exposed (Twisted Cedar Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

under the bed and in both closets, but even pulling down the ladder to the attic and making a clean sweep of that, as well.
    Within ten minutes he was done. After putting Borden in her travel crate and grabbing a bag packed with her essentials and his, Dougal went outside to deliver the disappointing news. He found Jamie studying the dirt driveway.
    “Searching for clues, Sherlock? Want a magnifying glass?”
    “Don’t mock me. I’m looking for bicycle tracks. I’ve already checked the old shed. But there are so many great hiding spots in these woods. We’ll never find him if he’s decided to camp out.”
    “The sheriff’s office will have tracking dogs if it comes to that. Come on, let’s get going. I’m anxious to talk to Wade and find out what they’ve done so far.”
    * * *
    It was seven P.M. Chester Quinpool had been missing three and a half hours. Sheriff Wade MacKay glanced around Charlotte Hammond’s kitchen, noting the slight clutter that children brought to a home, clutter that hadn’t been here the last time he visited.
    Drawings had been stuck to the refrigerator door, as well as a school calendar. Strewn over one side of the island were craft supplies—markers, children’s scissors, a stack of construction paper. Under the table was a pair of white sports socks—probably Chester’s. A football and a baseball mitt were both on one of the chairs.
    This year had already been one of the worst for major crimes in Curry County, even before Chester Quinpool went missing. Wade didn’t know how much more his team—or this town—could take.
    The trouble had started in the spring when Dougal Lachlan found a body buried in the woods around the Librarian Cottage—a body which was soon identified as being Daisy Hammond, divorced wife of Kyle Quinpool, mother of his twins, and Charlotte’s sister.
    Then this summer Joelle Carruthers—who turned out to be Dougal and Jamie’s half-sister—had died in the basement of the library. The earlier drowning of her baby daughter, Josephine, was one crime at least that hadn’t occurred in his county.
    And now Chester had gone missing.
    Wade took the safety of the citizens of Curry County personally. So having a kid go missing on his watch was an affront to everything he believed in.
    He was going to find this kid. And bring him home safely.
    There was no other option.
    “S-sorry Wade.” Charlotte had just finished supplying him with the numbers for Chester’s doctor and dentist, when it had suddenly occurred to her what these things might be needed for and she’d burst into tears.
    “Take your time.”
    She was standing with her back to him, at the sink on the pretense of pouring herself a glass of water, which Wade knew she wouldn’t drink. So far she’d spurned every offer of tea, coffee or water that he’d made.
    No doubt she felt too nauseous to put anything in her stomach. In her shoes, Wade would probably feel the same. Even though this wasn’t her fault, she’d feel like it was. Charlotte was that sort of person.
    And Wade knew this, because he’d dated her, and had even asked her to marry him.
    Thankfully she’d been wise enough to turn him down.
    She’d sensed that while he longed for a home, a family and kids, he hadn’t really loved her . It had taken Wade some time to figure that out himself.
    But while he didn’t love Charlotte, he did like her. Very much.
    Charlotte was not a woman to draw attention to herself. Her temper was mild and she would offer her opinion on a matter only when pressed. Despite being pretty, tall and graceful, she somehow managed to make even her physical appearance understated. A lot had to do with the way she dressed, in the very stereotype of a librarian, in skirts that were too long, and baggy blouses and sweaters.
    As she swung around to face him, her red-rimmed eyes betrayed her inner anguish. “Do you think someone took him? But who? And why?”
    He went to her, offering a friendly, hopefully reassuring