirin. My head’s killing me.”

“Be quiet, Junior,” she said without looking up. “I’m busy.”

There had to be a reasonable explanation. Justin wouldn’t kill anyone. Not her Justin. Someone was making a terrible mistake.

At least that’s what Keri hoped. A desperate hope. She needed to believe him innocent. If the same gentle Justin who had saved her from bullies and brought her flowers and shared her one and only kiss was a wife murderer, she might as well let Junior out of his cell, hand him a bottle of booze and throw him the keys to his truck. Better yet, maybe she should just join him on his next binge. Belly up to the bar, boys. Here’s to the end of all my dreams….

Tears pushed at her eyes, but she blinked them away, and forced herself to focus on her paperwork. She made it through the end of the stack before Chief Manning walked through the door at 7:00 a.m.

“Morning, Deputy.”

“Morning.”

“I’m sure glad you’re here, Sam,” Junior called from his cell. “That girl ain’t got no heart. I been askin’ for an aspirin for the last hour, and she’s been ignorin’ me. Now I got me a headache the size of the Grand Canyon. I got half a mind to sue you both for prisoner abuse.”

Chief Manning took the medicine kit down from the wall and chuckled. “Junior, if you sued us for all the things you threaten, you’d be a millionaire.” He grabbed a paper cup, filled it with water from the bathroom faucet, and crossed the room. “Here. Take this and be quiet for a while before you give me a headache.”

Junior took the aspirin and water through the bars and grumbled all the way back to his bunk.

Keri bit back a snide remark. The guy had been arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness so many times he was a regular fixture at the jail. This time it was different, though. He’d nearly hit those kids. As it was, he’d wrapped his truck around a telephone pole.

The stunned group of teens milling about the accident scene, with shock-white expressions on their faces, had effectively squelched her last remnant of mercy for the likes of Junior Connor.

Why didn’t drunk drivers ever kill themselves instead of innocent people?

She slid the last completed file into place, resisting the urge to slap her hands together to dust them off. Two weeks of solitude awaited her, and she had every intention of using the time to reflect, pray and discover exactly what God was trying to show her by sending discontent into her life. She’d tried to escape its iron jaws, but it gripped her unerringly and Keri was powerless to stop the pain. The melancholy persisted no matter how hard she tried, how long she prayed or how many miles she jogged.

“Keri?”

“What?” Keri blinked back to reality at the chief’s gruff call.

“I asked if anything happened tonight.”

With a sniff, she sent a dismissive wave toward the cell. “No. Just Junior’s whining. Most of the paperwork is finished.”

“You still plan on spending your vacation at the cabin?”

“I sure am,” Keri said, defenses on high alert. “This is our first time at the cabin in years. No phones, no faxes and no radio except in the Jeep, so don’t even think about trying to weasel me out of my vacation this year. I need it, Chief. Dad’s already up there. Even Denni and Raven are coming up to the cabin for Thanksgiving Day.”

He heaved a heavy sigh and lowered himself to the chair with a grunt. “I know you need it, honey. I just have trouble getting along without you.”

Keri grabbed her coat from the rack behind the desk. “Better tell that to the town council, because if I don’t get your job when you retire, I’m quitting for good. Besides, Abe will do fine filling in for me.” The part-time deputy was just itching to spend a couple of weeks in her place.

“Well, you take care out there in those woods.”

“Thanks. I will.”

“You going over to the café before you head up there?”

“Yeah.” Though her stomach rumbled, Keri found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for the greasy breakfast her future stepmother was undoubtedly preparing at the moment. Just like every other morning.

Maybe she wouldn’t go after all. Maybe she’d just grab a donut at the Quick Shop on her way out of town. She wanted change, didn’t she? She’d start with breakfast. Then, who knew what else? Maybe she’d dye her hair black and get some fake nails. Nah.

Still, a change of pace sounded great. A change of pace that included, for instance, a promotion and a nice fat raise in pay. Then maybe next year she could afford a trip to Maui for her two-week vacation. She smiled at the thought.

“What are you smiling about? I know it can’t be the thought of your stepmother’s eggs.”

The chief’s words brought Keri back from her daydream. “Ruth’s not my stepmother yet. And if Dad doesn’t stop stalling, she’s likely to get fed up with waiting and head back to Texas.”

He actually snorted. “I doubt that.”

“You never know. Some women don’t wait around forever.” Like I have.

