You Can't Hide by Theresa Sneed (uplifting novels TXT) 📕

Under a paperclip, there was a newspaper article with picture of Elle, along with a brief description of her death. He waved the folder at the agent. He didn’t want to read this.

“Read on,” Mr. Hancock.”

Tears filled his eyes as he read about the fire in Tennessee that had taken Elle’s life, but what was that under it? He lifted the newspaper clipping.

His heart went to his throat. ‘Relocated. Witness Protection Program.’ He looked up at the agent, as the folder slipped from his fingers to the floor. “Elle is alive?”

“Yes,” he heard a soft voice say. Elle appeared in the doorway.

She took his breath away. She stood so still that it could’ve been just a vision—a hope too strong to dispel. She’d been dead to him for weeks. He’d wet his pillow with tears of frustration and anguish, and yet, she stood before him. “You’re alive?”

She grinned. “More than ever now.”

He was afraid to take his eyes off her, afraid she would disappear.

“Oh, Sam,” she said, taking a cautious step toward him. “I wanted to tell you. I picked up the phone more than once, but—” She wrung her hands in front of her. “He tried to murder Sally, and I just couldn’t let him know she was still—”

“Sally’s alive?”

Her lip quivered, and she gave him a quick nod. “Yes.”

He reached for her, and they collapsed in each other’s arms.

The patter of footsteps came down the hall and stopped just outside the door. “Daddy?” Sally’s tiny voice wafted through the air. Upon seeing Sam, she stopped short and pointed at him. “Yuck. What happened to your face?”

Sally hadn’t seen him since before his accident, and the scars and cropped hair must’ve been quite a shock. He, on the other hand, felt like he was seeing an angel—having her alive, along with Elle, was beyond incredible.

“Yuck?” He laughed. “Is that anyway to greet your soon-to-be father?”

He expected her to join in his jovial mood, but her countenance dropped. “He hurt you.”

“Oh no, baby-girl.” Elle rushed over to Sally and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, but she gave Sam a questioning look.

Sam knelt down in front of the little girl. “No Sally, it was just an accident.” He pulled her close.

He glanced up at Elle’s somber expression and frowned. For weeks now, he hadn’t been able to remember much about the accident, but as he held Sally, a strange thought popped into his head. MJ. He had been there. He was interrupted in his thoughts, when Karen appeared in the doorway.

“So glad you could join us, Sam,” Karen said, with a grin.

A man stood beside her that Sam didn’t recognize.

Karen bent down to Sally. “Hey, Sweetie,” she said. “The cookies are cool enough for you to have one.” She rustled her hair when she skipped by, and then gesturing to Sam, she turned to the man beside her. “That’s Sam Hancock.” Pointing to the man, she looked at Sam. “And um, this is . . .”

“Todd McGuire?” Sam held back a scowl. Elle had told him all about Todd McGuire.

Elle seemed to get his sudden change of mood. “Long story . . . plenty of time to tell it, just know that the lurid pictures were phonies—someone tried to break them up.”

“You’re kidding.”

Todd grimaced. “Wish we were, Sam, but no—some devious mind concocted the whole thing.”

Karen looped her arm through Todd’s. “But the good news is that the whole debacle was discovered.” She turned to Todd. “And we’re together again.”

That was good news, but—“why are you here?” His face went blank. “Oh, wait. The two unidentified bodies in the cabin?—that was you?”

Karen’s face fell at the mention of the fire. She gave him a quick nod, and then explained. “They thought it best not to ID us. If an assailant is still on the loose, they didn’t think it wise to give him any information.” She looked cautiously at Todd and her gaze saddened. “Our families were told that we died.”

Todd broke in. “Not an easy thing . . .”

Until that moment, Sam hadn’t considered the full ramifications of having a new alias—a different name and location. “I can’t call any of my family? No one knows?” He fell back against the bed.

“No,” Elle said, biting her lip. “Everyone was told that you . . . died.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Sam. This is all my fault.”

Karen moved quickly beside her. “No. It’s not your fault.”

Sam took her hands. “You know that’s not true—not at all.”

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she trembled. “It’s not like its forever, right? I mean, after Merrick is executed—”

“You’re shaking—” Sam studied her eyes, full of worry. “I know this is hard, Elle, but you’re right, we’ll be back with our family in no time at all.”

Inwardly, he groaned, knowing that Merrick’s demise might take several years. And if Marvin hadn’t acted alone, and an accomplice still remained a danger, reuniting with their families might never happen at all.

Fourteen

Loose Ends

The man pulled up in front of the rubble and turned the engine off. It had been weeks since the fire burned the cabin to the ground. A sign had been nailed to what remained of the structure.

DANGER – STAY OUT

A growl built up in his throat. “You have no idea just how dangerous.” Returning to the scene of the crime was risky, but he’d carefully monitored the police investigation, and it had seemed to have come to an end. Least whys, the Feds had wrapped up their end of it, and the local cops were finished long ago. After finding the four charred bodies, what else was there to find?

He lit his cigarette, took a long draw, and then spit out the window. He opened the car door and stepped out. He walked the perimeter of what used to be a cabin. Nothing remained except for part of a wall. The