Free You Can't Hide by Karen Rose Page A

he thought, stripping off his drenched overcoat. He grabbed a faded towel from a basket and briskly whisked his head dry before going into the kitchen where his mother stood at the sink loading the dishwasher. From the stack of plates they must have had a ful house, he thought wistful y, wishing he’d been there, too. It had been some time since the whole family had been together on a Sunday afternoon. They were all so busy with their lives. Becca Reagan looked up and a smile lit her eyes, for some reason making his heart squeeze in his chest. The picture of Cynthia Adams lying dead on the street filled his mind, along with Ciccotelli’s voice. She has no next of kin, she’d said. No mother to smile when she came home and only monstrous memories of a father that abused her. Then the mental image became that of a child homicide he’d been working before taking the Adams call. A six-year-old boy killed by the boy’s own father. After Ciccotelli and her lawyer had gone, Aidan had visited the boy’s mother. The mother knew where the father was hiding, but she protected the brute when she hadn’t protected her own son.
    If he tried to understand, he’d lose his mind. So he focused on his own mother’s voice, warm with welcome.
    “Aidan! I was wondering when you’d come by.”
    Aidan kissed her cheek. “Hi, Mom. Anything left?”
    She looked him up and down, careful y scrutinizing. It was a familiar look, the one she’d given his father every day after he’d returned home from a day on the streets. After a career of CPD service, Kyle Reagan now enjoyed his retirement. She dried her hands and cupped Aidan’s cheek in her palm, her eyes understanding. She’d ask nothing unless he offered. It was one of the things about her he loved most. One of the things he’d never found in another woman. God only knew he’d tried. Which was why he was still single at thirty-three, he supposed.
    “There’s a plate of leftover roast in the fridge. Pie’s still cooling.” She lifted a brow. “Your timing’s as perfect as ever it was.”
    He managed a tired smile. “Excellent.”
    “Your head’s all wet, boy. You’ll catch pneumonia, you know.”
    He opened the refrigerator door. “That’s because it’s raining, Mom. And the Camaro top sprang a leak on the way home.”
    She sighed. “It would do no good to tell you to get a sensible car.”
    He just grinned and sat down at the large kitchen table. “The Camaro’s got two hundred and ninety horses.”
    She rol ed her eyes, accustomed to his response. “Your father has some duct tape in the garage. Eat your supper then go fix that heap of yours.”

    31
    Karen Rose

    [Suspense 5]

    You Can't Hide
    “Already did,” he said with his mouth ful . “Stopped by the store for tape on my way over here.” When he’d cleaned his plate she took it away and deposited a new plate filled with a large wedge of pie.
    “You missed Sean and Ruth and the children. Abe and Kristen are stil here,” she said. “Your father’s trying to teach the baby about point spreads.”
    His fifteen-month-old niece, Kara. His goddaughter. His heart squeezed again, thinking of the happiness his brother Abe had finally found. “I know. Abe’s SUV’s taking up the whole driveway, which is why I’m parked in the street. Where’s Rachel?” His sixteen-year-old sister was growing up entirely too fast for his liking.
    “She’s at a friend’s house. She’l be home by nine. I think she’s got some boy trouble, but she hasn’t told me.” She lifted a brow. “Maybe you can talk to her.”
    Aidan grunted. “About boys? Hell, no. If I was Dad I’d keep her locked in her room till she was twenty-five then nobody would have to worry about those boys.”
    “You were one of those boys once.”
    “My point exactly.”
    She sipped at her coffee, her eyes sobering. “I saw Shelley’s mother last week, in the beauty parlor.”
    Aidan’s jaw clenched. Shelley St. John was an off-limits topic.