Sam wished he could be paged back to work about now, but he wasn’t on call tonight. Not on call, but always on duty, as the gun in his ankle holster reminded him.
His mother’s Italian accent expressed a sense of excitement that Sam had no desire to feel right now. “Jessica Mathers, this is our son, Samuel. He’s a detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department.”
Jessica’s mouth tightened when she glanced up at him. “Yes,” she replied, “we’ve met once, under not-so-wonderful circumstances.”
So she remembers that night, too.
Jessica moistened her lips. “I hope this meeting will be a little less stressful…for both of us.”
FAITH ON THE LINE:
Two powerful families wage war on evil…and find love
FINDING AMY—
Carol Steward (LI #263)
CAROL STEWARD
wrote daily to a pen pal for ten years, yet writing as a career didn’t occur to her for another two decades. “My first key chain said ‘Bloom where you’re planted.’ I’ve tried to follow that advice ever since.”
Carol, her husband and their three children have planted their roots in Greeley. Together, their family enjoys sports, camping and discovering Colorado’s beauty. Carol has operated her own cake-decorating business and spent fifteen years providing full-time child care to more than one hundred children before moving on to the other end of the education field. She is now an admissions advisor at a state university.
As always, Carol loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her at P.O. Box 200286, Evans, CO 80620. She would also love for you to visit her Web page at www.carolsteward.com.
Finding Amy
Carol Steward
Dedicated to families searching for loved ones.
May the Heavenly Father be your support.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Jeffrey Sweetin, Special Agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Dave Galyard, School Resource Officer with the Greeley Police Department, for helping me clarify the intricacies of he wonderful jobs you do!
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Carol Steward for her contribution to the FAITH ON THE LINE series.
He that conceals his transgressions
shall not prosper: but whoso confesses
and forsakes them shall have mercy.
—Proverbs 28:13
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Detective Samuel Vance—He’s successfully taken down his friend’s would-be killer. Can Sam rescue a missing child…and not lose his heart to the girl’s mother in the process?
Jessica Mathers—The single mother has lived with terrible pain since the car accident that left her widowed. She wouldn’t be able to survive losing her precious little Amy.
Amy Mathers—Jessi’s daughter is only three years old. Where could she be?
Deanne Jones—What reason did the physically scarred baby-sitter have for disappearing with Amy?
Detective Rebecca Hilliard—Her job was to find missing persons. But would her feelings for her ex-boyfriend Sam get in the way?
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
D etective Samuel Vance had seen Jessica Mathers before, too many times. One too many, anyway. Like the night her drunk of a husband died. It was nothing short of a miracle that the accident hadn’t killed Jessica and her daughter at the same time.
Jessica greeted each single man at the engagement party with a champagne flute in her hand, then sipped the bubbly faithfully. The waiter stopped and offered a replacement for her empty glass; Jessica giggled and leaned close, but didn’t take another. Her light-brown hair glistened in the soft light of the chandelier. Though a healthy-size woman, she seemed thinner every time he saw her.
Sam recalled the way she’d looked the night of the accident—bruise on her left jaw, cuts all over her face. He’d been the first on scene. Her husband died immediately. Sam had taken her vitals, then glanced into the back seat and his heart had raced. He looked for the baby belonging to the diaper bag. “There’s a baby somewhere! Where’s the baby?” He jumped away from the car and turned circles, shining his flashlight into the field. No one had believed him, but he hadn’t given up. He’d been the one to hear the little girl’s whimper.
Sam turned away, wishing he hadn’t been the officer on call that night. “A Vance never forgets,” his father used to tell him. How he wished he could. Hers had been the most gruesome accident he’d seen. He shook the memory loose and searched for the bride-and groom-to-be.
Love songs crooned for Adam and Kate, the couple whose engagement sparked the laughter and happiness tonight. But as Sam bit into a dainty appetizer, he realized he needed to vent some frustration. After arresting Dr. Lionel Valenti for shooting Adam Montgomery in Venezuela and assaulting Kate Darling, Sam should be elated. Unfortunately, Valenti hadn’t been as cooperative as they’d hoped he would be during the questioning. Sam needed something more than suspicion to tie Valenti to the Diablo crime syndicate. Tension in the division was at a peak. After almost a week, neither Sam nor any of the other top-notch interrogators had gotten the doctor to crack.
Sam heard Jessica laugh. The kind of party-girl giggle that spread like a virus. He watched the man beside her turn to putty.
“You’re looking awfully cranky tonight,” Sam’s ex-sister-in-law teased. Emily followed his gaze and smiled softly. “Interesting view, isn’t it?”
He shrugged, dismissing her baited question. “Interesting to who?”
She nudged him. “I have news for you, Samuel, you’re not that discreet. Face it, you Vance men don’t look if you don’t like the woman.”
He glanced back at Jessica, angry that Emily had caught him. He could try to deny Emily’s accusation, but he’d never succeed. “There’s an exception to every rule.”
Emily’s laughter bounced off the colonial pane windows surrounding the Broadmoor Hotel ballroom and practically shattered