Keri pushed back the melancholy threatening to settle over her once again. She patted the chief’s meaty shoulder and headed for the door. “You have everything you need. Abe’s capable of holding down the fort. Just remind him to check the radio every now and then to make sure it’s switched on.” The three-hundred-pound part-timer was notorious for knocking against the switch and shutting off the radio.

The chief chuckled. “Will do.”

Keri stepped into the frigid mid-November morning. The brisk air smelled clean, fresh. She gathered in as much as her lungs would hold, then released the breath with a smile, suddenly wide-awake. She glanced at the sky. Pregnant clouds promised the first snowfall of the year, a little earlier than normal, but not a record by any means. Forecasters called for up to eight inches before evening. From the looks of it, old Tom, the weather guy, might have hit the bull’s-eye this time.

Wrapping her arms about herself to stop the shivering, she headed toward the café before remembering her decision to eat a donut. She heaved a sigh. She was definitely in a rut.

Barely noticing the familiar insurance building, the thrift store, the General Dollar, she continued toward Ruth’s Café.

Her mind whirled, her heart a tumult of emotions as her thoughts returned to Justin. If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she wasn’t sure what ticked her off more, the possibility of him murdering his wife, or the fact that he’d married someone else in the first place.

His see-into-her-soul eyes invaded her mind, and Keri could almost feel the featherlight touch of his lips on hers—the sweetest of memories.

Even after fifteen years, she felt as though she were betraying him for even considering the possibility that he might be guilty. Love, as strong as ever, combined with aching heartbreak at the thought that Justin was somewhere in trouble, and she couldn’t help him. Worse still was the nagging worry that he might have actually committed the murder.

As much as her heart rejected the thought, the realist in her had to admit that anyone was capable of changing for the worse. The drunk driver who’d killed her mother was proof of that. If a man could fall off the wagon after years of sobriety and slam his car into an innocent mother of three, a clean-cut teenager could grow up to be a killer.

She’d been following Justin’s case through the papers and regular reports from Raven. Raven was sure he’d be declared innocent any moment, but Keri had to wonder. After all these months, an innocent man surely would have been cleared by now.

“Hey, Keri, honey, where you going?”

Keri stopped short and turned at the soft Texas drawl. Her dad’s fiancée, Ruth, stood in the café door looking at Keri as though she’d lost her mind. Heat rose to Keri’s cheeks. “Sorry,” she said, retracing her steps. “I was just spacing, I guess.”

“Just wait until you’re my age, you’ll be lucky to find your shoes. Get yourself in here and eat your breakfast.”

Meekly, Keri followed, but her mind drifted back to Justin. Had he been charged with the crime?

Please, God. Take care of him and see him through this trouble he’s somehow gotten himself into.

Despite the treacherous driving conditions, Justin couldn’t help the excitement he felt as each mile brought him closer to the cabin. He hadn’t seen the Mahoney cabin since his parents’ death fifteen years earlier. Despite Aunt Toni’s promise that she’d take him back there for vacations, she’d promptly forbidden any contact with his past. Said it made him mopey thinking about his old home and that made for bad karma. By the time she was out of her karma phase, Justin had moved on with a new circle of friends.

It hadn’t taken Justin long to figure out that Aunt Toni never took vacations. She worked sixteen hours a day every day except for weekends when she shacked up with her most recent boyfriend and left Justin with cash for pizza and movie rentals. By the time he’d graduated high school and moved on to college, Justin hadn’t even wanted to go back to Briarwood.

That wasn’t true exactly.

He didn’t have the guts to face Keri Mahoney after all the promises they’d made each other. He pictured her exactly the way he’d left her. Fresh, wholesome, eyes wide with wonder and hope. Pure.

His back wheels slid and Justin brought his attention back to the highway, which was quickly becoming snow-and ice-covered.

The curvy, hilly highway became treacherous with nearly zero visibility by the time he found the country road leading to the cabin. He breathed a sigh of relief when the landscape began to look vaguely familiar. Just a few miles into the woods, and they’d be safely tucked away from it all.

Chapter Three

Plump flakes of fairy-tale snow gave way to a wintry mix, and ice pellets bounced off the hood of the Jeep. Keri held her breath and prayed. With extra caution, she maneuvered the vehicle onto Highway 13, wishing she hadn’t taken the time to go home and change out of her uniform.

Snow-frosted trees lined the winding road with breathtaking beauty. She loved the picturesque view from this road during any season, but the winter scene was her favorite. How could something so beautiful be so potentially fatal?

