Deceived Read Online Free Page A

about everyone’s at the festival downtown. Goes to midnight. You a friend of Mrs. Scoffield?”
    Luke nodded. “Yeah.”
    The man eyed him suspiciously. “She hasn’t had many visitors since her husband died a few years back. Funny she’s suddenly had so many people stopping by tonight. And you’re supposed to have a key? Did you try calling her?”
    A hot shot of adrenaline spiked through Luke’s blood. “Who else has been here?” Luke demanded, ignoring the old man’s questions. “Did he give you a name?”
    The man shook his head. “Didn’t tell me his name.”
    â€œWhat’d he look like?”
    The man tilted his head to one side, considering the question. “Oh . . . young fella. Nice looking, I guess. I thought maybe Mrs. Scoffield had finally started dating again. Been a few years since her husband passed, after all.”
    Luke bounded down the steps. “Did you tell him Sarah was at the festival?”
    The man nodded. “Sure. Didn’t see the harm in it. Seemed to know a lot about her and little Eli already. Everything okay?”
    Luke jogged to his rented Ford Expedition. “What’s the quickest way to the festival?”
    The man gestured toward the north. “Just follow the main road that way. Can’t miss it.”
    Luke peeled out of the driveway and sped off down the street, hoping like hell that he got to them in time. He dialed the number Madeleine Blake had given him for her sister, but the call went straight to voicemail just as it had when Maddie had attempted to call earlier in the day. Knowing her sister kept her ringer off when she was at work, Maddie hadn’t seemed worried about Sarah’s lack of response and had texted Luke a few recent pictures of her sister and nephew. But he was betting whoever else was looking for the woman and her kid had more than that to go on.
    Luckily, the old man was right—Luke had no problem recognizing the downtown area. He parked the Expedition in a lot and handed five bucks to the attendant before hurrying toward the center of activity. Hundreds of people milled around, talking and laughing as they celebrated the season.
    Strands of yellow lights were draped on all the trees and store fronts, illuminating the dozen or so food booths and carnival games that lined the streets. In an adjacent field, carnival rides had been set up and were bustling with activity, the bright flashing lights and upbeat music blaring out of the speakers at various rides conflicting with one another and creating a disorienting cacophony of sound that put Luke’s teeth on edge. But the aroma of artery-clogging goodness in the form of corn dogs, funnel cake, and pretty much every kind of meat on a stick made Luke’s mouth water, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. And the sweet tang of hot spiced cider about did him in. But as soon as he felt the pang of hunger, it vanished. His focus was on getting to the Scoffields before whoever the hell else had been looking for them.
    Luke shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and hunched his shoulders a little, trying to blend in but drawing curious stares from several people he passed. Unfortunately, none of those faces belonged to Sarah Scoffield or her son.
    How the hell was he supposed to find them among all these people? They could be anywhere. And for all he knew, they’d already left and headed home.
    He groaned inwardly, liking this mission less and less. He needed backup. If he’d had one more set of eyes on the crowd, that would’ve at least been something. But his partner was in Seattle, pulling strings to protect the senator and his daughter and somehow keep the news of the incident from leaking to the press. And there hadn’t been time to try to grab somebody from the Alliance commandery in Seattle or Portland. That’s what he’d had to tell his commander a couple of hours