Lonestar Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

found out the truth. But this was his fear talking. It had to be. Faith was his daughter. His.
    COYOTES YIPPED LONG INTO THE NIGHT, A SOUND SHANNON HAD GROWN unaccustomed to in the city. She punched her pillow and stared at the shadows on the walls. The pillows, even with clean cases, smelled dusty and old. She'd buy some new ones as soon as her first check came in. But it wasn't the smell of the bedding that kept her awake. She rolled over and glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. Her arm around her stuffed unicorn, Kylie slept soundly in a cot against the wall until her room was ready.
    Where was Mary Beth? Shannon glanced at her cell phone. She sat up and reached for it, then dialed Mary Beth's number. It just rang until she got her friend's voice mail. She closed the phone and tried to lie back down.

    A creak echoed from somewhere in the house. An old house always made strange noises. It was nothing. Then the noise came again, and she sat back up. She slid out of bed, then lifted the mattress. Her fingers groped along the box springs until she found the butt of the pistol she'd put there before going to bed. Moving quietly so she didn't awaken Kylie, she crept to the dark closet and reached up onto the highest shelf where she'd put a box of bullets. She loaded the pistol, then her feet moved to the door.
    She twisted the doorknob and the door creaked open, the sound like a crack of thunder to her ears. Her pulse galloped so loudly in her ears she couldn't hear anything. Moonlight dappled the carpet from a window at the other end of the long, narrow hallway. She tiptoed along the worn rug to the top of the stairs. By sheer effort of will, she stilled her pulse and her breathing and listened to the quiet house. She'd thought the noise was from downstairs.
    If she'd been thinking, she would have had Moses sleep inside by her bed tonight. She gripped the handrail with one hand and held the gun steady with the other as she descended the staircase. The coyotes howled again, and the sound raised gooseflesh on her arms. Had she been dreaming?
    The house was perfectly quiet now. Not a creak, not a whisper. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw a trail of light cutting through the floor and leading to the front door.
    Moonlight. The door stood wide open.
    SHANNON SAT ON THE SAGGING PORCH SWING AND WATCHED THE SUN IGNITE the shrubs and bushes across the ranch. The thick scent of creosote and sage intensified with the warmth. She was still a little unnerved by finding the door open, but she couldn't remember if she'd shut it securely or not. The stress of the last two days had taken a toll on her memory of the events of the past few hours.

    Once everything was up and running this morning, she'd get the locks changed. She buried her fingers in the dog's fur, taking comfort from his warmth. Shannon should have called Horton yesterday when she arrived, but things had spiraled around her so fast she hadn't had time, though worry for Mary Beth hovered in the back of her mind. It would be the first call she made this morning.
    Her thoughts went to the child she'd seen yesterday. "Faith." Saying the name made it all the more real. Her daughter Faith. Shannon was sure of it.
    Allie had volunteered to watch Kylie this morning while Shannon went to the medical clinic and looked at the records of the birth of her girls. Then she'd try to find Verna Jeffers. The nurse was likely in her sixties by now, but she might still be working.
    Shannon rose and stretched, then went inside to get ready. She wanted to be at the old mining camp by ten, so she'd better get a move on. After showering and dressing, she sat at the old black phone in her uncle's office. The sheriff had made a call and activated the service immediately. She dialed Horton's house.
    "Horton Chrisman," he said. He'd never lost the last trace of his English accent.
    "It's Shannon. How is everything?"
    "Not the same without you, my dear. When I got to the clinic