She tried to keep her thoughts focused on the frozen pavement, but her mind drifted toward Justin as it often did. Rarely did a day go by without memories of her childhood friend invading her consciousness and even her dreams.

Now, she imagined him once again sitting beside her, next to the lake, tossing sticks into the water. The promises, the kiss, the declarations of unending love.

Keri fought her way back from the bittersweet memory that was worlds away from the reality of a treacherous road. With the wipers barely making a difference, she was forced to roll down the window and stick her head out to see the turnoff. Ice pelted her face and stung her eyes. She eased the Jeep onto the gravelly path. Krahoney Road. Despite her precarious situation, a smile tipped her lips. She and Justin had dubbed it that—a combination of their two last names. Keri sobered and focused her attention back to driving a straight course as her back wheels slid to the right. Gasping a prayer, she eased into the slide just in time to avoid the three-foot ditch.

When she was only a couple of miles from the cabin, she noticed faint red lights flashing ahead. She squinted, trying to make out the source of the glow. Recognizing the flashings as hazard lights, she prepared to stop.

Anxiety burst through her veins, sending a warning of caution to her brain. Who in their right mind would be out in this weather and on Krahoney Road in the first place? As far as she knew, no one had been out here since this summer when Dad had commissioned all the remodeling for the cabin.

She eased the Jeep to a stop and started to open the door. Then, just to be safe, she grabbed her gun from the glove box and stuffed it in her belt, behind her back. Cop or not, a woman alone on a deserted road was still at a disadvantage to a man who might be up to no good. Leaving the door open and the Jeep running, she walked carefully toward the car. A man was attempting to meet her halfway, walking slowly, his feet unsteady beneath him.

“Thank God you happened by,” he said. Though he wore a heavy coat and a hat, his teeth were already chattering.

Keri took another step and, as she did, lost her footing. She struggled to stay upright, but felt herself falling despite her best efforts. The stranger grabbed on to her, the momentum slamming them both onto the road. Her mind fought to process the rapidly changing events as she caught a good look at his full face. She gasped.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sitting up.

If she hadn’t already been on the ground, Keri knew her legs wouldn’t have held her up, anyway. Her stomach turned over unpleasantly.

Justin.

Even with a five o’clock shadow, his face was unmistakable. The good-looking teenager she’d loved so long ago had turned into a gorgeous man.

He attempted to stand and crashed back to the ground. “Cowboy boots!” He gave a disgusted grunt.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms, tell him how wonderful it was to see him again, demand an explanation why he had never come back for her. But reason and maturity prevailed. What if he was running from the law? Had he been charged?

Knowing she had to be on her feet first if she was going to gain the upper hand, Keri crawled to her knees and inched to a standing position. She reached behind her and pulled out her pistol. “Hold it,” she commanded in her best I’m-a-cop tone of voice. “Turn around and put your hands behind your head.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Make one wrong move and you’ll find out how serious I am,” she dared, her heart sliding into her throat. What would she do if he turned violent? If he gained the upper hand out here in the middle of nowhere in blizzard-like conditions.

“Okay, just take it easy. My wallet is in my back pocket. You can have the money. Just…don’t get nervous with your trigger finger.”

Keri blinked. He thought she was the criminal here? “No. I’m…” What was she doing? As far as she knew, he hadn’t yet been charged. Still…why would he be up here in the winter unless he was running from something? “I’m a cop,” she blurted.

He glanced over his shoulder. “You can’t arrest me. Last I heard there’s no law against sliding off the road.”

“I—I know who you are—and about your wife.”

Dropping his hands to his side, he turned with a scowl.

Keri adjusted her position, praying that she wouldn’t lose her footing.

“I don’t know what you saw on the news, lady, but I’m bringing my boys for a vacation.”

“Up here? In the winter? That seems a little suspicious to me.”

“Look, I don’t really care what looks suspicious to you. I’m not running away. I’m free to go wherever I want.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, until I have a little chat with my chief and verify that, I’m going to have to detain you.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

Was that a challenge? She sent him her fiercest frown. “Any way I have to, tough guy.”

He smirked at her bravado. “I meant, how do you plan to get back to town in this ice? You know, for that ‘little chat with the chief’?”

Her cheeks warmed, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d rattled her. Instead, she tossed him a glare icier than the pellets stinging her eyelids. “I’m driving a Jeep, if you hadn’t noticed. As in four-wheel drive.”

He gained his footing and faced her, all traces of amusement gone, his voice steely. “Jeep or no, you’re not taking my boys out on the highway in that ice.”

