Witch Is When the Bubble Burst by Adele Abbott Read Free Book Online Page B

we going to do, Jill?”
    “Don’t panic. I’m coming over tomorrow. We can talk about it then.”
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    Steve Lister was waiting for me when I arrived at the office. Stony-faced he seemed to have aged even from the day before.
    “Have you been waiting long?”
    “Not long. Thank you for agreeing to take on the case. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
    “No problem. I hope I’ll be able to help. Let’s go through to my office.”
    “Jill!” Mrs V called after me. “You haven’t forgotten that Donald is taking me out for lunch today, have you?”
    “Of course not. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
    She frowned. “You won’t say anything stupid to him, will you?”
    “Me? Why would I?”
    “I know you think you’re funny, but people don’t like to have their names made fun of.”
    “I promise to be on my best behaviour.”
    Such promising material too. Seriously, what kind of parents with the surname ‘Hook’ would come up with the name Donald? Surely they must have foreseen the consequences. Had they never watched cartoons?
     
    “Thanks again, Miss Gooder,” Steve Lister said.
    “Call me Jill, please. Obviously I’ve seen the news reports, but it would probably be best if you brought me up to date with events as you know them.”
    That didn’t take long. It turned out that he didn’t know much more about the actual kidnapping than had been reported in the press.
    “What about Amanda’s parents?”
    “They won’t even speak to me.”
    “Why not? Did you fall out with them or something?”
    “They’ve never liked me—right from the get-go. They didn’t think I was good enough for Amanda. They were right in some respects, but they could see she was in love, so they were forced to tolerate me. Since she was abducted, they’ve refused point blank to speak to me. They won’t let me in their house. They basically refuse to acknowledge my existence.”
    I could see that he was barely holding it together. Didn’t Amanda’s parents understand that he was hurting just as much as they were?
    “Where was she snatched?”
    “No one saw her being taken. The first anyone knew about it was when someone found the note.”
    “The ransom note?”
    “No. There hasn’t actually been a ransom request as such.”
    “How can you be sure if her parents won’t talk to you?”
    “They’re divorced. Her mother remarried—a man called Bob Dale. He’s a fantastic guy—more of a parent to Amanda than her birth parents have ever been. He and I get on great too. He’s been keeping me posted.”
    “You mentioned a note?”
    “Yeah. Like I said, it wasn’t really a ransom note. It said something like: ‘We have Amanda. Don’t call the police or she will die. We will be in touch’ .”
    “But they haven’t? As far as you know?”
    “No. Bob would have told me. Is that unusual?”
    “I’m not sure.” I was no expert when it came to kidnapping. I had no doubt that Jack Maxwell would know, but I could hardly ask him. “What are the police doing?”
    “Not much. They say they are, but nothing seems to be happening. They talked to me a couple of times, but I couldn’t tell them anything. I think everyone is waiting for the ransom note to arrive.” He wiped away a tear. “Do you think she’s still alive?”
    I had no idea. “I’m sure she is. Whoever has got her is in it for the money. They have to keep her safe if they want to get paid.”
    “It doesn’t always work out like that though, does it?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Look at the Camberley kidnapping. The ransom got paid and they still killed her.”
    “That isn’t going to happen here,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster.
    Maybe I’d been too rash in deciding to take on this case. Maxwell had been an asshat on the phone, but it was understandable given what had happened in his previous kidnapping case. I should have kept my cool and stayed out of it, but how could I back out