Winter of Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page B

cynical twist of that tight mouth. He didn’t smile much but he knew how. Or he once had. Her woman’s intuition said he’d been through some trauma himself. Her woman’s heart wanted to bake him cookies and fix him.
    A little troubled at the direction of her thoughts, she raised her coffee mug, a shield to hide behind. She didn’t even know this guy.
    â€œWhat could be so terrible that a child would stop speaking?” she asked. “I can’t imagine.”
    Something flickered in the stolid expression, a twitch of muscle, the narrowing of coffee-colored eyes in a hard face.
    â€œI plan to find out.”
    â€œI heard you were a cop.”
    â€œListening to gossip?”
    She smiled. “Not all of it.”
    The admission caught him by surprise. He lightened, just a little, but enough for her to see his humor. She didn’t know why that pleased her, but it did. Kade needed to lighten up and smile a little.
    â€œI am.” He went to the sink and dumped the remaining coffee, rinsed the cup and left it in the sink. “A cop, that is. Special units.”
    â€œYou don’t want to hear about the other rumors?”
    He made a huffing noise. “Maybe later. You don’t want to hear about the special units?”
    â€œMaybe later.” She smiled again, hoping he’d smile, too.He didn’t. “The important thing is Davey. Your police experience should help us find his family.”
    â€œUs?”
    â€œWell…” She wasn’t a person to start something and not follow through. She’d been there when Davey was found and she didn’t intend to walk away and leave him with all these unanswered questions. “I know the community really well. People trust me. They’ll talk to me. I don’t know the first thing about investigating a missing boy.” She stopped, frowned. Davey wasn’t missing exactly. “Or rather, a found boy, but I know how to deal with people.”
    Kade raised a palm. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s early yet. Someone may come home from work tonight, find their son gone and call in. Problem solved.”
    â€œDo you think they will?” she asked hopefully.
    â€œTo be honest?” He dropped his arms to his sides, shot a look toward the living room. “No.”
    Something in the sudden clip of his voice chilled Sophie’s bones. She frowned and leaned forward, propping her arms on the metal dinette. Ida June must have had this thing since the 1950s. “Have you worked in Missing Children before?”
    She was almost certain he flinched, but if he did, he covered the emotion quickly.
    â€œIn a manner of speaking.”
    Sophie waited for an explanation, but when none was forthcoming, she asked, “Do you have any ideas? Any thoughts about where he came from or what happened?”
    â€œA few.” He crossed his arms again. She recognized the subconscious barrier he raised between them. What had happened to this man to make him so aloof? For a people person, he was a challenge. For a Christian, he was someone to pray for. For a single woman, he was dangerously attractive. What woman wouldn’t want to delve behindthose dark, mysterious eyes and into that cool heart to fix whatever ailed him?
    â€œCare to share?” she asked.
    He cocked his head, listening. “Davey’s awake.”
    Sophie hadn’t heard a sound, but she pushed away from the table and hurried past Kade to the sofa and the little boy who’d had her prayers all day. Behind her, a more troubling and troubled presence followed. She was in the company of two mysterious males and they both intrigued her.
    â€œHi, Davey.” She sat on the edge of the couch, the warmth of Davey’s sleep-drenched body pleasant against her leg. Kade’s big dog, a golden retriever, slid off the sofa and padded to her master. He dropped a hand to her wide skull and stood like a dark slab of