Page 49 of In Her Sights
“My son.”
“Oh! Right.” Molly avoided meeting John’s gaze again, since she was already on the edge of laughter. How did someone go from the name Sky to the nickname Tick? They were both found in nature, but that was about the extent of the similarities. “He does live with you, then.”
Mother Tick gave the smallest nod of agreement. “Just until he clears his record and can apply for a concealed weapon permit. After that, he can get a good security job.”
Molly swallowed a snarky reply, offering a smile and a nod instead. “That sounds like a solid plan.”
“Do you think he’d be interested in helping remodel the church?” John asked, and Molly gave his hand a squeeze. They worked well as a team. “We’re going to need a lot of hands on deck, but we’ll pay generously.”
Mother Tick straightened with interest. “Well, I can’t answer for him, but I’ll pass that along to him.”
“And his friends,” Molly added quickly. “If he has some that are good with a hammer. We’ll be new to town, so we’ll need to rely on you to let us know who we should trust.”
“Of course.” Mother Tick looked pleased.
“So!” Molly broadened her sunny grin as she looked at the other woman. “Questions. How are the crime levels in this neighborhood? Do you have a lot of problems?”
“No, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. My Sky has contacts, and he makes sure I’m safe.”
“Contacts?” Molly tried to sound hopeful, and not like she was going into interrogation mode. “Is there someone we should talk to? We’d like to get along with our new neighbors and parishioners, so any help you could give us would be welcome.”
Mother Tick pursed her lips, eyeing them. It was fairly evident that her desire to brag about her inside knowledge was quickly overwhelming her caution. Wanting to encourage this, Molly widened her eyes and leaned forward slightly, as if she couldn’t wait to hear what the other woman had to say.
“My son’s friend might be able to help you,” she said with a show of reluctance that was overridden by her obvious glee. “Sonny Zarver.”
“Sonny Zarver.” John pulled a pen and a small notebook out of one of his many pockets and jotted that down. “Where can we find him, do you know?”
Mother Tick looked startled by the question, and Molly held her breath, hoping that they hadn’t spooked her. Molly plastered on her best pastor’s wife smile and nudged John, who beamed kindly at Tick’s mom as well. After a moment, she relaxed slightly, and Molly followed suit.
“He’s been staying here, actually,” Mother Tick said, and Molly forced down her excitement, keeping her expression blandly interested with a great deal of effort. They were so close.
“Oh?” Her fingers tightened on John’s hand, needing an outlet to let out her nervous glee. When she heard him grunt, Molly relaxed her grip, giving his fingers the slightest light squeeze in apology. “Is he here now?”
“I think so.” Mother Tick frowned, but it was more uncertain than suspicious this time. “Although I haven’t heard anything from his room yet today.” All three of them glanced at the ceiling, and Molly stopped herself before she could squirm. Their target was so close, just some wooden studs and plaster separating them from a huge bounty and a chance to keep her and her sisters’ home. “He keeps rather…odd hours.” The downturn of the woman’s lips lightened, changing to a proud smile. “Sky, on the other hand… You could set a clock by him.” Her gaze darted to a gold clock sitting on the table, just as it chimed the three-quarter hour.
No time to waste, Molly thought as she twitched, finally giving in to her urge to wriggle around. “I’m so sorry,” she said, ducking her head in pretend bashfulness. “We haven’t told many people yet, but you’ve been so kind…” She shot a look at John, who smiled at her even as he silently asked what she was about to do. This part hadn’t exactly been ironed out before they’d knocked on Mother Tick’s door. “We’re expecting our first.”
Pressing her hand to her belly, low down where period cramps were centered every month, Molly let her smile stretch, trying to show all of the sappiness and none of the horror that came with the idea of being pregnant. “Unfortunately, this little bean is parked directly on my bladder. Would you mind if I used your bathroom?” When Mother Tick hesitated, Molly bit her lower lip, trying her best to look both embarrassed and in urgent need of the facilities.
“Very well,” Mother Tick finally huffed, waving at the dim archway that led away from the front door. “Second door on your left.”
“Thank you,” Molly gushed, slipping her hand out of John’s and instantly feeling the loss.
“Do you need any help, sweetness?” John asked her, and she barely kept herself from throwing him an eye-rolling Why would I need help to pee? look, giving him a gritted-teeth smile over her shoulder instead.
“I’ll be fine, dumpling.” She turned toward Mother Tick, whose eyes had narrowed again at his offer, and gave a small, isn’t-he-sweet laugh. “Overprotective first-time daddy,” she said in a stage whisper before throwing John a kiss. The dork actually pretended to catch it and pressed it to his heart, which was both ridiculous and, at the same time, gave her a warm feeling in her chest.
She hurried toward the hallway before John could do anything else. The bathroom door was open, so Molly turned on both the light and the exhaust fan, the latter to hopefully hide any noises that she should be making. The door locked with a simple push button on the knob, so she engaged it before pulling the door closed while she was still in the hallway.
Not wanting to waste any time—since who knew what John was saying in the living room—Molly slipped deeper into the dark house. Although she knew from what Mother Tick had said that the room Sonny was staying in was upstairs, she pulled a small flashlight out of her pants pocket and peeked into the next room, which looked like a rarely used study. Once she saw no one was inside, she moved to the next doorway.
She hated to waste her limited time checking rooms, but Molly didn’t want to be ambushed from behind. Her hope of simply grabbing Sonny and calling in a sheriff’s department pickup had died the night before, when he’d blown a hole in a bathroom wall to escape from them. This would most likely be messy, but she was determined that this one bail jumper would not stand in the way of her keeping her family’s home.
Stepping into the kitchen, she made a face as she looked around. Even in this room, curtains were pulled over the window above the sink, turning what should’ve been a bright and open kitchen into an eerie space. The counters and cupboards were obscured in the gloom, which blackened the space underneath the small table. Even her small light somehow made things worse, illuminating just a small area, but leaving the rest of the room shrouded in shadows.
The beam of the flashlight settled on a narrow, closed door across the room, and she moved toward it. According to the floor plans Norah had found, that should lead to the stairs to the second level. She moved quickly, wanting to get out of the haunted kitchen as soon as possible, and her hip bumped against the edge of a metal chair, making it rattle as it slid a few inches across the scarred linoleum floor.
Molly froze, listening for any sound indicating that the residents of the house had heard, but the low rumble of John’s voice and Mother Tick’s higher-pitched responses didn’t change. There was no movement on the second floor—at least not that Molly could hear—so she finished crossing the kitchen, taking care not to bump into anything else.
