Hidden in the Shadows (2 page)

Wyatt Dixon
– Sheriff of Olman County, Indiana.

Maria Pace
– IT Director for Olman County Sheriff’s Department.

Ethan Moore –
Senior Detective with the Olman County Sheriff’s Department.

Beth Hudson Moore –
Wife of Ethan, reporter for the
Olman County Journal
newspaper.

Stacy Kirchner –
Detective with the Olman County Sheriff’s Department.

Galen Gordon –
Former FBI agent, college classmate of Chase Hudson.

Richard and Jackie Hudson –
Doctor and Mrs., parents of Chase, Jason, Beth and Joely.

Jason Hudson –
Deputy with the Olman County Sheriff’s Department. Engaged to Hannah Gray.

Stella and James Moore –
Mother and stepfather of Ethan.

Chase Hudson –
Attorney, brother to Jason and Beth. Engaged to Annie Jameson Tucker.

Chapter One

Maria Pace was getting ready to go out for the evening, but she really just wanted to stay home. It had been a long week at work, complete with network failures, three major computer crashes, and intra-departmental personnel conflicts. Though she loved her job as head of information technology for the Olman County Sheriff’s Department, weeks like the past one made her want to run far and fast.

She spread a light dusting of blush on her cheekbones and met her reflection’s gaze in the bathroom mirror with a sigh. “Maria, how did you let yourself get roped into this again? Haven’t you learned your lesson by now?” The question was rhetorical, its answer simple. Her sister had finagled her into it.

“You have to do this for me,” Savannah had begged earlier in the week. “I promised Greg you’d go out with Damon on Friday. He’s counting on me to pull this off.”

Maria was dismayed. “Vannie, you know I’ve decided not to do blind dates, after… well, you know.” The previous year, her sister Georgia’s good intentions had led to a blind date that resulted in Maria being harassed by a persistent suitor for several tense weeks. She had been extremely fortunate when the man’s attention was diverted to someone else, someone who actually welcomed it. The weeks until he had shifted his obsession, which had bordered on stalking, had been filled with stress and self-doubt, feelings Maria never wanted to have to endure again.

Savannah acknowledged the words with a shrug. “I know, and I understand, believe me. But it isn’t like Damon’s a total stranger. Look, I think Greg is
this
close…” She held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart to demonstrate, “… to popping the question. I don’t want to disappoint him now. Not when all I’ve waited for my whole life is so close.” Damon was Greg’s older brother, recently divorced and just starting to re-enter the dating pool.

As she remembered the pleading look on Savannah’s face, Maria groaned with disgust at herself for giving in. She was six years older than her sister, and had doted on her ever since Savannah had been brought home from the hospital as an infant. Though she’d recently begun to step back from her family’s demands, Savannah could still get to her. The girl knew it and used that knowledge to her advantage.

It irked Maria that she was going to be spending the evening with a man she had absolutely no desire to spend time with, just to pacify her little sister. However, on the outside chance that Savannah was right and Greg was getting ready to propose, she had to give it a shot. She slipped simple gold hoops into her earlobes and stuck out her tongue at her reflection.

“That’s what makes you a sucker, girl.”

Moving back from the mirror, she studied her reflection. The loose black sweater, black slacks, and low-heeled boots created the understated look she wanted. A simple pendant adorned the sweater, and as she pulled her dark hair back into a clip, she decided not to pin it as tightly as usual. The result was a less-severe look than she wore for work, but one that still didn’t invite familiarity.

For just a moment, she wondered if choosing all black clothing was going too far, but she quickly pushed that concern aside. In addition to helping make her look less inviting, the black helped disguise her figure, which she had always considered uncomfortably voluptuous.

As the sound of the doorbell echoed through the condo, she smoothed the sweater over her hips. Straightening her spine, she gave her reflection an approving nod.

“Showtime. Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter Two

Wyatt Dixon was not having a great evening. In fact, the term “disaster” would have been an understatement.

“What looks good?” he asked the polished woman seated across from him. Though they had been given a coveted table near the cozy fireplace in the dining room of the Lighthouse Bar and Grill, the air at the table was distinctly chilly.

“Hmmm,” was the noncommittal response.

Wyatt was on his third date with Amanda Wingler. He didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the date would probably be their last. With an inward sigh, he tried again. He wasn’t sure why, perhaps because he had never been a quitter.

“Amanda, I want to apologize again for being so late. If I had been able to get there sooner, I would have.”

She laid down her menu with a sigh. “It really wasn’t so much that you were late, but that you didn’t see fit to call me personally. I would have preferred to hear from you instead of some anonymous dispatcher.”

Wyatt’s fingers tightened on the leather-bound menu as he counted to ten. He was grateful for the poker face that had become part and parcel of who he was, otherwise he felt certain his date would have fled the table. “Unfortunately, a message from the dispatcher was the best I could do.”

He refused to explain further, and debated whether to just end the agony of the date then and there.  He was opening his mouth to do just that when the hostess guided another couple to a nearby table. When he saw the female half of the couple, he gave a silent groan. Maria Pace. The evening only needed that, he thought. Catching Maria’s gaze, he nodded politely. She gave a small wave in return.

“Friend of yours?” The waspish tone of Amanda’s voice caught him off guard, and he frowned.

“One of my staff from the department. Why?”

Snorting, she took a gulp of her red wine. “Really? Just one of your staff? The way you were looking at her, I figured she was more than that.”

