The Space Between by Dete Meserve

Author:Dete Meserve [Meserve, Dete]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781503901407
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-07-23T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DAY FIVE

My sister is flirting with an FBI agent in the front garden. She’s playing with the ends of her hair and smiling, the trill of her laughter piercing the early morning quiet.

I’ve just returned home after walking to the coffee shop to get a croissant and a hot tea latte. And a jelly doughnut for Zack, who’s still sleeping. The croissant is still warm in the bag, and I’m eager to sit in the kitchen and enjoy it. It’s the first time in days that I’ve had any kind of appetite.

My sister has good taste. The man is handsome. Sandy brown hair. Fit. He looks like he could play an FBI agent in a movie.

She’s pointing to a glossy red heart-shaped flower with a yellow spike in the center. “It’s called Anthurium. I know it looks like the fake stuff you see in the malls and office buildings, but this is the real deal.”

They make a beautiful picture, standing in bright sunshine in the middle of my front yard, surrounded by a garden in full bloom. A lone butterfly flutters past them.

Rachel doesn’t see me walk up the sidewalk, but her botany student does. He interrupts my sister’s monologue and walks toward me.

“Scott Lautner,” he says. “FBI.” He takes out his badge, but I don’t look at it because agents Samuel Nelson and Elizabeth Elliott step off the porch to greet me.

“Sarah,” Elizabeth says. “Your sister said we could wait on your front porch.”

“That’s as far as I allowed them,” my sister says. I can’t fault her for not thinking to call me immediately when the FBI showed up. She’s been divorced for four years, and the agent’s blue eyes probably made her forget what she was supposed to do.

“Where is Brad, my security guard?” I ask.

“He’s aware that we’re here, and we asked him to wait in his vehicle so as not to interfere with the investigation.” Scott nods to Brad’s white sedan in front of the house.

“Look, before we begin, we want to tell you that we are officially investigating Rebecca Stanton’s father, Gary Stanton, in Ben’s disappearance,” Elizabeth says. “As you may already know, he’s the head of one of New York’s notorious crime families. And if he suspected Ben was responsible for his daughter’s murder . . . that could explain why Ben is missing.”

The implications of what she’s saying are chilling, and I feel myself go cold. But I’m puzzled. The FBI came all the way out here to tell me they’re investigating Rebecca’s father in Ben’s disappearance? They must be softening the blow for something else they want to tell me.

“And the other reason we’re here,” Samuel says, “is that we have a second search warrant.” He hands me the papers, and I glance at them, my vision blurring.

How is this happening again?

I look at my sister, and her smile has disappeared. I can see she feels bad for letting them on the property.

“What’s this about? Didn’t you get everything you needed

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