Secrets in a Small Town by Kimberly Van Meter Read Free Book Online

imagine it’s hard for Owen Garrett to forget,” she murmured, glancing up to meet her father’s troubled gaze.
    “We all have crosses to bear,” he said simply.
    “Yeah, but some are heavier for others, wouldn’t you say?”
    He shrugged. “That’s the way it goes.”
    “Why should a son bear the sins of the father?”
    Speculation glittered in Jasper’s eyes. “Where is this coming from? This sudden need to know all about Red Meadow? It happened when you were just a baby. It’s ancient history by now and best left there.”
    “I don’t know about that.”
    “Why?”
    “Well, I’ve been doing a little digging and—”
    “Stop.”
    She stared. “What? Why?”
    “Because nothing good will come from dredging up that mess. There were too many people who were hurt, ashamed and broken after that incident. I don’t want you anywhere near it.”
    “I don’t understand—”
    “Just do as I ask,” he demanded sharply, startling her. He collected himself to add more gently. “Please.”
    All her life, she’d known her father as the kindest man on the planet. Yet, with the topic of Red Meadows between them, he seemed to harden. She didn’t know what to make of this version of her father. She glanced at her mother, who was chatting with another community member, and wondered what hid behind the laughter of the two people Piper trusted the most.
    The thought scared her as much as the knowledge that she wouldn’t stop until she found out.

    O WEN’S CELL PHONE BUZZED on his desk, set in motion by the vibration and he caught it before it danced right off the desk. He frowned when he saw it was Gretchen.
    “What’s up, Gretch?” he asked, noting the late hour.
    But instead of Gretchen, he heard the frightened quiver of seven-year-old Quinn on the other line. “O-wen,” she said in a tight whisper. “Can you come get me? I’m scared.”
    He stood and grabbed his keys. “Sure, honey. Where’s your mama?” he asked, keeping his voice calm even when a bad feeling had started to crawl down his spine. “Everything okay?”
    “Nooo,” she wailed, letting loose with a stream of babbling that he couldn’t hope to piece together until she stemmed the tears.
    “Hold on, honey, I can’t understand you when you’re crying. Tell me what’s going on. Where’s your mama?” he asked again.
    She sniffed back the tears and answered in a watery voice. “He took her.”
    “He who?”
    “Danny. And he was real mad. They were yelling and mama was crying,” she said, lowering her voice as if she were afraid that Danny might hear her. “And he hit her in her tummy. Mama was hurt real bad I think. And I’m s-scared that he’s going to come back and get me, too. Please hurry, Owen.”
    “You got it, sweetheart. But I want you to do something for me until I get there, okay?”
    “Uh-huh,” she agreed, listening.
    “I want you to walk over to Mr. Peters’s house and wait for me there, okay?”
    “But Mama said not to leave the house when she’s gone,” Quinn said, worried.
    “That’s a very good rule and I’ll tell your mama that I said it was okay just this once.”
    “Okay,” Quinn said, her tone solemn and trusting. She sniffed again. “Do you think Mama is going to be all right?”
    “I hope so, sweetheart. Now, hang up and walk to Mr. Peters’s right now. I’m leaving the office and I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    Quinn hung up and he pictured her running through the dark to the elderly neighbor’s house, a man Owen knew would keep her safe until he got there. As he ran to his truck, he dialed 9-1-1 and quickly told the dispatcher the situation.
    His mind raced with the bare bits of information Quinn had given him but he tried not to let his imagination paint the worst picture possible. It wasn’t as though a seven-year-old was the best source of information but there was an ominous feeling at the base of his skull that he couldn’t shake.
    A punch to the gut when a woman was in