Gatekeeper Read Free

down the hill if it accidentally shifted out of gear.
    Jillian’s stomach tightened into a knot. When she’d gotten the phone call she’d hoped it would all be a mistake, that it really wasn’t Amy’s van. But it was. Typical Amy. Jillian fought down the wave of anger welling inside her. How could Amy have been so careless? Why was she always so trusting? Why was she forever offering help to anyone who gave her a sob story?
    Jillian parked and got out of her car. She shivered against the early November chill and huddled inside her ice blue Chanel cashmere sweater. She drew the collar up to warm her ears which were exposed due to her severely pulled back ponytail.
    What on earth was Amy doing at a Civil War site, of all places?
    “Ms. Drew, Captain Carter wants to see you at the top of the hill,” one of the other officers called.
    Jillian swallowed and started the ascent to the top of Shy’s Hill. Here and there, a piece of old railway tie served as a stair but they were laid unevenly and some were rotted. It was difficult to see in the dim morning light and the steep trail was made even more treacherous by her tan Manolo Blahnik crocodile pumps, but she always wore them when she was afraid, as if they could give her confidence—and right now, she needed all the self-assurance she could muster. With every step, Jillian felt more and more dread. Something had happened to her sister. Something terrible.
    She dismissed the premonition. And she tried in vain to shake off the anger toward her sister for putting herself in such a precarious position.
    Jillian stopped in her tracks when she saw a throng of officers from the Metro Nashville homicide department already combing the area for evidence. She fought the rising wave of panic. This is just procedure. It doesn’t necessarily mean Amy is dead. Her breaths were short and shallow.
    Bright yellow police tape had already been strung around the perimeter. “This is a typical crime scene,” she said aloud to dispel her raw nerves. She’d worked with these people for three years on an as-needed basis doing criminal profiling. She’d seen crime scenes just like this one countless times. But this time she could not deny it was different. This time, it was her own sister.
    Jillian’s knees went weak. What if they found a body? What if they found Amy’s body ?
    What if they didn’t?
    She fought down a surge of panic and crossed the rocky summit toward the spot where Theo Carter kneeled on the ground. One of the police photographers was walking away from the scene. Jillian avoided eye contact with him. Her stomach clenched.
    Squirrels and birds rummaged in the brush for breakfast, heedless of the fact a crime had been committed here.
    “Theo?”
    He turned. His mocha-colored face contorted into a grimace as he pushed himself up to his full height of six foot seven. Before joining the department, he’d been a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans when a knee injury cut his football career short. Something dismal darkened his brown eyes.
    The contents of the rainbow-colored hemp bag Amy usually carried lay scattered in the gravel at his feet. Jillian tore her gaze away from it. Theo’s sympathetic stare was hardly more comforting.
    Dammit, Amy. “Where’s my sister?” Her voice trembled.
    Theo pursed his lips and a big hand descended on Jillian’s shoulder. “We don’t know. It looks like an abduction.”
    “An abduction?” Who would want to abduct Amy? Rape cut a dark and ugly path through Jillian’s thoughts. Underneath all the beaded headscarves and gauzy broomstick skirts, Amy was a beautiful woman. And although Jillian knew beauty didn’t have anything to do with rape, she couldn’t shake the idea from her mind.
    Theo did not look hopeful. He stepped back and shined a flashlight on the ground. “Obviously there was a struggle but it took place near the stairs.” He pointed to where several officers were kneeling and collecting evidence from the ground. His