Holiday in Stone Creek Read Free

Special Forces veteran and big-time security consultant, had installed the systems. They were top-of-the-line, best available. The children and grandchildren of presidents, congressmen, Oscar winners and software inventors attended that school--it had to be kidnap-proof, and it was.
    Sophie had begged him not to leave her there.
    Even as Tanner reflected on that, his cell phone rang. Sophie had chosen the ring tone before their most recent parting--the theme song from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
    He, of course, was the Grinch.
    "Tanner Quinn," he said, even though he knew this wasn't a business call. The habit was ingrained.
    "I hate this place!" Sophie blurted without preamble. "It's like a prison! "
    "Soph," Tanner began, on another sigh. "Your roommate sings lead for your favorite rock band of all time. How bad can it be?"
    "I want to come home!"
    If only we had one, Tanner thought. The barely palatable reality was that he and Sophie had lived like Gypsies--if not actual fugitives--since Kat's death.
    "Honey, you know I won't be here long. You'd makefriends, get settled in and then it would be time to move on again."
    "I want you," Sophie all but wailed. Tanner's heart caught on a beat. "I want Butterpie. I want to be a regular kid! "
    Sophie would never be a "regular kid." She was only twelve and already taking college-level courses--another advantage of attending an elite school. The classes were small, the computers were powerful enough to guide satellites and the visiting lecturers were world-renowned scientists, historians, linguistics experts and mathematical superstars.
    "Honey--"
    "Why can't I live in Stoner Creek, with you and Butterpie?"
    A smile tugged at one corner of Tanner's mouth. " Stone Creek," he said. "If there are any stoners around here, I haven't made their acquaintance yet."
    Not that he'd really made anybody's acquaintance. He hadn't been in town more than a few days. He knew the real estate agent who'd sold him Starcross, and Brad O'Ballivan, because he'd built a palace for him once, outside Nashville, which was how he'd gotten talked into the animal-shelter contract.
    Brad O'Ballivan. He'd thought the hotshot country-and-western music star would never settle down. Now he was over-the-top in love with his bride, Meg, and wanted all his friends married off, too. He probably figured if he could fall that hard for a woman out here in Noplace, U.S.A., Tanner might, too.
    "Dad, please," Sophie said, sniffling now. Somehow his daughter's brave attempt to suck it up got to Tanner even more than the crying had. "Get me out of here. IfI can't come to Stone Creek, maybe I could stay with Aunt Tessa again, like I did last summer...."
    Tanner took off his hat, moved along the breezeway to the barn doorway, shut off the lights. "You know your aunt is going through a rough time right now," he said quietly. A rough time? Tessa and her no-account husband, Paul Barker, were getting a divorce. Among other things, Barker had gotten another woman pregnant--a real blow to Tess, who'd wanted a child ever since she'd hit puberty--and now she was fighting to hold on to her home. She'd bought that horse farm with her own money, having been a successful TV actress in her teens, and poured everything she had into it--including the contents of her investment portfolio. Against Tanner's advice, she hadn't insisted on a prenup.
    We're in love, she'd told him, starry-eyed with happiness.
    Paul Barker hadn't had the proverbial pot to piss in, of course. And within a month of the wedding he'd been a signer on every account Tess had. As the marriage deteriorated, so did Tess's wealth.
    Cold rage jangled along Tanner's nerves, followed the fault line in his soul. At Kat's suggestion, he'd set up a special trust fund for Tess, way back, and it was a damn good thing he had. To this day, she didn't know the money existed--he and Kat hadn't wanted Barker to tap into it--and when she did find out, her fierce Quinn pride would probably