“Boys?”

“Yes, my sons. They’re in the car.”

Keri followed his gaze and saw two identical faces pressed against the window. “You have sons,” she said staring back at him.

“Yes, I do. I happen to know there’s a cabin down this road where we can go to get my boys out of this weather.”

“Nice to know your memory works fine when you’re in trouble,” she muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. Get your boys and hop in the Jeep. We’ll go to the cabin for the night. And just for your information, I meant I’ll have to use the radio and call my chief to see if there’s been a warrant issued for your arrest.”

He sat back down on the road.

“What are you doing?” Had Justin somehow lost his mind? Was that why he’d never come back? Was this why he’d killed his wife? He was a raving lunatic? Or was he just organizing a one-man sit-in on an icy road in the middle of nowhere, protesting the injustice of getting caught?

Without answering her, he pulled off his boots, stood, and shoved them at her. “I’ll have to carry the boys one at a time. I don’t want to take a chance on falling and hurting one of them. Hang on to these for me, will you?”

Keri’s heart pounded against her ribs as she took the boots and backed up toward the Jeep, tucking her gun in her belt behind her back. Once inside the Jeep, she reached over and unlocked the passenger-side doors—front and back.

In moments, Justin opened the back door and deposited a boy onto the seat. “Scoot over so I can get Billy in,” Justin said.

The boy complied. Keri turned in her seat so she could look at him. “What’s your name?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Her heart lifted with amusement. “Yeah. You’d think a cop would know that, huh?”

“You’re a cop?”

“Yeah.”

He sneered. “I don’t much like cops.”

“All cops or just certain ones?”

A shrug lifted his shoulders through his gray, down-filled jacket. “I don’t know. All of them, I guess.”

“Most people like me once they get to know me.” She sent her best grin to the back of the Jeep. “How about giving me a chance? Looks like we’re going to be holed up together for a day or two.”

“We will?”

“Yeah. The roads are pretty slick. Your dad thinks we better hang out at my cabin until it’s safe to drive.”

“Okay.” His eyes lit with a glimmer of interest, belying his nonchalant response.

Keri grinned. “So, think we know each other well enough to exchange names?”

“I guess so.” He extended his hand. “Josh Kramer.”

A lump formed in her throat as she grasped the chubby mittened hand. “Nice to meet you, Josh.”

“What’s your name?”

“Keri.”

“Keri what?”

From the corner of her eye, Keri saw Justin return to the Jeep. At his sharp intake of breath, she knew he’d heard her identify herself. He gently set the second twin in the seat.

His gaze captured hers, accusing her.

Indignation flamed through her like a ball of fire. He, of all people, had the audacity to pretend she had betrayed him?

“Keri Mahoney?”

“Yes,” she said. What else was there to say? Especially in the presence of his sons, whose eyes were wide with curiosity.

“So you’re a cop now?”

“That’s right. You want to get inside before we freeze?” Her voice remained surprisingly calm, despite the nervous energy pricking her gut like a million needles. “This ice isn’t letting up.”

“Hang on. I have some groceries in the car.” He returned with two bags, deposited them into the back with the boys, then climbed into the front seat. His nearness caused Keri’s pulse to race. She passed him his boots. “Better put these back on. You’ll be lucky if you don’t have frostbite.”

“Frostbite is the least of my worries right now.” His teeth chattered, and he shivered as he slipped the boots back on.

“Hang on a sec.” She switched off the ignition and opened the door.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ll see. I’ll be right back.” Grabbing the keys—just to be on the safe side—Keri hurried to the back of the Jeep, lifted the hatch and pulled out a thick wool blanket…part of the “emergency pack” Dad insisted she keep with her at all times. Now she was glad for his tendency to meddle.

Sliding back under the wheel, she tossed Justin the blanket. “Here. This should help until we get you inside.”

“That was thoughtful,” he said softly. “Thank you.” He unfolded the blanket and brought it up to his neck. And still he shivered. “A warm fire is going to feel great.”

“Dad’s already at the cabin. I imagine he’s got a fire going and a big pot of chili on the stove for tonight’s supper. Sound good to you boys?”

“Yeah!” Billy enthused.

“I hate chili.” Josh groused.

“Don’t be impolite, Josh,” Justin admonished.

Billy cast his brother a look of disgust. “Besides, you do so like chili.”

The Jeep crawled forward. Tension blanketed the air between Keri and Justin. Unanswered questions, unresolved feelings. Neither spoke until at last Keri parked the vehicle in front of the cabin.

