Deep Shadows by Vannetta Chapman Read Free Book Online

community, but it was a county seat. People would turn to Abney when they needed assistance.
    â€œWhat about your parents?” Shelby asked.
    â€œThey’ll be fine, for now.”
    â€œBut you’ll need to check on them.”
    â€œEventually. I’ll drive out to High Fields once we know the situation here.”
    The name High Fields made him smile—it sounded rather lofty, like something out of a novel. It was indeed on top of a small plateau, affording a nice view of the Texas countryside. If this thing was as bad as Shelby thought, they might consider leaving until it was rectified. He knew they would be safe at High Fields, but first he needed to understand the situation he was leaving behind in Abney.
    Shelby leaned forward, peering out the window. “How did you know they’d all be here?”
    It was an odd sight—so many cars parked around city hall at midnight on a Friday evening. It confirmed that what they were experiencing wasn’t merely a bad dream.
    â€œI drove by when I dropped off Mr. and Mrs. Smitty.”
    He parked the truck and unfastened his seat belt.
    Shelby reached out and touched his arm. “Do you think they’ll listen to us?”
    â€œI don’t know.” He wanted to wipe the worry from her face, but that was something he’d been trying to do for years. Shelby Sparks was not one to accept help easily or often. “All we can do is try.”
    She nodded once, clutched her large shoulder bag to her chest, and hopped out of the truck. They entered city hall, and Shelby stopped, staring around the room with her mouth open in surprise.
    The scene in front of them could best be called controlled chaos.
    Emergency lights were working, so their generator was in working order. Officers from the Abney Police Department had congregated in the middle of the room. Max guessed they had come off the eleven p.m. shift but weren’t ready to go home until they knew what was happening. All five of the council members were present, but three were staring at their phones. The other two were standing in front of a map of Abney, studying it as if to find answers.
    At the front of the room was the mayor, the mayor pro tem, the police chief, and the fire chief. Eugene Stone, the mayor pro tem, was practically shouting at the other three, waving his arms and jabbing a finger in the air to make some point.
    The mayor, Nadine Perkins, seemed to be listening to the men standing in front of her, but they were interrupting one another. As Max and Shelby pushed their way through the crowd, he realized the other three were firing questions at Perkins.
    The mayor almost looked relieved when she glanced up and caught Max’s eye. He motioned toward her office, and she nodded in the affirmative, excusing herself from the group and meeting Max and Shelby at her office door. She ushered them inside.
    â€œBob Bryant doesn’t want to send his officers home until he understands what we’re dealing with. Luis has no way to know who might need an ambulance.”
    â€œThe ambulances work?” Max asked.
    â€œYes, and so do the police cruisers.”
    â€œProbably because they’re older,” Shelby muttered.
    â€œThe problem is that all of the phones are down, and Eugene—” She left the sentence unfinished.
    Max could imagine the trouble Eugene Stone was giving her. Stone remained bitter that he had lost in his bid for mayor when Perkins was elected. That he’d lost the position to a woman, and one relatively new to town—she’d moved there ten years ago—had not helped. He had run again in the next election and won the council seat, eventually being appointed mayor pro tem.
    â€œEnough of my problems,” Perkins said. “Tell me what you two are doing out at this hour. Tell me I don’t already have legal problems from…” She gestured toward the window, which was covered with a blind.