It Only Takes a Moment by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

arms. He felt her young skin. He buried his nose in her soft hair. Just as he lifted his hand to caress her bare leg, he felt a vibration in his pants.
    Crap. He knew who was calling him.
    Hugh didn’t want to answer, but he had to. He had promised to keep his cell phone on at all times. There would be hell to pay later if he didn’t respond now.
    He put the child back on the ground, but kept his arm locked around her as he got the phone out of his pocket with his free hand.
    “Where are you, Hughie?”
    “Nowhere special.”
    “Don’t lie to me, Hughie. Where are you?”
    There was no use in trying to hide it. She would be able to hear the roar of the rides and the kids screaming in the background.
    “At the carnival.”
    “What’s the matter with you, Hughie?” she shrieked. “You know it’s dangerous for you there.”
    “Quit worrying, will you, Isabelle?”
    “Quit worrying? Are you crazy? Of course I’m going to worry. How can you jeopardize everything like this? You know we can’t take any chances. You better get back here right now.”
    At that moment the little girl kicked Hugh’s shin, causing him to yelp. Instinctively, he pulled back and the child wriggled free. Hugh didn’t try to chase her as she ran to find her brother.

CHAPTER 17
    “C an you help us with something?” asked Agent Laggie.
    Eliza roused herself from staring at the framed photographs resting on top of the piano. Janie as a baby, wrapped in the pale yellow blanket knit by her maternal grandmother. Janie as a toddler, taking her first steps. Janie on her first day of kindergarten. Janie missing her two front teeth. Janie hugging Daisy.
    Janie.
    Janie.
    Janie.
    “Yes, of course. What is it?” she asked as she turned away from the pictures. She noticed that Laggie was holding a box in his hands.
    “Would you come upstairs with me and help collect any articles…that would have Janie’s scent on them?”
    Eliza looked at him, uncomprehending for a moment.
    “It might help us later if we have to use search dogs,” said Laggie.
    “Oh my God, this can’t be happening,” Eliza whispered as she got up off the piano bench and led the way to Janie’s bedroom. The room was tidy, the twin beds made, the toys picked up and stored in the play box and on the shelves that lined two walls of the room.
    Agent Laggie took plastic bags from the box he was holding and handed them to Eliza.
    “Dirty socks, underwear, pajamas, and anything else you think would help,” he said. “Just stow them in the bags.”
    Eliza opened the walk-in closet. A large canvas hamper stood at the rear. It was empty. “Mrs. Garcia is so efficient,” she said. “She must have done Janie’s dirty laundry early this morning.”
    Agent Laggie looked at her in a way that Eliza thought communicated his skepticism.
    “How about the bathroom?” he suggested. “Janie’s toothbrush, her hairbrush or comb?”
    Those items were all on the shelf over the bathroom sink. Eliza carefully placed each one in a plastic bag, stopping to catch her breath at the sight of strands of Janie’s fine brown hair caught between the bristles on the hairbrush.
    “We need Janie’s fingerprints, too,” said Laggie.
    Eliza didn’t have to ask him why.

CHAPTER 18
    “M ommy,” Janie called between sobs. “I want my mommy.”
    Mrs. Garcia ached to take the child in her arms, but the tightly tied ropes that bound her wrists made that impossible. “Shh, tesoro. You will be with Mommy soon,” she whispered. “Just try to rest. If you fall asleep, you can forget that you are missing your mommy.”
    “I can’t sleep,” Janie whined. “I want Daisy and I need my Zippy. I can’t sleep without Zippy.”
    A loud banging from the other side of the wall made Mrs. Garcia jump.
    “Shut up in there,” the man’s voice ordered. “I don’t want to hear another word about your mother, your dog, or that freakin’ Zippy.”
    “Please, Janie,” Mrs. Garcia whispered. “Try to be