Page 89 of Night Moves
Her fault. He never claimed to be looking for anything, and he certainly wouldn’t enter into a relationship with someone as staid and boring as her. Despite all of that, she’d fallen for him. For his confidence. His compassion. His strength, kindness, and humor. Even the way he called out and questioned things that he didn’t agree with. He was an amazing mix of all of that, and a man with impeccable manners taught by parents any child would kill to have. He would be a great husband and father.Ifhe decided he wanted to be one. A big, huge if.
But what Drake wanted or didn’t want didn’t matter. Natalie didn’t matter. She’d get over Drake. Helping the children was the only thing of importance right now. If she chose not to take them in, she would have to locate a great family. Sure, they would be scarred by their father’s actions no matter what, but she prayed that they would eventually be okay.
She lifted her head, and a bone aching fatigue settled in. She started down the hallway toward her kitchen to set the coffee to brew on a timer for the morning, and the doorbell rang.
Fear lodged in her throat, and her heart clipped into gear.
No, you’re fine. Kirk’s behind bars. And if he somehow escaped, Drake would be here to protect us.
Could it be Drake come to tell her that he wanted to pursue a relationship with her?
She hurried to the door and looked out the peephole.
What in the world?
She quickly unlocked the door and opened it wide as footsteps sounded in the hall by the bedroom.
“Mommy,” Willow’s voice came from behind. “Is that really you?”
Drake sat on his couch in front of a Mariner’s baseball game, a discarded dinner plate sitting on the table, and looked at the clock. He should hit the hay. It was early, but he was bone-weary. Problem was, his brain wouldn’t shut down. He kept thinking about Tracey Gentry. They’d hoped to find her in the house. Her unique scent had filled the space, but Gentry could have a mistress who he’d also given the same perfume to.
As he’d followed Londyn around the house, he’d kept his eyes out for blood or any hint that Tracey or a girlfriend had lost her life. Could be the reason Gentry was so high. He’d killed her and couldn’t face it, as it was so different from killing the other women. But there’d been no blood or sign of a struggle.
His phone rang. Seeing Sierra’s name, he swiped to answer. “Hey, sis.”
“You still with Natalie?” she asked.
“Just dropped her and the kids off at her townhouse.”
“Is she going to take the kids in?”
“She’s thinking about it.”
“That must be a deal breaker for you.”
“What?” he asked as he was honestly confused about where she was going with this conversation.
“You wouldn’t get involved with a woman who had kids. That’s just not you.”
“A guy can change, right?”
“Sure. And I figure someday you’ll want kids of your own. But I can’t see you in the insta-dad role.”
“Yeah, me either.” He sighed. “You calling just to bring me down more.”
“Sorry. No. I wanted to tell you the DNA is in from Tracey Gentry’s blouse.”
“Tracey’s blood? Or even Gentry’s?”
“Actually, no. And I can’t tell you who it belongs to. I’ve told you more than I should already.”
He punched a fist into his pillow. “Come on, Sierra. This might be important to these kids to know what happened to their mother.”
“Sorry.” Her sincerity rang through the word. “Detective Archibald is still officer of record for Tracey’s missing persons investigation. Call him. Maybe he’ll give you what you need.”
Drake fisted his hands. “If you weren’t so pregnant, I might come down and yell at you.”
She sighed. “You know I’m only thinking of our lab, right? If it was up to me, I’d be glad to tell you.”
