Branded. B.J. Daniels

apron, her voice again as tiny as she was.

      The tension in the room dropped a notch.

      “Could we all sit down?” Halley asked.

      Sid grudgingly took a chair, scowling the whole time at Colton, who sat down on one end of the couch, Halley on the other. She wondered what he’d done to Jessica that warranted this much hatred from the girl’s father. Was Colton right and it was just a father’s love of his only daughter? Or something more sinister on either of the two men’s parts?

      “We need to be sure that Jessica is all right,” Halley said. “Finding her purse raises questions, as I’m sure you realize. Could I see the letters from your daughter?”

      This time Millie didn’t look to her husband for guidance. She rose and, avoiding his gaze, went to a bedroom off the living room. She returned a few moments later with a small bundle of letters tied with a red ribbon.

      She handed them to the deputy. As Halley undid the ribbon, she noted that there were over a dozen letters.

      Before she could react, Colton stood and leaned over to snatch the top envelope from the pile.

      Sid Granger shot out of his chair. Halley quickly took the letter back. But not before Colton had let out a cry that sounded almost like a sob.

      “That isn’t Jessica’s handwriting,” he said, his voice breaking, as he snatched another envelope from her hand, opened it and pulled out the short letter. He looked devastated. “These letters aren’t from Jessica.”