Free Lone Star Justice by Tori Scott Page A

night?"
    "I don't think so. Could you take me to the skating rink up in Grand Saline, though? Linda's granddaughter, Missy, is going and invited me to go with her."
    "As long as you don't expect me to skate, sure. I'll just sit and watch. I guess this means you had a good time at Linda's?"
    "Yeah, Missy's cool. She has her own horse, did you know that? And she said I could ride it anytime I want."
    "We'll see." Maddie pushed the door open and did a quick visual check of the room before she let her daughter enter. Everything seemed to be as she left it. Domino lay curled in the middle of the bed, deigning only to open one eye in a sleepy glare.
    She let Brandy precede her through the door and carefully closed and locked it behind them. She'd just settled on the bed to watch the evening news when the telephone rang. With her heart pounding, she picked up the receiver.
    "Maddie? Are you okay? You sound scared. What's going on?"
    She placed a hand over her chest in a futile attempt to slow her racing heart. "Matt? Why are you calling?"
    "I have some bad news for you."
    Oh, God, no. No more. Whatever she'd done to deserve punishment, surely she'd paid her debt by now. "What's happened?"
    "Your house was broken into. I'm so sorry. I know I was supposed to watch it, but I had to leave for the day, and when I got back the kitchen door had been jimmied open."
    Maddie rubbed her aching forehead with a shaking hand. "It's not your fault, Matt. You can't watch the house twenty-four hours a day. Was anything taken?"
    "I'm not sure. The television and stereo are still here, but they're smashed. The place is a mess. Stuff's been tossed, your sofa is a total loss. Your desk is ruined. I tried to clean up a little, but--"
    "Matt," she interrupted. "Did you clean up before or after the police got there?"
    "Well, I tried to clean up the worst of it, but then Detective Thacker drove up before I could finish. He got a little upset, but I was only trying to help."
    Maddie bit back a curse. Matt had a heart of gold, but sometimes he was a little dense. "He's upset because you compromised any evidence he might have found, Matt. When a crime occurs, you need to stay out of the way until the police have done their job."
    "Now you're mad at me, too."
    "No," she lied. "I'm not mad. I know you were trying to help. But next time, call the Detective first. And stay out of the way until he tells you it's okay."
    "Sure, whatever you say. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, so you wouldn't worry. It's mostly cleaned up now."
    Maddie thanked him and hung up. Then she tossed the covers back and climbed off the bed.
    "What is it, Mom?" Brandy tore her attention away from the television. Under normal conditions, nothing registered when she was watching one of her favorite shows.
    Maddie parted the curtains and looked out over the nearly deserted parking lot as she decided how to tell her daughter about the latest problem. Sometimes she wondered if she expected too much of a thirteen-year-old. But it had been just the two of them for so long, and they'd shared everything--sometimes more like sisters than mother and daughter.
    "Mom? You're scaring me." Brandy turned off the television with the remote control and the silence stretched for a long moment.
    "It's nothing, really. Someone broke into the house and trashed it. Matt said it was a mess. But it's not the mess that bothers me. It sounds like he was looking for something, maybe clues to where we might be. But that doesn't make sense, either. He already knows where we are."
    Brandy's eyes widened as she stared at her mother. "You…you mean someone could be on their way here right now?"
    Maddie moved to sit beside Brandy on the bed and put an arm around her shoulders. "We always knew it was a possibility. That's why we came to Greendale. A stranger will stand out here. We'll know if anyone new comes to town. And Rand is very dedicated to his job. He'll keep us safe."
    Brandy looked up into Maddie's eyes, her