While You Were Dead by CJ Snyder Read Free Book Online Page B

her thoughts.
     
    “Why do you come, Katherine? You’re not going to help me, that’s clear, so why?”
     
    “I love you, Mom.” It was all she could offer, all she had to give. Sad, really, because it was never enough. Not for her mother. Not for Max. Kat forcibly straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat. “I’ll give Mr. Goldberg a call as soon as I get home. Is there anything you need?”
     
    “Smokes, of course. And candy. The library worker’s new and she likes candy.” Her mother suddenly leaned close, looking conspiratorial. “Has Mitch been in touch with you?”
     
    “Mitch? No. Who’s Mitch?”
     
    “Shhh!” Ellen shook her head. “He will be. Just do what he says. It’s for the best, I think.”
     
    For the best? “Who is he?”
     
    “He’ll tell you. You’ll like him. He’s got pretty eyes.” Her mother made a motion to leave.
     
    “What does he want?” Kat had learned long ago to be wary of her mother’s schemes.
     
    “He’ll tell you,” Ellen repeated. “Gotta go, baby girl. Behave yourself. Make me proud.”
     
    Kat smiled. It was the closest to “I love you” her mother ever got. Kat relished every word.
     
    ##
     
    Max sat alone in an interview room at police headquarters in Denver. His cell phone was the only thing on the table in front of him and he eyed it like he would an enemy. He’d spent the afternoon on the phone, calling in old favors. The news wasn’t good and got worse with each tick of the clock. He knew the chances of finding Lizzie rapidly diminished after the first twenty-four hours.
     
    Time for the final call. The one he’d vowed he’d never make. Resolutely, he picked up the phone.
     
    “Viper, it’s Ice.”
     
    The silence that followed his declaration didn’t surprise Max. Their last conversation, seven years ago, had ended with Max vowing his unit commander would never hear from him again. Viper’s chuckle a long second later didn’t surprise him either.
     
    “Took you long enough.”
     
    “Nothing’s changed. I need a favor.” His voice calm and steady, he outlined the facts of Lizzie’s abduction. His ability to detach himself emotionally had earned him his code name. Inside his unit, code names were the only ID ever used. When he finished, he heard Viper’s soft inhalation.
     
    “That’s low, Ice. What do you want?”
     
    “The best.”
     
    “Naturally.”
     
    “I’ve been out too long to know who, so I’ll leave that up to you. I’ve already got a guy from CBI and a local detective I know. They’ll cooperate with whoever you send. The vic was abducted two hours ago.”
     
    “Gotta hand it to you, Ice, you’re cool as ever. This is your niece we’re talking about, correct?”
     
    “Yes. Elizabeth Marie Clark.”
     
    Viper chuckled again. “That’s what I like about you. You do one thing at a time and you do it better than anybody else.
     
    It was true. Worry for Lizzie would consume him again. But not now. “That’s me. Will you help?”
     
    “Of course.” Viper was all business now. “I assume you’re talking inter-agency?”
     
    “Right.”
     
    “I’ll see who’s available and have them ship out tomorrow. We’ll find her, Ice. I guarantee it.”
     
    “Thanks.” As much as he hated reforging his severed ties, the gratitude was real.
     
    “Once we’ve got her back, then we can talk about your return to the unit.”
     
    Max could hear the smile in Viper’s voice. “Not in this lifetime, boss.”
     
    “I’ll get back to you with names and ETAs. We’ve got your number.”
     
    “Right.” Max ended the call and dialed Kat. Running into her in Lizzie’s bedroom just hours before Lizzie was taken was quite the coincidence. Max didn’t believe in coincidences.
     
    As the spring daylight faded from the sky two hours later, Max admired Kat’s sophisticated alarm system in detached silence. It was state-of-the-art. It was also no match for him. He’d had her address