A deep scowl creased Wyatt’s brow, and he remembered vividly why he had been so reluctant to re-enter the dating scene. Before he could suggest they cut their losses, the phone on his belt buzzed. With a muttered curse that had his date’s eyes growing wide with outraged shock, he answered the call. “Sheriff Dixon here.”

“Sheriff, sorry to bother you, but we have a situation,” Carrie, one of the county’s dispatchers, said. “There’s been an abduction of a six-year-old girl by her non-custodial parent, who was just released from prison.”

Wyatt laid his napkin on the table. “Who’s on it?”

“Detectives Moore and Kirchner, along with all the patrols we could pull, sir. The state police are sending some units, too, and SWAT is assembling.”

“Send the info and address to my unit. I’ll head in that direction.”

“Will do, sir. Oh, one more thing. Detective Moore has requested that Maria Pace come to the scene of the abduction. Apparently, there are some surveillance tapes he needs her to access. Should I send a car by her condo?”

Wyatt looked across the room to where Maria sat. “No. I know where she is. I’ll bring her with me.” Signing off with dispatch, he turned back to his date. “Amanda—”

She held up her hand. “I heard. You have to go. I’ll take a cab home. Oh, and we should probably just call it quits while we’re still remotely friendly with each other. Don’t you think?”

He stood, agreeing wholeheartedly, relieved and just a little ashamed by that. Their server hurried over, and Wyatt explained, “Jean, I’m afraid I have to leave. Whatever the lady wants, put it on my tab.”

“Of course, Sheriff.”

He spread his hands and gave a rueful shrug. “There’s no reason you can’t have a nice, hot meal before you leave, Amanda. Take care.” With a two-finger salute to the unhappy woman, he headed across the room to interrupt another date. He tried to tell himself he didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction about that. As the reason for the interruption reasserted itself, he sighed. It was going to be a long night.

~ * * * ~

Since Maria had noticed Wyatt sitting with his date near the fireplace, she had been struggling to keep her gaze away from that side of the room. She wasn’t having much success. She hoped her date believed she was simply looking at the cheery fire. So far, she had managed to keep up with Damon’s conversation, but it was getting a little hard to feign interest.

When Wyatt answered his phone and glanced in her direction, she went on alert. Having worked in the sheriff’s department for the past six years, she knew his altered posture meant trouble. As he started toward her table, she admitted to herself that only part of her increased heart rate was attributable to knowing something was wrong.

Almost from the time she’d started her job, Maria had found herself in the unenviable position of having a crush on her boss. It wasn’t the kind of crush one acted on, but more an infatuation based on admiration and respect, with a healthy dose of attraction thrown in on the side.

Putting aside the fact that Wyatt Dixon was her boss, Maria wasn’t his type. From the handful of women he had dated since she’d worked for him, as well as the knowledge of the kind of woman his late wife had been, she knew he preferred refined and sleek blondes.
Petite
blondes. While she had a high standard of professionalism, Maria was about as far from petite and blonde as she could be. She had no illusions about her potential attractiveness as a mate for the sheriff.

When Wyatt reached their table, she introduced Damon to him, and the two men shook hands.

“I hate to interrupt your evening, but I’m afraid I need Maria.” Wyatt turned to her. “We have a situation, and Ethan’s asking for your assistance.”

Damon frowned. “Can’t it wait? I thought you just worked on computers or something. Someone else can handle it, surely.” His dismissive tone caused Maria to pause in the act of gathering her purse and wrap.

Before she could respond, Wyatt said, “Maria is our IT director, not just some desk jockey.”

Not satisfied, Damon stood, an angry flush on his cheeks. “I’m shelling out for a frigging steak dinner here. She can take care of whatever it is tomorrow.” His voice wasn’t quiet, and a shocked silence spread throughout the dining room as the other patrons waited to see what would happen.

“We don’t have time for this.” Wyatt stepped closer to the younger man and, pulling out his wallet, he withdrew several bills. Without bothering to count the money, he shoved it into Damon’s coat pocket. The entire time, he kept his gaze locked onto the other man’s face, and when he patted the pocket and Damon’s chest with controlled deliberation, Maria could see her date’s face pale. Damon wasn’t a small man, standing at around six feet tall, but Wyatt towered over him. Even at fifty-one years old, Wyatt was very fit physically. With dark brown hair just beginning to show threads of silver, he looked ten years younger than his actual age. As Wyatt stepped closer to Damon, Maria had to struggle to hide her amusement at seeing the arrogant man get his comeuppance.

“Anything else you’d like to say,
son
?”

Damon swallowed convulsively, a bitter look on his face as he gazed up at the sheriff, and shook his head. “N-no, sir.”

Turning his back on the now-sweating Damon, Wyatt gestured for Maria to precede him through the restaurant. As they left the dining room, she heard the sound level slowly return to normal. She knew the town would be abuzz with news of the confrontation by the next morning.

Walking quickly, they didn’t speak until they’d reached Wyatt’s SUV and were inside. The night was cold and clear, typical early November weather in southern Indiana. She tightened her wrap around her shoulders and shivered, glad to be out of the wind.

“What’s going on?” she asked as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, waiting for the windshield to defrost.

“We’ve had a child abduction by the non-custodial parent. Carrie is sending the information to my computer, and that’s all I really know.” He hit the button to awaken the laptop, logged on, and quickly read through the notes. “Damn.”

“Bad?”

The windshield was finally clear enough to see through to safely drive, and Wyatt pulled out of the parking lot, turning on the light bar, but not the siren as they sped through town. “Yeah, you could say that. Take a look.”