“I hope to prove that’s true, Marva. But let him know I will need a statement from him and he should sit tight.”

“Oh. Well, he’s gone hunting with Sam Jeffers and John Hillman—but only for overnight. Of course, I’ll tell him. Actually,” she said, leaning closer to him and whispering as the street door opened and a slender woman walked in, “Dane only went along because Sam said there was a wounded stag he could tend to that had a broken leg. Dane may tranquilize it and get the others to help him bring it back here. My brother is so tenderhearted, Sheriff. And if they find the stag dead—I’m surprised Sam didn’t just shoot it, but he penned it in instead—John will mount it.”

“That’s quite a trio, isn’t it?” Gabe said as he quickly stuffed the scarecrow back into its sacks. “An animal healer, an animal hunter and a dead-animal preserver.”

“Well, yes, but they’ve been friends for years.”

“Thanks, Marva,” he said, and touched the brim of his hat to her and the customer, who already looked so tan her skin was leathery. Of everything Marva had said to try to put him off suspecting her brother, she’d actually given him a lot to go on.

* * *

Tess was engrossed in the books Miss Etta had left for her and was making notes while lying in bed. She learned that memories of traumatic events could change over time, so machines could become monsters in dreams, when the monsters were really humans. And suppression was a common coping mechanism for someone with childhood trauma. She read about terror dreams, which were not recalled on waking, something she could have written a book on. But what really grabbed her attention was the story of one child victim who blamed himself for later kidnappings that were patterned after his.

“Do I do that?” she asked aloud. “Is that why I want to help Gabe so much even though I’m upset with him? I got away so the kidnapper is taking others?”

She heard something outside, and went to her bedroom window to see what caused the sudden noise. It didn’t quite sound like car tires crunching gravel in the driveway. She’d instantly hoped Gabe was driving in, but she saw no headlights or vehicle below.

The outside safety lights went off and it was pitch-black. Just as she gasped, she heard a pop and the interior house lights went dark too.

Tess fumbled her way to the side window to see if Gabe’s house lights were out. No, she could see light coming from his place.

Wanting to call Gabe, she shuffled to the back window and felt for her purse on the small dresser. It wasn’t there. She knew there was a flashlight downstairs, but she’d have to be careful on the stairs. What if this blackout was set up by someone? She needed that phone now, needed Gabe! Why had she ever been angry with him?

As she dropped to her knees to feel for her purse on the floor, she glanced out the window. She could see a light outside, moving through the rows of corn below, coming closer.

13

Tess stared at the single light flickering through the corn. It moved steadily along the back of her yard, maybe only a couple of rows in. She tried to concentrate on the dark form carrying it. The person was holding the light low, maybe thinking it was hidden or so it wouldn’t reveal a face. It was hard to tell the person’s height from this high up. She was so scared for a moment she just stared, mouth open.

Then she scrambled to action, fumbling for her purse. She found it and reached inside for her phone. Its dim light almost blinded her. She had to ransack her purse, looking for her billfold, where she’d tucked the paper with both of Gabe’s numbers written on it.

Her hand shook so much as she punched in Gabe’s home phone number she misdialed and had to do it again. He had to be there. He could get in his cruiser, scare away or catch whoever that was. Could it be someone related to the kidnappings, who wanted to chase her away? Or worse, to silence her?

Gabe’s number rang and rang. He told her if she dialed 911, his night dispatcher could reach him, so maybe she should do that. As his home phone was still ringing, she peeked out the window. The light in the corn was moving right through the area where she’d been snatched. She heard a voice.

“Gabe McCord.”

“Gabe, it’s Tess. Someone made all my lights go out, both inside and out. And someone’s out in the corn in back with a light, kind of moving around, out by where I was taken.”

“I’m looking out the window. Yeah, you’re pitch-dark. Stay put in the house, and I’ll be right there. I’m going to get a stun gun as well as my pistol and come through the cornfield between us on foot, see if I can surprise your visitor.”

“But I want him gone! Can’t you run the siren on the cruiser?”

“Tess, we want to catch this guy. I’ll be right there, sweetheart, so don’t be afraid.”

Sweetheart? That word both comforted and frightened her, just like his plan. She crawled from the back window to the side one and crouched under the window, staring through the darkness toward Gabe’s place.

She felt a sudden surge of anger. She couldn’t just cower here, had to do something to help. Rather than just watch for Gabe, she returned to the back window so she could look at the light and maybe signal with her phone or shout to Gabe which way it went.

She couldn’t let this monster control her. And she’d never forgive herself if something happened to Gabe.

* * *

Gabe strapped on his gun belt and grabbed the stun gun and a flashlight but didn’t take time to throw on a jacket. Thank heavens he was here, not in town, not in the shower or in bed. It was only a little after ten. He’d been exhausted, planning to hit the rack for a couple of hours, but now adrenaline surged through him.

He raced out the side door, cursed taking the time to lock it, but he didn’t want anyone to get inside to see what he had hidden in his spare bedroom. He tore past his parked cruiser into the field that stretched to Tess’s house. He pushed himself hard. Ears of corn bounced against his shoulders and hips. He told himself to keep his toes pointed in, concentrate on not tripping over roots. Surely Aaron was going to cut these fields soon, though they’d been planted later than most in the area. At least asking when they’d be cut would be an excuse to interview the man. He didn’t want someone being able to sneak up on Tess or him either like this.

Compared to when he used to run miles each day, he felt out of shape, sucking air. He slowed to avoid giving himself away with noise. It was so different from the way they’d handled problems in Iraq. They’d go in with a heavily armed convoy accompanying his blast-resistant Humvee with its four-hundred-pound doors. That let people know they were coming, that they could handle things, that the U.S. had power and might. But he’d also used remote-controlled cameras and robots to defuse danger. Here in Cold Creek it was hands-on and in-your-face.

As he neared the Lockwood edge of the field, he raised his flashlight and blinked it at the side of Tess’s house, once, twice, just to let her know he was here. He strained to listen a moment to see if he had spooked the intruder. If the guy ran, he’d hear him rustle the corn, wouldn’t he? Who among the suspects had the know-how to cut off the power to Tess’s place?

Gabe heard her open her window above him. Did she think his signal meant she must answer? If the guy had a gun, she was about to make herself a target.

He vaulted out from the corn to yell up at her, but she called down, “He’s moving away, toward Dane’s place! I think he’s almost halfway across, but I can’t see his light now. He was in a row about where the swing set used to be, but he could have doubled back. Be careful!”

“Stay in there!” he shouted. He turned on his flashlight and, holding the stun gun, ran across the small backyard and crashed back into the rows of corn. Marva had said Dane, John and Sam were out in the hills tonight, but were they really? If there were three of them, he could be running right into a trap where he was outnumbered.