“It looks exactly the same.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell Dad. He spent all summer and way more of his retirement fund than necessary getting it fixed up. This is our first vacation up here since…In a long time.”

“Really?” He turned to look at her. “I’ve always pictured you here every summer. Like when we were kids.”

“You’ve thought of me?” As soon as the words flew out of her mouth, Keri wished she could snatch them back. She cringed. It wouldn’t do to show him she still cared. Not only was it pathetic, given the fact that he’d obviously moved on without her, but they might very well be on opposite sides of the law right now, and no matter how “cowboyish” that sounded, it was the simple truth.

“Are we going in?” The irritation in Josh’s voice jarred her to action.

“Of course.”

She reached for the door but stopped at the pressure of Justin’s hand on her arm.

“Wait a sec,” he whispered. He raised his voice to address his sons. “Boys, go on up to the porch. But be careful.”

When they were out of the Jeep and on their way to the porch, Justin turned to her. “Keri, I want you to know that I’m innocent.”

Keri snorted, trying hard not to be taken in by his beautiful, soulful eyes. “Prisons are full of innocent men.”

His brows narrowed. “Listen, I didn’t kill my wife. But whether you believe me or not doesn’t make any difference. I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to be nervous about me staying at the cabin.”

Keri sobered and focused her attention on the boys, who were stomping and waving for them to hurry up. She swallowed hard. “I’m not scared.” Confused, hurt, angry. Why hadn’t he come back as he’d promised? Why had he left and never once written to her?

She gripped the wheel and kept her eyes forward, but she could feel Justin studying her. She couldn’t speak. If she tried, she’d make a complete fool of herself by demanding answers.

Finally, he drew a breath. “All right. There’s nothing we can do tonight. No one’s going anywhere in this weather. As far as I know they haven’t issued a warrant yet, but if you find out that they have, I’ll let you take me in.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

He gave her a sad smile and covered her hand with his. “It’s good to see you again.”

He opened the car door and went to join the twins.

Switching on the radio, Keri tried to raise the chief. She could put an end to all this right now.

“This is Deputy Mahoney. You there, Chief? Over.”

Dead silence.

She gave it a few more tries then sighed in frustration. That dumb Abe. She’d have to try again later, after the chief figured out the radio had been switched off.

She glanced at the porch where Justin and the boys waited. In all of her years of dreaming of Justin, Keri had never imagined emotions as intense as the ones invading her heart at that moment. She closed her eyes and gathered a deep breath. She had to keep her head on straight. This Justin wasn’t the same one she’d known. But try as she might to convince herself of that, her heart had a mind of its own.

Fifteen years notwithstanding, she still loved Justin Kramer.

He had to find the tape. Even if it meant sacrificing Justin and the twins to get it, he wouldn’t go to jail. He couldn’t.

The vinyl weight bench stuck to his bare back as he pushed the barbell up.

Breathe in, bring the weight down. Breathe out, push it back up. In…out. In…out. For the first time in his life, he felt as if he was in over his head. The whole situation was driving him nuts, and his stomach burned all the time—enough to keep the antacid companies in business. Ironically, all those nerves had given him the push he needed to get in the best workout he’d had in a month.

His gut clenched again. He had to find that videotape before anyone else did.

Breathing heavily, he sat up on the weight bench and grabbed his water bottle off the floor next to him. The tepid liquid soothed his dry throat, but nothing could soothe the anxiety gripping him night and day like a vise. Sweat trickled down his back. Amelia should never have tried to force his hand. Slamming the bottle to the floor, he lay back on the bench.

In…out. In…out.

Memories assaulted Justin as he stepped inside the cabin. Memories of tanned legs and dripping wet hair from summers spent swimming in the creek with Keri. As close as their two families had been for the first fourteen years of their lives, Justin could well imagine he and Keri might have ended up married, continuing those summer traditions into the next generation. If only things hadn’t unraveled that summer his parents died. Regret slashed across his heart at the possibility of what might have been.

Keri’s voice brought him back to reality. “Dad, you remember Justin Kramer, don’t you?” She sounded as carefree as if she didn’t suspect him of murder.

The joy brightening Mac Mahoney’s lined face was unmistakable and warmed Justin more than the roaring fire in the fireplace. “What kind of a question is that? Of course I remember him.” Tears glistened in faded green eyes as the grizzled older man wrapped his arms around Justin. “It’s good to see you, boy. Good to see you. Been too long.”

