Free Second Chance by Christy Reece Page A

said. “She was even in the process of putting this house on the market.”
    Cole straightened in his chair. “She didn’t mention that.”
    “She’d talked to a realtor a few weeks before. She said she wanted to get out of Fairview before the children got much older.”
    His heart kicking up a beat, Cole stood and began to pace as he pieced his thoughts together. “So what if the knowledge that Keeley was thinking about leaving triggered this?”
    Eden leaned forward. “You mean having Keeley leave Fairview was something this person didn’t want to see happen?”
    “That,” Cole said. “Or seeing Keeley get her life backtogether wasn’t something this person could tolerate. Leaving Fairview meant she was getting on with her life. Maybe he or she is only happy when Keeley is unhappy.”
    “Now, that’s sick.”
    Jordan nodded. “It’s a definite possibility. If that’s the case, then it’s someone close to her. Only someone she would’ve shared her deepest thoughts with.” He eyed Cole. “What’s our strategy?”
    Not for the first time, Cole felt pride in working for an organization where being the lead dog didn’t mean shit. Egos were checked at the door when one became an LCR operative. The only thing that mattered was the mission. Getting credit never came into play.
    Jordan and Eden had been first on the case. If this were any other organization, heads would be butting to determine who should be in charge. Jordan was indicating that if Cole wanted the lead dog position, he and Eden would back off and let him take over. Having control of this case wasn’t an issue with Cole either. Like everyone else, finding these children was his only motivation.
    “Let’s proceed the way you and Eden have been going.” He looked at the slender blonde. “Eden, you stick with Keeley. Noah told me you’ve developed a good relationship with her. With her attempted abduction, we have to assume she’s still in danger.”
    Eden raised a brow. “There’s a twist we haven’t discussed. If we go with the theory that someone just wanted to see her suffer, having her abducted, too, wouldn’t have accomplished this.”
    “You’re right … that’s not consistent. Which means someone could want more than just seeing Keeley suffer emotionally. Let’s make sure she goes nowhere alone.” He eyed Jordan. “Sounds like you’ve made some good connections with our underground leads. Why don’t you continue with that?”
    Jordan nodded. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to talk to the townspeople. This is a small town … everyone knows everyone’s business. Secrets are hard to keep. I’m betting someone out there is willing to tell us exactly who hates Keeley Fairchild so much and why.”
       Wes eased his way up the stairs to the second floor. Security system wasn’t worth a damn in this house. Imagine having all that money and not putting in a decent system. Damn rich were too damn arrogant. If he wanted to, he could kill the bitch and there’d be no one the wiser. How he wanted to do just that. She had betrayed him, and no one did that to Wes and got away with it.
    The vacation he had indulged in hadn’t been as much fun as he hoped. Not getting what he wanted usually did that to him. He’d driven into Mexico after making the drop-off in California. Found himself a nice little tourist town. The tequila had been free-flowing and the women wild and horny … more than willing to do whatever he wanted. Still, he couldn’t forget about the one who got away … and the one responsible for letting her get away.
    After several weeks, his dissatisfaction had grown and he’d left with only one thing on his mind—returning to Fairview and getting what had been denied him. It was time for the bitch to pay up.
    He pushed the bedroom door open and stood there, watching the skinny bitch get ready for bed. The thin nightgown she wore made her look a little meatier than she actually was. An idea popped