Thread of Fear (21 page)

FORTY EIGHT

Lauren held a finger to her lips, then pointed at Elizabeth, who was lying on our bed next to her, sound asleep.

“She fell asleep half an hour ago,” she whispered. “It was the first day of workouts at school. She's wiped.”

I kicked off my shoes and crawled onto the bed next to her, trying not to jostle the mattress. I kissed her and sat up next to her.

“How'd it go?” she asked.

I nodded. “Good. All done.”

I'd told her I needed to go back to Yuma to tie up a few loose ends and that I'd be gone for the day. After I'd watched Dennison cross the border, I'd stayed for a couple more hours, just watching the traffic come into the U.S., making sure he hadn't changed his mind. Then I'd driven around the desert area near the campground, trying to locate his burned out truck. I couldn't find it, though, and that pleased me. If I couldn't find it, that meant it was in a remote area and would remain there for a long time. Then I'd driven back to San Diego and back over the bridge to Coronado and into the driveway of our home.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Okay. I'm tired, but I was up and around for the most of the day. I picked her up after practice. Made dinner. I'm okay.”

After the miscarriage, she'd stayed in the hospital for another day until the doctor cleared her to come home. The damage was more emotional than physical, but she'd slept a lot and been slower than normal, all things we were advised were not unusual in the aftermath of losing a child. She had good moments and bad moments, but she was tough. There'd been a few more smiles over the last few days and she'd mentioned getting back to work. I wasn't pushing and I was trying not to hover, letting her do what she needed to do, on her own timetable.

I nodded at Elizabeth. “She have a good practice?”

“She loved it,” Lauren said. “She couldn't stop talking about it. That's why she came in here. To wait for you so she could tell you.”

“So much for that.”

“You can wake her up.”

I shook my head. “No, let her sleep.”

The TV was on, the end credits of a movie rolling over the screen.

“So it's all done?” Lauren asked.

I nodded. “Done.”

“Good.”

I nodded again. “Yeah. Now I'll have to see what else she came up with on her list for me.”

Lauren chuckled. “You know, you don't have to go to work. With my job, we're fine.”

“Please,” I said. “I'd get restless. I need something to do. But something here.”

She hugged my arm. “Yeah, something here. But you'll figure it out. I just want you here. With us. And I don't want to worry about where you are or who you're with. I just want you here.”

I slipped my arm out of her grasp and wrapped it around her shoulders. I thought about Anchor and Delzano and both of the Dennisons. I thought about watching Dennison crossing the border. I thought about what might happen if he did decide to come back. Then I forced those thoughts out of my mind. There were always going to be variables, things out of my control. I couldn't spend my life thinking about the what-ifs. I was choosing to focus on the certainties in my life.

I looked at Elizabeth, then at Lauren. There was a tiny piece missing, a tiny piece we'd just lost and that ache was still fresh and raw. But I knew we'd stitch our family back together. That was a certainty.

“Me, too,” I told her. “Me, too.”

THE END

Want to make sure you don't miss out on future new releases from Jeff Shelby?

Sign up for his monthly newsletter right here
.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The Joe Tyler books are, by far, the most popular books I've written to date. There will be more. You can look for #6 sometime this spring. But I'm often asked by readers who've discovered me via the Joe books “What else of yours should I read?”

Good question!

Here's what I can tell you about each of the other three series I've written:

The Noah Braddock books.
These were the books that started my career. KILLER SWELL was my first published novel. They are traditional private eye novels, compared favorably to the works of Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais and John D. MacDonald by places like Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. I'm currently working on the fifth book in the series and I'm hoping it will be available at the end of January/beginning of February. (And there's an excerpt in the January newsletter.)

The Moose River books.
These books are NOT like the Joe or Noah books in any way. They are humorous cozy mystery novels designed for giggles and laughs and loosely based on my own life. No profanity, no violence, but lots of goofiness. The fourth book in the series, FOUL PLAY, should be out in the next two months.

The Deuce Winters books
(written under the pseudonym Jeffrey Allen.) These books – like the Moose River books – are NOT like the Joe or Noah books. They, too, are humorous cozy mytery novels with a lot of silliness mixed into the life of a stay at home dad who ends up solving crimes in a small Texas town. No profanity, no violence.

So there you have it. Hopefully, there's something there that might interest you until Joe #6 arrives. I'm working as fast as I can and I really, truly appreciate your support and enthusiasm.

Jeff