“Yes it has.” When Mr. Mahoney turned him loose, Justin reached for the twins. “I’d like you to meet my sons, Billy and Josh.”

Mac smiled and winked. “No one would ever guess you two are related.”

Billy returned his grin.

Josh sneered. “Like we’ve never heard that one before.”

“Josh!” Justin scowled. “You owe Mr. Mahoney an apology.”

The boy shrugged. “Sorry.” But his face didn’t reflect remorse.

“I’m sorry. Josh and Billy lost their mother recently. These last few months have been difficult.”

Keri’s dad waved aside the apology, his eyes alight with sympathy. “Don’t worry about it. I was just about to whip up a batch of my famous donuts.” He cut a glance at the boys. “Anyone interested in helping me out?”

Billy’s face lit with a wide grin. “Yes, sir!”

Mac smiled back, then focused on Josh. “How about you?”

The boy’s eyes showed interest, but in an obvious attempt to maintain his churlish manner, he shrugged again. “I guess.”

Justin held his grin in check.

“Great!” Mac rubbed his hands together. “Keri can show you where to put your coats. Come into the kitchen after your hands are washed.”

“Follow me, gents,” Keri said and walked toward the bedroom.

As soon as the boys were out of the room, Mac eyed Justin, studying his face as though trying to put his finger on the situation. “What brings you to our neck of the woods?”

Though his body had aged and his shoulders had stooped a bit over the past fifteen years, Keri’s dad appeared to have retained the instincts that had caused him to hold the position of Briarwood’s chief of police for as long as Justin could remember.

“The boys and I just needed to get away for a while. I hope you don’t mind me just showing up. I didn’t think anyone would be here.” As soon as he spoke the last words, his face warmed. If Mac and Keri hadn’t been here, he’d have been breaking and entering.

Mac seemed to ignore that, still he peered closer. “You bringing trouble with you?” Mac squinted, his eyes demanding the truth.

“I don’t think so.”

Keri’s dad nodded, but his expression remained stoic. “Does this ‘need to get away’ have anything to do with your wife’s death? Raven works for a TV station in Kansas City. She called us when it first happened.”

“Yes. I found her…in our house.”

He arched a wooly gray eyebrow. “You guilty?”

“No, sir.”

He would have liked to explain. To make Mr. Mahoney believe that he was still the same boy he’d treated as his own son all those years ago. That he wasn’t capable of such a crime. But voices carried back into the room, signaling Keri and the boys’ return.

Mac gave him another studied look. “We’ll talk about it later.” He headed for the kitchen without waiting for Justin’s response. “Follow me, boys. I got sidetracked catching up with your dad, so you can help me grab the ingredients out of the cabinets.”

The boys followed, their quick easy steps indicative of their relief to be in a lighter atmosphere. Guilt shrouded Justin, and for the first time he found himself second-guessing his decision to leave town. Innocent men were found innocent in most cases. What would happen if a warrant had already been issued for his arrest and Keri Mahoney of all people had to take him in? A throat clearing caught his attention, and he jerked his gaze from the kitchen door to Keri.

She motioned for him to take a seat on the rustic, woodsy-printed couch.

“Thanks.” He walked into the sitting area and dropped into cushions, running his hand over the stubble covering his jaw.

Keri shed her jacket and tossed it across the arm of the chair next to the fireplace. Silence loomed, a thick black cloud of tension, as she wordlessly grabbed the poker and pushed at the glowing logs. Justin watched the sparks shoot up the chimney. She tossed another log into place, situated it just right, then replaced the poker on the stand. She turned to face him.

As their eyes met, memories rushed back to him on a wave of yesterday’s dreams. This was the girl he’d loved for the first fourteen years of his life. The one he very well might have married if things hadn’t gotten so fouled up.

The way she stared at him, he could imagine she was having similar thoughts. She cleared her throat. “So…”

“Listen. I don’t expect to talk about the good old days.” Justin gave her a lopsided grin.

“Good. It’s probably better for us both to keep our past friendship out of this whole situation.” With a heavy sigh, she plopped into the chair next to the fire and kicked her legs up to the ottoman.

“I didn’t do it.” Suddenly, it became very important that Keri believe him. And whether they discussed the past or not, it was there…simmering on the edge of both of their minds. If she remembered him at all, she just couldn’t believe that he’d take a life.

“Look, Justin. It’s not my job to determine whether you’re guilty or not. It’s my job to take you in if a warrant has been issued. If your boys weren’t with you, I’d handcuff you to something to make sure you don’t run. I’m trusting your integrity to keep you here.”

