Deadly Holidays by Alexa Grace

invoice that was still in Frankie's briefcase.  She stared, tongue-tied and amazed, until finally tears clouded her eyes and ran down her cheeks and neck.  
     
    Slowly she slipped the gear into drive. Once on the road, Frankie pulled her cell phone out of her purse to punch her husband's number.
     
    "Hi, baby.  Can you meet me at home in thirty minutes? I have something to show you.  We have some celebrating to do, and I know just how I want to do it."
     
     
     
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    While Jennifer and her mom set glasses, plates and utensils on the dining room table, Tim glanced at Jennifer's open laptop.  Before they arrived with the food, she'd been looking at a local news web page.  In the center of the page was Shawn Isaac's elementary school photo, which was a haunting reminder that he hadn't been found. 
     
    Tim had been to his office earlier that day to attend the daily briefing Lane gave the deputies before they started their shift.  Many of them looked down when Lane announced Shawn had not been found.  The officers who had children were really taking it hard.  After all, it could have been one of their own.
     
    Tim's mind wandered back to five years earlier, when Jennifer had been missing.  He'd gone through a special kind of hell before she was found.  There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't thank God for her return. 
     
    Megan called him to the table, and the three sat around Jennifer's dining room table, eating barbeque, pulled-pork sandwiches, baked beans, coleslaw and cornbread. 
     
    Jennifer eyed her parents and said, "It looks like you'll be gaining two grandchildren soon."
     
    "I'll be damned," said Tim, his eyes glowing with enjoyment.  "So you are carrying twins?  I knew it!"
     
    Jennifer's face split into a wide grin.  "No, Dad, I'm not having twins," she began.  "One of your grandkids will be an infant; the other is five-years-old."
     
    Confused, Megan asked, "What are you talking about, Jennifer?"
     
    "As soon as Shawn Isaac is found, he will become Blake's and my son."
     
    "Now, Jennifer, I know you think a lot of this little boy," Tim began.  "But just because both his parents are dead doesn't mean you'll be able to adopt him.  Adopting isn't easy.  I know people who have waited years to adopt a child."
     
    "I just don't want you to set yourself up for disappointment and heartache," added Megan.  "Just focus on that little one you're about to give birth to."
     
    Jennifer cleared her throat and said, "Eve Isaac came to see me a few weeks ago.  She told me she had a premonition that she wouldn't live through her estranged husband's domestic battery hearing."
     
    "Oh, my God.  That's terrible," said a shocked Megan.
     
    "Why did she tell you this?  I mean, you and Eve Isaac weren't close friends," Tim remarked.
     
    "Eve asked Blake and me to take Shawn after her death.  She'd already seen an attorney and had all the legal papers taken care of," said Jennifer.  "I promised Eve if anything happened to her that we'd take custody of Shawn and raise him as our own."
     
    Megan put her hand on Jennifer's shoulder and said, "It's admirable you want to keep this promise.  But have you really thought this through?  You'll soon have an infant to care for.  Do you really want to take on the responsibility of a five-year-old, too?"
     
    Jennifer slammed her napkin on the table, her eyes filled with anger. "Seriously, Mom?  Do I really want to adopt this little boy?  Yes!  Do you hear me?  Yes!  I love Shawn and so does Blake.  He is the most amazing little boy.  Blake and I can give him all the love, support, family and home that he could ever wish for.  Shawn is going to be our son, and our baby's big brother.  Nothing is going to change that."
     
    Megan wrapped her arms around her daughter, drawing her as close as she could a pregnant woman who was nine months along.  "Hush, Darling.  It's going to be alright.  Shawn will be found and brought