Wrong Turn by Diane Fanning Read Free Book Online Page B

vision. We need to drop the priority on this one, buddy.’
    ‘Hold on a minute. We’re talking about a serial predator of teenage girls here. He’s been operating for years. He remains a top priority until he’s captured; the lives of young women are on the line,’ Jake insisted. ‘And besides, if you’re following up all that many leads why do I not have the paperwork to back it up?’
    ‘Because we’re too damn busy to file the reports. It’s not like a single one of them amounted to anything.’
    ‘You still have an obligation to keep me informed.’
    ‘Obligation be damned. I’m lowering the priority on this case in my office. And I imagine you’ll hear the same thing elsewhere. We can’t handle the work load and do everything else that needs to be done. I can’t neglect homeland security issues and survive in this job. You got a problem with that, call DC,’ he said and slammed down the receiver.
    Jake felt a surge of anger building in intensity and rushing its poison through his bloodstream. He got up and paced the room, resisting the temptation to kick the trash can again. He calmed himself with the knowledge that despite what Denver was saying, no one else was complaining. Everyone accepted the seriousness of this capture. Not one of them cared to have Mack Rogers settle into their jurisdiction and start killing again.
    What could he do now? He pulled out the interview files and made a list of the best possibilities for a re-interview. He hoped that at least one of those people could lead him to someone who’d not yet been contacted – someone who knew Mack Rogers and might have an idea of where he was now. He’d start the second round of interviews first thing in the morning.
    He had a plan to move forward in the search for Mack Rogers as well as one active hunt going on right at that moment. But what, if anything, could he do for Lucinda? He considered calling her and rejected it as quickly as it crossed his mind. Unlike most of the women he’d known, Lucinda needed solitary time to process the new developments and find her comfort level with them. She would not welcome any intrusion on the subject that was troubling her until she gained some acceptance of it.
    She was not a whiner, rarely one to vent. Good qualities on the one hand but on the other, it created distance between them – a barrier that he’d tried to cross many times without any success. He knew that finding Mack Rogers was the best thing he could do for her at this time. He hoped he’d be able to report to her on success in Idaho. Short of that, even a hint of a promising outcome would be a good reason to give her a call. He had to find a reason every single day so she’d never forget that he cared or that he was always there for her. He checked to make sure the volume on his cell was all the way up, walked out of his office and headed home.

EIGHT
    L ucinda got into her work space at six the next morning. At seven, she took a break from her review of Emily Sherman’s autopsy report to call Charley. The line barely began to ring when it was answered. ‘Did you find her?’
    ‘Dr Spencer?’
    ‘Yes. Who is this? Did you find her?’
    ‘This is Lucinda, Evan. Is Charley or Ruby missing?’
    ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Did you find her?’
    ‘Who, Evan? Charley or Ruby?’
    Evan grunted with impatience. ‘Charley, of course. Is she with you?’
    ‘No, Evan.’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘If she were here with me, I would tell you.’
    ‘Are you at work?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Maybe she‘s sitting outside of your apartment. You remember – she did that once before.’
    ‘She promised she wouldn’t do that again but considering that possibility I’m just sending a text right now from my cell to the building super. He’s on his way to check. While we’re waiting to hear back from him, fill me in, Evan. When did you last see her? And when did you notice she was missing?’
    ‘I saw her last night about nine. She gave me a kiss