“I already told you. I’ll let you arrest me if you have to.”

A spark of the Keri he remembered returned in the stubborn jerk of her chin. She leveled a stern gaze at him. “I don’t need you to let me take you anywhere. I’m a trained officer of the law and if I say you’re going in, you are.”

Justin’s eyes flickered over her petite frame and he couldn’t resist the grin tipping the corners of his lips.

Anger sparked Keri’s eyes. She shot to her feet and leaned over him, filling the air between them with the combined scents of peach-scented soap and wood smoke. “Listen, Kramer, don’t test me. I don’t want to cuff you unless it’s absolutely necessary, but I will if you force my hand.”

He could see she was dead serious, and it only struck him funnier. Laughter started low in his throat and, try as he might, there was no stopping it.

Red splotches appeared on her neck and freckled face, and sparks shot from her green eyes. “Stop laughing!”

“I’m sorry,” he said, fighting for air. “You’re just…so cute.”

“That does it.”

Before Justin could contain his mirth and take charge of the situation, Keri sprang into action, twisted his arm to the side and slapped the cuffs on one wrist. In practically one motion, he found himself with one hand cuffed to the wooden arm of the couch. Keri stood over him, breathing heavily, but smug with victory. Her hands rested on her slim hips, and she raised her brows, her green eyes daring him to laugh now.

Anger bit into him like a vice. “All right,” he ground out, “you’ve made your point. Let me go.”

Her shoulders rose and fell with an exaggerated sigh. “You know what? I’ve been up for more than twenty-four hours. I went to work early yesterday because a drunk wrapped his truck around a telephone pole and nearly killed a group of kids. I sat listening to that same drunk whine about his rights all night while I tried to get paperwork done.” She stretched, then covered a wide yawn. “Then just when I was about to head out and start a much-needed vacation, I find you on Krahoney Road—suspiciously, I might add. So I think I’m within my rights to handcuff you until I know if you’re running from an arrest warrant.”

“Well, I’m sorry to add to your stress,” he drawled, “but I’m the one they’re accusing of murder.” He scowled. “Wrongfully!”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Let me go, Keri. I don’t want the boys to see me like this.”

“You know my dad will make dozens and dozens of donuts and donut holes. Your boys will be glazing for hours.” Keri grabbed a crocheted afghan from the chair and tossed it over his arm, concealing the metal constraints. “Perfect. I’m going to go and shower, then I’ll probably take a nice long nap. If you behave yourself, I might release you when I get back.” She threw him a victorious grin and sauntered away, leaving him scowling after her.

“You know, you’re stomping all over my civil rights! I could sue you!”

“Go ahead,” she called over her shoulder. “The line forms behind Junior Connor.”

Whatever that meant. Defeated, he twisted around and swung his legs over the side of the couch. It felt good to stretch out after several tension-filled hours in the car. He adjusted the afghan so that it covered his arm and shoulder, then spread it over the rest of him. Relaxing in the toasty warmth of a wood fire, Justin closed his eyes. He felt his chest rising and falling in slow even breaths just before he drifted away into the precious comfort of sleep.

Keri leaned into the shower’s spray, resting her hands flat against the tiled wall. She winced. Partly from the blast of hot water and partly from the memory of her encounter with Justin. She’d taken him completely by surprise, but what if he’d been ready for her? Would she have been able to take him?

The thought frustrated her and filled her with self-doubt. What kind of chief of police would she make if she couldn’t even arrest a prisoner just because he had ten inches on her and a good fifty pounds?

And blue eyes to die for.

Still…despite the same charming grin and sincere eyes, she didn’t really know him anymore. He might be anything. Even…well…a murderer.

The problem was that her heart didn’t want to believe it. She wanted to believe that the devastatingly good-looking man of her dreams, who seemed to be a wonderful father to boot, was everything she remembered. And more. The dismal reality was that he could quite possibly be a sociopath who’d murdered his wife, felt no remorse, and could probably pass ten lie-detector tests, all the while planning his next murder.

She shuddered, even as her heart rejected the notion.

The water went from too hot to freezing by the time she soaped up, rinsed off, washed her hair and grabbed a towel. Shivering, she dried off and dressed in comfy sweats and headed for the door. When she stepped into the hall, the aroma of fried donuts drifted between the wooden walls, beckoning her toward the kitchen. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep herself from peeking at Justin as she walked through. He was stretched out on the couch, the afghan discreetly covering the handcuffs.

