Free Stranger in Cold Creek by Paula Graves Page B

while you’re gone.”
    He disappeared down the hall. A moment later, she heard the door open and close.
    Releasing a deep sigh, she eased Ruthie from her lap and started picking up the overturned chairs around the breakfast table.
    * * *
    â€œT HOSE BASTARDS .” Gil Duncan’s voice was a deep rumble of anger as he heaved the bag of cat food over the counter and handed it to John. “She worked damn hard to make a nice home for herself. I tell you what, it was like a gut punch seein’ what they’d done to her things. A real gut punch.”
    â€œDo you have any idea who’d do such a thing to Miranda?” John tucked the bag under his good arm. “I don’t know her well, but everyone I’ve talked to seems to think the world of her.”
    Gil’s smile was genuinely proud. “She’s a good woman, like her mama was. Smart girl, too. It had to be kids, don’t you think? All those hormones and restless energy just wantin’ to bust out all over, but nowhere in this little town to let it rip. And these days, folks don’t teach their young’uns to respect other people’s things. Hell, they probably recorded what they did and put it up on YouFace or whatever you call it.” Gil grinned sheepishly. “Lord, I’m soundin’ just like my granddaddy, ain’t I?”
    John grinned back at him, deciding he liked Miranda’s father. “Miranda mentioned something about a case she’d been working—a missing woman?”
    â€œYeah. Delta McGraw.” Gil shook his head. “That girl’s had a hell of a life, and I don’t reckon anybody’d blame her if she’d just picked up and left town for good. But Miranda seems to think she should’ve been back in town by now.”
    â€œIs she a young woman?”
    â€œA little younger than my Mandy—maybe a couple of years younger. But in some ways, she seems a lot older. Life’s been harder on her. Her mama ran off when she was real little, so it was left to that daddy of hers to raise her. All he knew how to do was make her his accomplice.”
    â€œHe’s a criminal?”
    â€œWas. Con man, mainly. Small cons, get-rich-quick schemes. You know the sort. People liked him anyway, because he was that kind of fellow. Made you laugh even when he was fleecing you blind.” Gil shrugged. “I reckon folks tended to give him a lot of leeway, too, because his wife ran off when his little girl was so young and he was left to take care of her.”
    â€œIs he dead or incarcerated?”
    Gil gave him an odd look. “Dead. Big rig versus pickup truck. Big rig wins.”
    John grimaced. “So you don’t think this missing girl has anything to do with your daughter’s problems?”
    Gill gave him a narrow-eyed look. “You seem awfully interested for someone who just met her.”
    â€œShe nearly died in my side yard. We both ended up dodging bullets. I guess that makes me feel like I have a stake in her well-being,” he answered truthfully.
    â€œYou a cop or something?”
    â€œI’m a carpenter,” John replied.
    â€œHmm.” Gil didn’t say anything more, turning to greet another customer entering the store. John took the cat food and headed back to his truck.
    The snow had melted off by midmorning, leaving the roads wet but clear, and traffic on the highway was starting to pick up. After John slid behind the steering wheel of his truck and buckled up, he called Miranda.
    She answered on the second ring. “Checking up on me?” she asked.
    â€œJust making sure you and the cats were still okay. Did the other one ever come out?”
    â€œHe did, and he’s not very patient when he’s hungry.”
    â€œI’ll be there in a few minutes.” He hung up and started the truck, but on second thought, he turned it off again and picked up his phone. He dialed another number and waited for