CHAPTER 47
The doorbell rang, resonating a cheery tone through the house as Maddie raced to answer it, sliding to a stop in her stockinged feet, the dogs frolicking beside her, as anxious as she to greet their guests. She pulled the door wide and threw her arms around the chief, so happy to see him she could almost burst. Crushing him in the fiercest hug she could muster, her cheek pressed painfully against his badge and buttons, she smiled across at Detective Frost.
“Don’t go anywhere,” she warned him. “You’re next.”
She heard the click of her mother’s heels on the hardwood floor of the hallway.
“Don’t make them stand on the porch, Maddie—let them in. Lunch is on the table.”
Maddie released her hold on the chief and kept her promise to his partner, folding him in a tight embrace befo
