Free The Horseman's Son by Delores Fossen Page A

the least I could do, considering your car caught fire.”
    The words were right. Kind, even. But the kindness didn’t make it to Millie’s eyes. In fact, Collena got the same cold vibes from Millie that she did from her mother, Ruth.
    The woman glanced around before her attention came back to Collena. She hesitated, licking her lips. “Is it true? Are you really Adam’s birth mother?”
    Collena nodded.
    “Oh.” And that’s all Millie said for several seconds. “But you gave him up for adoption.”
    “Someone stole him from me,” Collena corrected. She left it at that. The sanitized version was best for now. Later, maybe Dylan would explain everything to Millie and the rest.
    Another “oh” from Millie. Another hesitation. Millie’s breathing was suddenly uneven. “Well, if you need anything else, just ask. The phone there is a private line, in case your cell phone doesn’t work out here. Sometimes, service is spotty.” She went to the intercom speaker on the table next to the chair and pressed some buttons. “And if you need someone in the house, like the cook, for instance, all you have to do is hold down the talk button. Someone will answer. You don’t have to bother Dylan or anything. He has enough to deal with right now.”
    Now, it was Collena’s turn to say, “oh.” There was nothing chilly about that remark, but it was, well, territorial.
    Did Millie have feelings for Dylan?
    If so, this was about to get very messy.
    Millie mumbled a goodbye, and as soon as the woman was out the door, Collena closed it and locked it. She didn’t want anyone walking in on the phone call she was about to make.
    She took her phone from her pocket, flipped it open and pressed in the numbers to her friend and former coworker, Sergeant Katelyn O’Malley.
    “Katelyn,” Collena said when she answered. “I hate to bother you on Thanksgiving—”
    “You’re not bothering me. Thanksgiving dinner is still hours away, and you got me out of cooking duty. I owe you, girl. I’m not into basting turkeys.”
    “We’ll work something out,” Collena joked. But the light tone was a facade. She was terrified of what Katelyn might or might not have learned.
    “I’ve been doing some checking on a few of the citizens of Greer,” Katelyn continued. “One thing that really stuck out was Deputy Jonah Burke. Have you met him yet?”
    Collena didn’t like the sound of this. “Oh, yes. Because of the snowstorm, he’s stuck in the house with us.”
    “Well, then, you better hope the roads clear soon. He’s had two suspensions from the job and even had criminal charges filed against him for stalking. The charges were dropped when the person who filed them was killed. That person was Dylan Greer’s sister, Abigail.”
    “Dylan’s sister?” Collena certainly hadn’t expected that. “Why is Jonah still on the force if he was stalking her?”
    “Law of supply and demand. Apparently no one else in Greer wants his job. Still, Jonah’s not well liked, and even the sheriff doesn’t have much good to say about him.”
    Neither did Collena. “I’ll make I sure lock my door tonight.”
    “Don’t lock it just for Jonah Burke’s sake. You need to keep an eye out for two of Dylan’s employees, Ruth and Millie Sayers. Get this—both have been under psychiatric care since Dylan’s sister was killed five years ago.”
    Another surprise, but it wasn’t totally unexpected. “I think they were very close to her. And her death was unexpected. And suspicious.”
    “That, too. I plan to look a little harder at that, especially if Deputy Burke might have had a reason to kill this woman.”
    Katelyn was right. The stalking charge would give Jonah motive, and since he was a deputy, he already had the means. That only left the opportunity, and in a small town like Greer, there should have been plenty of opportunities for the deputy to go after the woman. So, had his involvement been covered up?
    “There’s more,” Katelyn