And Then You Die by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page B

beaten the odds. Bess's arms tightened around the baby. “Were there any other survivors?”
    Kaldak shook his head. “Just you.”
    “I mean any townspeople other than Josie.”
    “Not that I know about.” He stopped the jeep. “When you finish searching, come to the plaza. I'll pick you up there.”
    She got out. “Aren't you afraid I'll run away?”
    “It doesn't matter. I'd find you.”
    The absolute certainty in his voice unnerved her. She felt a rush of fear that she tried to smother. “Why are you here? What are you looking for?”
    “Money.”
    She stared at him in bewilderment. “Money?”
    “If you find any, don't touch it. It's mine.”

Five
    Emily was not in the house.
    But there were signs that she had been there. The huge pot of water for sterilization was on the stove and her leather medical bag was on the table.
    Emily always took her medical bag everywhere. Why hadn't she taken it with her? Maybe she had not wanted to burden herself with the bag. Maybe she had just stuffed some emergency supplies in her pockets.
    Bess carefully set Josie down on the couch, crossed to the table, and unfastened the bag. Everything was neat and nothing seemed missing.
    But Emily was always neat, and Bess didn't actually know what Emily carried in the bag.
    She crossed the room to the crib. It, too, appeared undisturbed. The mosquito netting was still thrown up the way Bess had left it when she had snatched Josie and given her to Emily.
    Bess moved through to the next room, which bore poignant evidence of the people who had lived there. A wooden crucifix over the bed. Photographs of a smiling older man and woman on the nightstand. Josie's grandparents? Were they also dead?
    Stop it. She had come for a purpose. She started to search. No note. No other sign that Emily had been there. Disappointment swamped her. She had told herself not to expect anything, but she had felt a fugitive hope that Emily was still in Tenajo. No, she must have taken Josie and run as Bess had begged her to do.
    But Josie had been taken by Esteban. And the only way that could have happened was if Emily had been captured and killed by Esteban.
    Or Kaldak. In the short time she had known him he had shown himself capable of anything.
    No, she wouldn't permit herself to consider the possibility that Emily was dead. Just the thought of it caused her to panic. Emily had escaped.
    A sound came from the other room. A whimper. Josie was stirring at last.
    She knelt down beside the couch. Josie's big, dark eyes were open and she was smiling.
    “Hi,” Bess whispered. “Here we are again. Now what am I going to do with you?”
    Josie gurgled at her.
    She stroked the baby's cheek. There was nothing softer or more satiny on earth than a baby's skin. “Where did you lose Emily? You'd be much happier with her. She knows a lot more than I do about babies. I'm a rank amateur.”
    Josie reached up, caught a strand of Bess's hair, and tugged.
    Bess laughed softly. “What the hell, we'll get along. We just have to decide what to do.”
    And whom to trust.
     
    She changed Josie's diaper and then went looking for food. She found a few jars of sealed baby food in one of the cupboards. She opened one and got half the minced beef down Josie before she started playing with her food.
    “No games,” Bess told her firmly. “We've got serious stuff here.” She picked Josie up and carried her out onto the porch. She looked up at the hills. Was Emily somewhere in those hills, trying to reach the coast?
    Lord, she hoped so.
    She was tempted to run toward those hills herself. Well, why not? She had a good sense of direction and a certain amount of experience in rough country. Three years before she'd found herself stranded in Afghanistan and made it all the way to the Pakistani border. There was a good chance she could make it to the coast.
    I'd find you.
    Just try, Kaldak.
    Josie whimpered and Bess loosened her grasp, which she had unconsciously tightened. No, this