Abducted by Janice Cantore Read Free Book Online Page B

punched in his number.
    “It’s about time!” Nick was livid. “Were you ever going to call and tell me what was going on with Joe?”
    As if his rage traveled through the phone lines and infused Carly, she felt her face flush with indignation. How dare he!
    “What is that supposed to mean? Since when am I supposed to check in with you? I called you earlier, and it went to voice mail. I was tired. I went home and fell asleep.”
    “Five minutes! That’s all a phone call would have taken you—five minutes. Is that too much to ask?” Nick sounded uncharacteristically harsh. Carly couldn’t recall him ever talking to her that way. She took a deep breath and bit back the sarcastic retort on her tongue. I don’t want to hurt you, Nick. Even though everyone kept telling her she wasn’t the problem, she bristled at being his chosen target. Her pastor’s Sunday message came to mind: “Angry words pierce and the holes can’t be patched.”
    “Nick, I’m sorry, okay? I meant to call you again and forgot. I was tired. I really can’t tell you much more than what you’ve already seen on the news.”
    The line was quiet, and Carly took the opportunity to count to ten. She felt the flush slowly recede from her face.
    “I’m sorry too—sorry I snapped. I’m not mad at you. I . . . well, I just—” his tone was calmer and a little contrite—“I just want to help; that’s all. I hate feeling useless.”
    Carly relaxed. “I don’t know if there is much we can do right now. I haven’t talked to Andi yet, but Lieutenant Jacobs is in charge on our end, and you know he’s thorough.” She twisted some hair around her finger.
    “You’ll let me know, won’t you?”
    “Of course I will.”
    There was a pause; then he thanked her before saying good-bye. Carly replaced the receiver and sat for a minute with her head in her hands. Why has Nick pulled so far out of my reach? He’s put up a wall I don’t know how to get around or through, and it scares me as much as A.J.’s being missing.
    “You with us?”
    Carly jumped at the sound of Andrea’s voice. When she faced her roommate, she saw frustration and fatigue and hoped the anger about their conversation yesterday had dissipated.
    “Yeah, I’m here. I was just thinking.” She shook away her musings and focused on Andrea. “Hey, what’s going on? I thought Memorial’s security was the best.”
    “It is. It just doesn’t do any good when it’s turned off.” Andrea sat down in a chair next to Carly, leaned back, and closed her eyes. “I swear, Carly, it was like Casper the unfriendly ghost was here this afternoon. She—at least we think it’s a she—waltzed into the nursery security office, turned off all the cameras, and left with A.J. I’ve been everywhere, talked to everyone, and this person came and went practically without being seen.”
    There was something strange in Andrea’s body language, but Carly wasn’t sure what it was. “Was anything going on here today out of the ordinary that would have distracted security from noting her coming and going?”
    “Not a thing,” she said with some heat. “We were short one security officer, but the shortage was downstairs at the information desk. That may have made it easy for someone to come in unnoticed, but not all the rest. I can’t believe it.”
    “Andrea, I think we’ve got something.”
    Both women looked up at the sound of a male voice. It was Peter Harris, homicide detective. He smiled and dipped his head to Carly but looked every bit as frustrated as Andi. Carly knew he was on a mission. As part of the same case that earned her the nickname Trouble, Pete Harris had weathered storms of internal investigations after it was discovered his partner of eight years was on the take and involved in three murders. It was his partner who had firebombed Kay Edwards’s house. Now the man would hopefully end up serving a life sentence in Folsom Prison. The investigation exonerated Pete and he