Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen Read Free Book Online Page A

needed was some responsibility. That at a minimum she could show up on time, do the job right, and pay for her own damn groceries.” He shook his head. “She went to work one day, two hours late, her hair dyed purple. She had a screaming match with her supervisor. Then she walked off the job.” He let out a breath. “She was fired.”
    “And that was the last time she was seen?”
    “No. I took her out to lunch. To try to patch things up. Instead we had an argument. Naturally.”
    “Let me guess,” said Kat. “You took her to L’Etoile, on Hilton Avenue.”
    He nodded. “Maeve showed up in black leather and green hair. She insulted the maître d’. Lit up a joint in the nonsmoking section. And proceeded to tell me I had sick values. I told her she was sick, period. I also told her I was withdrawing all financial support. That if she shaped up, behaved like a responsible human being, she was welcome to come back to the house. I’d just changed my phone number—I wasgetting crank calls—so I wrote my new number in a matchbook and gave it to her. Just in case she wanted to get in touch with me. She never did.”
    “And the matchbook?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe she passed it around to a friend, and somehow Jane Doe got it. I don’t know.”
    “You haven’t seen her since the restaurant?”
    “No.”
    She paused. “Where does Lou Sykes come in?”
    “A private detective I hired told me Maeve was hanging around South Lexington. That’s Sergeant Sykes’s beat. I simply asked him to keep an eye out for her. As a favor to me. He thought he spotted her once, but that was it.”
    It sounded believable enough, Kat thought, studying his pose, the elegant cut of his tuxedo. So why do I get the feeling he’s still hiding something?
    His gaze was focused elsewhere, as though he was afraid to let her see his eyes.
    “What you’re telling me, Mr. Quantrell, isn’t exactly earth shattering. Lots of families have problems with their kids. Why were you afraid to tell me about her? Why hide it from me?”
    “It’s a rather … embarrassing state of affairs.”
    “Is that all?”
    “Isn’t that enough?” He swung around to look at her, the challenge plain in his aristocratic face. She felt trapped by the spell of that gaze. What was it about this guy?
    She gave her head a shake, as though to clear it. “No,” she said. “It’s not enough. So what if you had told me the truth before? I’m just a public servant. You don’t get embarrassed in front of your servants, do you?”
    He gave her a tight smile. “You, Dr. Novak, I hardly consider a servant.”
    “Is there something else about Maeve you don’t want to tell me? Some minor detail you haven’t mentioned?”
    “Nothing of any relevance to your job.” He turned away, a sure sign that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. His gaze focused on one of the body drawers.
    “Then I’d say our business here is finished,” she said. “Go on home to your guests. If you hurry, you might be able to make it back in time for brandy.”
    “Who is this?” he asked sharply.
    “What?”
    “This drawer here. It says Jane Doe.”
    Kat took a closer look at the label: 372-3-27-B. “Another one. Dated seven days ago. Clark must have processed this one.”
    “Who’s Clark?”
    “The other assistant ME. He’s on vacation right now.”
    Adam took a breath. “May I …” He looked up mutely at Kat.
    She nodded. Without a word, she pulled open the drawer.
    Wisps of cold vapor swirled out. Kat felt her old reluctance to lift the shroud, to reveal the body. This Jane Doe she hadn’t laid eyes on. She steeled herself against the worst and slid off the shroud.
    The woman was beautiful. Seven days of stainless-steel imprisonment couldn’t dull the glow of her hair. It was a rich red, thick and tumbling about her shoulders. Her skin had the luster of white marble, and in life must have seemed flawless. Her eyes, revealed by partly opened, heavily lashed lids, were