Free Don't Say a Word (Strangers Series) by Jennifer Jaynes Page B

herself. This, like everything else, will pass . . . and we’ll be fine.
    The police had issued an all-points bulletin on Gary and his truck. Detective Lambert was confident that as long as he hadn’t already skipped town, they would find Gary quickly. Plus, the twins weren’t going to be in Bitty and Allie’s care forever. Both situations were only temporary. The detective had also assigned a patrol car to the property for the time being . . . hopefully until Gary was caught.
    Bitty had asked endless questions of Detective Lambert, but because Gary was a suspect in an active homicide investigation, the detective was unable to answer a lot of them. Nevertheless, Bitty was stubborn and resourceful. If she wanted to get to the bottom of a situation, she usually did. So she began making phone calls.
    Between what the detective and Zoe had told them, and what Miss Bitty had learned on her own, Allie knew that the man in their yard had been Gary Jason Willis. He was thirty-seven years old, a longtime substance abuser, and his current substance of choice was believed to be methamphetamine. He’d worked as an installer for a local granite company for over ten years, but was known to deal drugs on the side. Gary had a long police record, had been charged with two assault and battery charges in the last five years alone, and had three young sons under the age of ten and a baby on the way. He’d also been “dating” the girls’ married mother, Julie Parish, for about three months.
    After news of the murders had broken, no one had seen Gary—until this morning. Troubled by the length of time he’d been gone, his wife had even reported him missing. A neighbor gave a statement saying that not only was Gary’s truck parked in the Parish family’s driveway until late Tuesday night, those who saw him when he left said, as Zoe had, that he seemed to be in a big hurry.
    Allie tried to process everything she’d learned, but it was too much. Her brain was so scrambled she could barely think. She just knew that she was disturbed. She thought of how easily Sammy could’ve gotten abducted. How quickly bad things could happen. How, suddenly, everything . . . everything . . . could change. It made her realize that she had Bitty and Sammy only temporarily. That one day, both would be taken from her. Whether their bond was broken due to a disagreement or because someone died, a day would come when they’d be separated forever.
    A shiver rolled through her.
    For God’s sake, STOP! You’re doing it again.
    Forcing herself back into the present, she kissed her sleeping son’s soft cheek and watched his tiny hands and stubby little fingers as they rose and fell on his little round stomach. She watched him and tried to convince herself that their life was still easy, safe, comfortable, and secure.
    Never mind that a patrolman was sitting in front of the house in case a suspected murderer decided to threaten them again. Or that a few feet away, a child whose parents had both just been murdered was likely, at any moment, to let out a blood-curdling shriek.

    At eight o’clock that evening, Allie decided to check on Bitty and the twins. She felt guilty for leaving Bitty alone with the girls, but she’d needed some time to just breathe and get through the emotional trauma of the morning. Besides, it was only for a few hours, and if Bitty needed anything, Allie had only been a few feet and a couple of walls away.
    When she stepped into the hallway, the house was dark and eerily quiet. Usually, Bitty would still be up. But right now she was nowhere in sight. Allie stopped outside the girls’ room and listened, but all was quiet on the other side.
    She poured a drink, then did another quick security check of the house, knowing good and well that Bitty had already done the same. But checking and rechecking made her feel better.
    After her drink, she retreated back to her bedroom. Earlier, she’d called her office to tell her boss that