He shoved this thought away as he left Peyton’s house and got into his patrol car. A deep weariness gripped him as he drove the short drive home.

He hoped Peyton was right and this Kathy character wouldn’t harm the baby, and he hoped that when morning dawned phone calls would start flooding into the office, tips from people who either knew or had seen the woman calling herself Kathy Simon.

Tom’s house was a white two-story with a wrap-around porch and hunter green shutters at the windows. It was the second house he’d owned. The first had been sold five years ago after his divorce, when he realized the memories that resided there were too painful to avoid.

He’d bought this particular house for a song because of all the work it needed. He’d thought it would be a terrific project in his spare time, a hobby to keep painful thoughts at bay.

As always when he entered the foyer a faint sense of satisfaction swept over him. The wooden floor gleamed beneath his feet and the throw rug in shades of copper and brown emphasized the beauty of the wood beneath.

He tossed his keys on the small table in the hallway and went directly up the stairs to the master bedroom. He’d give himself a couple of hours of sleep and then head into the office to see if anything had popped.

It took him only minutes to place his gun and holster on the nightstand and undress and get into bed. Even though he was exhausted, his mind refused to turn off as it replayed the events of the day. He believed Peyton’s story of what had happened, but he’d still instructed Sam to run background checks on both Peyton and Rick. The last thing he wanted was for something unexpected to jump up and bite him on the butt.

Every base needed to be covered, and he was certain as he closed his eyes that he’d covered them all. They were a small town, with a small force of law enforcement officers, but Tom was confident in his team. They were all smart and committed to their work.

As sleep began to edge in, his thoughts turned to Peyton. She’d touched him on levels nobody had reached in a very long time. She had to be strong in order to have survived her childhood, and yet there was that frailty about her that made him want to take care of her.

If he were completely honest with himself, he had to acknowledge that as he’d held her in his arms he’d been stunned to realize that although his intent had been to comfort, there had been a part of him, a strictly male part, that had enjoyed the feel of her in his arms.

In fact, he had more than enjoyed it. A quick fire of desire had swept through him as he’d felt the press of her soft breasts against his chest, as he’d smelled the fresh scent of her hair. It had stunned him, first because it was so unexpected and second because it was inappropriate, considering the circumstances.

He drifted asleep with thoughts of her in his head and awoke to his alarm clock ringing two hours later. He rolled over and punched it off, then bounded out of bed, eager to get to the office and find out how things had gone while he’d been sleeping. A sense of urgency chased him. Somewhere out there was a baby who needed to be brought home.

He was in the office by seven-thirty, and Sam greeted him as he walked through the door. Sam McCain was a big, burly black man who had come to Black Rock after working as a policeman in Chicago. He and his wife had moved there for the slower pace and a safer place to raise their kids.

Every day Tom was thankful that Sam had landed here working for him. “Hey, Sam. Please tell me the phone has been ringing off the wall with tips on Lilly Wilkerson’s whereabouts.”

Sam frowned and shook his head. “We’ve only had two calls so far this morning, and if you think real hard you’ll be able to tell me who they were from.”

“Sally Bernard called threatening to kill her husband, and Walt Toliver called to report that Lilly was probably taken into the spaceship that landed in his field last night,” Tom replied.

“And the kewpie doll goes to the big fella with the gun on his hip,” Sam exclaimed.

Tom grinned. “It wouldn’t be a normal day without the two of them calling in.” His grin flattened into a frown. “I was really hoping somebody would have seen this Kathy Simon.”

“It’s early yet, boss. It’s possible she’s holed up somewhere for the night, but eventually she’ll have to get out and around, and somebody will see her.”

“Where’s Brittany?”

“She hasn’t shown up yet,” Sam replied.

Tom looked at his watch. She should have been in a half an hour ago. “Has she called in?” Sam shook his head. Tom sighed. “This is the third time in the last couple of weeks that she’s been late. Guess I’m going to have to kick some sister butt.”

Sam grinned. “Benjamin called earlier to tell you that everything is under control at the Wilkerson house and Caleb is waiting for you in your office.”

“As soon as I check a few things here I’ll be heading back over there,” Tom said as he walked to his office.

Caleb sat in the chair in front of Tom’s desk, his big feet propped up on the polished oak. Tom slapped Caleb’s legs as he passed by and frowned in disapproval. His younger brother hurriedly straightened up.

“You heard from Brittany this morning?” he asked Caleb as he eased down into the chair at his desk.

“Why would I hear from her?” Caleb asked.

“She’s late … again.”

“She’s probably hung over. She’s spending way too much time down at Harley’s bar. I think she has a crush on the new bartender there.”

“I don’t care what she does in her time off, but I can’t have her ambling into work whenever she feels like it.” Tom definitely needed to have a stern conversation with his baby sister. “But in the meantime, I’m headed back over to the Wilkerson place to check on Peyton.”

Caleb frowned. “Don’t you find it odd that nobody saw this woman who supposedly stole her baby? She didn’t know where this Kathy lived, doesn’t have a picture of the woman and doesn’t have any evidence to support that this woman even exists.”

“Do you have pictures of your friends?” Tom countered. “Peyton only knew Kathy for two months, a span of time when Peyton wasn’t taking her baby out much. Odd? Maybe. But impossible to believe? No.”

“I think you should order that new patio ripped up,” Caleb said. “I think if you want to find that baby then that’s the first place you should look.”

“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do today,” Tom said. “According to Peyton, this Kathy Simon has been in town for at least two months. During that time she had to eat, so I want you to spend the day taking a sketch to every grocery store and every restaurant in town and find out who saw her when.”

“Sounds like a waste of time,” Caleb exclaimed.

“Your time is mine as long as you wear that deputy badge, little brother. Oh, and another thing, apparently Peyton had a run-in with somebody in the parking lot of the grocery store last week. She said the guy was driving a black pickup and had shaggy brown hair. See if you can figure out who that might have been.”

“Now, that sounds like a bunch of busy work,” Caleb exclaimed.

Tom smiled. “So get out of here and get busy.”

As Caleb left, Tom called Sam into his office. “Coordinate with the others and start a door-to-door campaign to find somebody who knew Kathy Simon. I’m headed to the victim’s house. Keep me updated on any calls that come in, anything that smells just a little bit like a break.”

“Got it,” Sam replied and followed Tom out of his office.

“Oh, one more thing. Call Brittany and tell her to get her butt in here, and call the men off the roadblocks. My guess is that Kathy Simon scooted out of town as fast as she could and is probably long gone.”

Minutes later, as Tom drove toward Peyton’s house, he wondered what condition she’d be in when he arrived. Although he didn’t know personally what it was like to have a kidnapped child, he certainly knew personally how to grieve for a child.