A lump formed in her throat at the sight of him, sleeping peacefully, like a man with nothing to hide. She snorted and turned. Or a sociopath with no conscience!

Willing away thoughts of Justin, she pushed through the kitchen door and stopped short at the sight of the two boys working diligently to glaze a batch of cooled donuts while her dad stood, back to them, lifting more from the boiling grease.

Billy popped a donut hole into his mouth, licked his fingers, then glanced up. His guilt-clouded eyes widened when they lit on Keri. Silently, she lifted her brow, attempting a stern expression of reprimand. He held out a donut, hung by one sticky finger, and pressed the other index finger to his lips.

An obvious attempt to buy her silence.

Pretending to consider the proposition, Keri rested her hands on her hips for a second, then she looked him square in the eye, winked and nodded. She reached for the goodie. Hesitating only a moment at the thought of how many times the kid must have licked his fingers without being caught, she nevertheless took a bite.

“What are you doing, Keri-girl?”

Keri jumped at her dad’s voice and she stopped chewing, hiding the rest of the donut behind her back.

“What kind of example is that setting for the boys?” he demanded. “Stealing donuts right out from under my nose?” The twinkle in his eyes belied his tone, but Keri played along for the twins’ entertainment.

“You’re right, Dad,” she said solemnly. She set the donut on a napkin and headed for the fridge. “I’ve set a horrible example, and I’m sorry. How could I ever have taken a bite of this delicious donut…without first dunking it in milk?” She held up the gallon jug and the boys giggled. She set it on the counter, grabbed four glasses and began to pour.

Mac Mahoney grinned and winked at Josh and Billy. “You boys about ready to sample our cooking?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Alrighty, then.” He laid a napkin in front of each of them, next to their milk. “Grab a donut from the plate and let’s start sampling!”

Keri finished her donut and milk, enjoying the ecstasy on the boys’ faces. Billy delighted in everything, from the blarney Dad told of leprechauns and four-leaf clovers, to the simple task of throwing away his napkin and carefully placing his empty glass into the sink. Josh, too, seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, offering half smiles and short replies. But the joy that seemed to exude from Billy was noticeably absent from Josh’s demeanor.

When the boys were done with their snack, the three guys started on another batch of donuts. Keri excused herself.

Her glance returned once more to Justin, sleeping on the couch. With a sigh, she headed back to her bedroom, snatched her keys from the dresser and tiptoed close to Justin. She knelt beside the couch. He groaned and shifted, causing her heart nearly to stop. Watching him as he settled back into sleep, her heart picked up. A lock of his hair fell across his forehead, begging her to smooth it back. Obeying the summons, she reached forward.

His eyes opened and Keri thought she’d die.

“What are you doing?” he whispered.

Heat seared her cheeks. “I—I was going to uncuff you.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I’m counting on your word to keep you here.”

In a swift movement, she slipped the key into the cool metal cuffs and set him free.

He sat up, rubbing his wrist. “Thanks.” His hand reached out and gently cupped her cheek. The pool of emotion reflected in his eyes was too deep for Keri’s comfort.

She shot to her feet, plopped her hands on her hips, and hardened her heart. “Just don’t give me a reason to regret it.”

He’d been pacing this same stretch of floor off and on for the past two hours. Why hadn’t Justin called? He’d had plenty of time to get settled into wherever he was headed.

First thing he would do when Justin finally made contact was weasel the location of his hideout.

Releasing a chuckle, he shook his head at his own brilliance. Justin’s absence made the chump look even guiltier than the eyewitness stories. The D.A. would almost certainly seek a warrant now.

He would have liked to have come up with more credible witnesses than a couple of bums who would sell out their own mothers to get enough money for a bottle of cheap whisky and enough coke for one high. But he hadn’t dared try to pay off anyone who was sober. As long as they kept to the story, he’d buy all the whisky they could drink. If they didn’t keep to the story…well…he’d made it pretty clear that killing a couple of bums wouldn’t hurt his conscience any more than putting a bullet in that tramp’s head had.

Once he found out where Justin was staying, he would send the cops an anonymous tip. Then he would be the most supportive of Justin’s friends. Insisting upon his innocence. Hey, he might even offer to raise the twins. He smiled, imagining the light in his wife’s eyes when he presented her with the children she’d always longed for. Yes, Justin’s boys would work just as well as going through an agency. This plan just grew sweeter by the second. Now all he had to do was wait for Justin to call.

He stopped pacing for a second and stared at the phone. “Ring!”

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