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The sight of Declan in uniform seemed to flip a switch in Ed. His gaze landed on David and for a fraction of a second, Paxton thought the man might smile. Maybe things would be okay.
In the opposite corner of the café, Paxton opted to sit beside Sandra instead of across from her. Their backs to the window, they could easily see everything happening at Ed and David’s table, even if they couldn’t hear. Of course, Declan and Grace were seated at the table directly next to Ed and David. Later, Paxton would ask them about the conversation between father and son.
They ordered something to eat, and carefully watching the table across the way, barely touched their food. At one point, David must have said something Ed didn’t like, because he grabbed his son’s arm, hard. Sandra gasped, Paxton bit down hard, Declan pushed his chair back, and thankfully, Ed let go and this time did smile.
The only comforting thing at the moment was that scattered around the diner, several other chairs scraped along the floor at that moment. Adam had actually gotten to his feet, his wife tugging at his arm to sit. Paxton knew exactly how his cousin felt. Sitting still, only able to watch, was killing him. Something needed to be done about Ed Morton.
“Is this day ever going to end?” Sandra kept her gaze on her son. Time was crawling by at the pace of a sick snail.
Part of Paxton wanted Ed to try something, anything, that they could use against him to keep him away from David. The smarter side of him knew that it was in David’s best interest for Ed to walk the straight and narrow with this visit. If only Paxton had the wisdom of Solomon.
“Do you smell something?” Sandra sniffed at the air. “Do you think Frank is burning someone’s lunch?”
To Paxton the sour smell didn’t seem like burned food. Glancing around, he looked for anything out of the ordinary. Another few minutes passed and the smell grew stronger. Declan must have noticed the same thing as he was on his feet, walking toward the back of the café. When he reached the restrooms, he looked left then right. Just as he looked up, a loud pitch siren sounded. Someone shouted, “Fire!” and in a flash, chairs scraped across the tile floor, hushed murmurs tinged with panic filtered through the café. Another moment and the overhead sprinklers went off, showering everyone with water. The controlled panic instantly slid into total chaos as people pushed away from tables, slid out of booths, and slammed into each other in a race for the front door. Everyone except for Ed and David. Neither was anywhere to be seen.
Even though Declan had been sitting near Ed and David, and Grace had been at their side as well, the moment the alarm sounded and Sandra lost sight of her son, panic coursed through every drop of blood in her body. Her baby. “Where is he?”
“I don’t see him.” Paxton’s hand landed on her lower back as he maneuvered her through the sudden rush of movement and the increasing smoke filling the café. “We’ll find him.”
Immediately, Paxton’s phone pinged a message. “Grace lost contact.”
Another ping, this time from Adam. “Not near me and Meg.”
The phone began sounding off with message after message. So intent on watching David with his father, Sandra hadn’t noticed all the Farradays scattered around the diner. One by one they pinged back and forth. Aunt Eileen and the social club had been seated near the door and were now spreading out along Main Street. How had she not seen Brooks and his wife in the diner, or Connor and Catherine in the side parking lot?
Nora and Neil had been by the rear kitchen door. “No sign of anyone in the back.”
“Where is he?” She didn’t want to sound like a crazed frantic parent, but any second now she was about to lose her mind. “How far can Ed get with him?”
“Not very.” Finally, out the front door, the street was blocked with fire trucks and police cars. Standing by Connor, Paxton looked up and down the street. “Reed was watching his car.”
“He was?” She didn’t even know what kind of car her ex drove now, how did everyone else know?
“We have a reading on their location.” Paxton stared at his phone.
“Reading?” Now Sandra felt totally confused.
Paxton nodded, still looking down at the phone. “I put a tracker in his backpack. The police are monitoring it.”
“Why did you do that?” The words had barely left her lips when she realized what a stupid question that was. Paxton was no idiot. Of course he’d realized her ex was not to be trusted. “Never mind. Thank you.”
“Would love to take credit for it, but it was Declan’s idea. I just helped with the logistics.” He stared at the screen a few more moments, then looked up at the café. “The fire was set in the trash can in the ladies’ room.”
“The ladies room? But I never saw Ed get up, never mind go into the ladies’ room.” This made no sense to her. “Do you think the fire has nothing to do with Ed?”
“Not on your life.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on. The backpack is just up the street.”
He didn’t have to ask her twice. Threading her fingers with his, she trotted to keep up with his long strides. Two shops up, he turned the corner and led her to the back alley. His gaze scanning the length of the space, a deep frown settled between his brows as Esther, the police dispatcher, came up to a nearby trash can.
Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat, Esther pulled David’s backpack out of the trash can. “For an idiot, he had the good sense to ditch the tracker.”
“Assuming he knew there was a tracker.” Paxton sighed and looked intently down the alley. “He won’t get far.”
More than anything, Sandra hoped he was right.
Just turning onto Main Street again, Sister from the boutique came hurrying up to them, panting heavily and frantically waving her arm. “He’s heading up Pearl Street. Sissy spotted him through the window. Took us another moment to realize the little boy he was dragging along was David. That nasty man, I knew he was nothing but trouble the day he came shopping.”
“Did you tell Declan?” Paxton rocked on his heels, clearly ready to go running after the man himself.
