The Frailty of Flesh by Sandra Ruttan

Author:Sandra Ruttan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Detective and mystery stories, Mystery & Detective, Murder - Investigation, Fiction - Espionage, American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Family Life, General, Suspense, Thriller, Thrillers, Legal stories, Fiction, Missing persons - Investigation
ISBN: 9780843960754
Publisher: Leisure Books
Published: 2008-10-07T04:28:48.522000+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

First they’d been held back by the family, unable to get straight answers or assistance that might help them find Shannon. Then police incompetence had been a contributing factor, prolonging a search that should have been over within hours instead of dragging on for days.

Most avenues of investigation had been stalled by the weekend. What limited information they did have from the parents, including the name of Christopher’s school and the day care Jeffrey attended, had done them little good. They’d been set on the back burner, something to follow up on Monday.

Now most of Monday was gone. Only a few hours remained of the day, and it was far too late to talk to school staff. The alleged kidnapping was either the breakthrough they needed or a threat that could derail the entire investigation.

If Ashlyn believed it was a legitimate possibility…

That was the root of the problem. She was beginning to wonder if Byron Smythe was smarter than she gave him credit for. He’d turned over an address book, so smudged and manhandled that they couldn’t get any useful prints off it. The only thing it contained that seemed helpful was the billing information for Shannon’s cell phone.

And they’d begun monitoring her calls.

Maybe Smythe had figured Ashlyn would do that herself. That providing one small piece of useful information would stall the investigation from the outset. And when it failed to keep them from questioning the neighbors they had to come up with another plan. Another way to stretch the police to their limits.

What better way than to have an alleged call from someone claiming they’d kidnapped Shannon Reimer?

And Richard Reimer had handed over a pay-and-talk cell number. No chance they’d accidentally monitor a call with a business associate or stumble across an address book in his phone. They couldn’t even trace the alleged call from the kidnappers.

Part of her understood why Zidani wasn’t pushing the family hard. And part of her wondered if they’d painted themselves into a corner and if it was already too late to come through this clean.

“The guy over there bought this for you.”

Ashlyn looked up at the guy who’d brought her the drink. “He should have saved his money.”

The waiter—who she judged to be a few years younger, probably a Simon Fraser University student working his way through a degree—gave her a wry smile. “I’ll be sure to tell him you said so.”

He turned to take the drink to the man, but Ashlyn’s would-be companion had gotten up and walked toward them. He took the drink from the waiter, who looked at Ashlyn. She lifted her hand just enough to signal him to hold back as the man sat down at the table and pushed the drink toward her.

She pushed it back, and he moved his hand to stop her. When he struck the glass some of the alcohol spilled over on Ashlyn’s hand.

“I’m just leaving.” She grabbed a napkin to mop up the booze, then pushed her drink aside. Before she had a chance to say anything else, he grabbed her arm.

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